Report: Analyzing the Australian Retail Industry and Woolworths

This report provides an analysis of the Australian retail industry, with a specific focus on Woolworths Group Limited. It begins with an introduction outlining the scope of the analysis, including the author's career aspirations as a sales assistant within the retail sector. The report then delves into a detailed account of the industry, discussing its size, scope, and trends, citing revenue figures and growth rates. Key career opportunities within the sector are identified, including roles for graduates and the benefits of industry experience. Challenges, such as low salaries and demanding work conditions, are also addressed. The report concludes by highlighting the appealing aspects of the Australian retail industry, such as its continued growth and strong infrastructure, making it an attractive sector for investors and employees. References to supporting data and research are provided.

Part B: Video transcript
Introduction
Here I am going to analyse the Australian retail industry with special reference to
Woolworths Group Limited. I am eager to be employed as a competent sales assistant within
the retail sector. Therefore, in this second part of the study, I am describing the retail industry
in detail including its size, scope, products and so forth. Further, I am identifying the key
career opportunities and challenges are there within the industry and the main appealing
features of the industry.
A detailed account of the industry
Woolworths is a key retail organisation of Australia with A$55.669 billion of revenue as of
2017. A research paper published in December 2017 gives some important information on the
retail sector of Australia. The Australian retail industry continues to sustain its impetus driven
by social and economic developments. Major factors in the development of the retail industry
are extensive economic growth, consumer confidence, rising high net worth people, and
increasing disposable income of the rising population. In Australia, the retail sector is
expected to be grown by CAGR of 2% from 2013 to the current year, 2018. The Australian
market is highly flexible and hence, the unexpected rise and downfall in the retail industry is
a common incident. The entire size of the industry is $122 USD as of 2013. Because of
the low-interest rate in 2012, the purchasing power of consumers increased
that led to a growth of the retail sector (Mordorintelligence.com, 2018).
In terms of trend, different territories and states of Australia show different growth rates. The
growth rate of Tasmania is highest that is 0.9%, which is followed by Capital Territory
(0.8%) Northern Territory (0.7%), Victoria (0.5%) and New South Wales (0.5%), South
Australia (0.2%) and Western Australia (0.1%) (Abs.gov.au, 2018).
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Career opportunities within the sector
I am interested in working as sales assistant in the Australian retail industry, as there is an
attractive amount of career opportunities within the sector, especially in the grocery retail
industry as compared to the non-grocery retail sector.
The growth can is supported by the success of discounters that continued to obtain
significance through hostile expansion of Aldi. The retail industry in Australia is one of the
biggest employing sectors with near about 1.2 million staff. Because of the global economic
crisis, employment declined by 32100 in 2009. In spite of this, employment opportunities
remained robust in several areas like consumable goods and grocery retailing. The retail
sector recruits graduates in different roles like retail sales manager, retail buyer and supply
chain manager. Moreover, a number of big retail companies arrange a sort of academic
disciplines for management and leadership roles. Graduate trainees are normally exposed to
all sides of the business including sales marketing, finance and supply chain management.
Industry experience acts as an advantage in terms of applying for the academic programs.
Current opportunities for graduates to be employed in this sector are fair. The retail
organisation have highly improved the work practices in current years and are now providing
more flexible working conditions, inspiring working environment, quality leadership with
good prospects for advancement (Graduate Careers Australia, 2018).
Career challenges in the Australian retail sector
Earning the most experienced people in this industry is just a bit higher than the minimum
salary.
Moreover, Price (2016) stated that the retail job is different from a standard job. People have
to work for long hours and even in festival times and holidays. It creates much pressure and
tension in the personal life of the staff. It increased the stress level, lowers motivation and
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dedication toward work. Besides, employers fail to motivate employee engagement that
increase employee turnover in this sector.
Lack of increment in salary is one of the major career challenges for me. It will be
demotivating for me at some point in my career. Apart from that, the economic pressure,
which the retail sector is facing, makes the issue even severe.
Analysing the most attracting aspects of the Australian retail industry
A number of factors are there that make the Australian retail sector highly appealing. One of
the most appealing factors is continued growth. Total online sales of the sectors are around
$32 billion in 2017 that put the nation in the top 10 nations across the world. In 2017, the
internet sales were 7.3% of the entire retail sales that was low (Abs.gov.au, 2018). However,
it represents an opportunity for the future. Australia is the second richest nation of the world
and has extensively lower global debt as compared most other developed countries.
Moreover, the high standard logistic infrastructure of the country makes it even more
attractive for foreign investors, as strong infrastructure plays an important role in making the
retail or any other industry more competitive.
Conclusion
Hence, it is clear that the Australian retail sector is growing significantly and thus, it offers
significant career opportunities for me. Although, there are some major career challenges in
the sectors, however, with continuous development, the issues can be overcome.
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References
Abs.gov.au. (2018). 8501.0 - Retail Trade, Australia, Jun 2018. [online] Available at:
http://www.abs.gov.au/ausstats/abs@.nsf/mf/8501.0 [Accessed 10 Aug. 2018].
Graduate Careers Australia. (2018). Retail - Graduate Careers Australia. [online] Available
at:
http://www.graduatecareers.com.au/careerplanningandresources/exploringyourcareeroptions/
careerprofiles/retail/ [Accessed 10 Aug. 2018].
Mordorintelligence.com. (2018). Australia Retail Industry Analysis, Growth , Statistics |
Overview (2018-23). [online] Available at: https://www.mordorintelligence.com/industry-
reports/retail-industry-in-australia [Accessed 10 Aug. 2018].
Price, R., 2016. Controlling routine front line service workers: an Australian retail
supermarket case. Work, employment and society, 30(6), pp.915-931.
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