Analysis of Cold Storage Retail Operations Management in Singapore

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Cold Storage's retail operations in Singapore. It begins with an introduction to the company, its business, and key attributes. A PESTLE analysis is conducted to evaluate the macro-environmental factors influencing Cold Storage. The report then exami...Read More

Retail operation management 0
Retail operation management
Student’s Name
7/15/2019

Retail operation management 1
Introduction
Cold Storage is well recognized as a Singaporean icon that has a popular
household name. It started as a homegrown merchant that delivered fresh quality
meats and dairy products in the year 1903. The company operated its first
supermarket in the year 1960 and currently operates 53 stores Islandwise. It consists
of three brands i.e. Cold Storage, Market Place, and Jason’s. Each brand focuses on
delivering a unique experience to the customers and fulfils the diverse needs of the
customers (Cold Storage, 2019).
The company has focused on introducing various innovative retail concepts
and provides the opportunity of bulk buying and multiple retailing that allows the
customers to save their money and leads to increased customer satisfaction. Cold
Storage focuses on providing diverse and exclusive range of products from all over
the world to the residents of Singapore and well-travelled. The company currently
provides household essentials, health and beauty products, baby care, beverages,
baby care, meat and dairy products, cellar and grocery items (Cold Storage, 2019).
The company focuses on innovation and delivery of fresh quality products. It
recruits knowledgeable staffs that are committed and passionate towards serving
best customer experience. The further paragraphs of the report will outline the
strategies, trends and business environment of Cold Storage.
PESTLE Analysis
Pestle analysis is a framework that helps in analysing the macro environment
that affects the performance of the organization.
Political Factor
It is analysed that there is a low political risk in Singapore and it is an
independent country. The country enjoys political stability and provides the
opportunity to expand business operations. The company has to consider the
taxation policies, pricing regulations and trade regulations and employee benefits to
operating the business successfully (Aithal, 2016).
Economic Factor

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Singapore is considered as a vibrant free market economy and has the
highest per capita income in ASEAN. The government also provide support to
expand business opportunities in Singapore. The company enjoys the support of the
government. The constraints for economic performance include the shortage of
labour and the rising cost of labour. It also covers the rate of inflation and the level of
unemployment in the country (Aithal, 2016).
Social Factors
It includes the values and beliefs of the consumers. It is analyzed that the
consumers in Singapore are family oriented and values western culture. The literacy
rate in Singapore is high which in turn creates the opportunity for Cold Storage to
deliver fresh quality and healthy products to the consumers. The company focuses
on delivering safe products with complete information on the packaging. The
consumers are ready to pay more for the value products (Chen, Yang & Ku, 2016).
Technological Factors
The advancement in technologies plays a major role in advancing the
operations of the business. It allows the company to interact with the customers and
deliver personalized services. The adoption of the latest technology will increase the
cost of the company and will help in improving the value chain. It is analysed that the
company focuses on innovation and adopts the latest technologies to provide ease
to the customers. The customers in Singapore prefer online e-commerce services
and the company has developed the official e-commerce website to satisfy the
preferences of the customers and has developed an in-house app to know the
availability of the products (Chen, Yang & Ku, 2016).
Environmental Factors
Environmental factor plays a major role in the functioning of the company. It is
analysed that the government of Singapore has laid various laws and regulations
regarding environment protection. In consideration of the laws and regulations, Cold
Storage focuses on developing ecological products and undertakes the activities that
reduce waste. It is analysed that pollution is the major concern in Singapore and the
country has the highest carbon dioxide emissions. The company focuses on

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reducing environmental pollution through the adoption of the strategies that protect
the environment (Kim, Park & Ryu, 2017).
Legal Factors
Legal factors play a major role in protecting the intellectual property rights of
the organization. It consists of the employment law, consumer protection, health, and
safety law and also focuses on data protection. The company focuses on protecting
its data and ensures the safety of its workforce. Such factors focus on ensuring
minimum pay to the labour and protect the private data of the company (Kim, Park &
Ryu, 2017).
Trends in Retail
The changes in the behaviour of the customers and their expectations have
developed the emerging need for the business to shift their focus on delivering the
best-personalized experience to the customers. The changes in the business
process are essential for the sustainability of the business.
Investment in Omni channel retail strategies
The customers are demanding seamless experience through the use of
mobile touch points. The customers focus on using mobile devices to purchase the
products. In consideration to the above trend, Cold Storage has developed online
purchase app through the use of mobile devices. The company focuses on sharing
the offers and the pricing to attract the customers and deliver a seamless experience
on just one touch. It allows the sales associate to connect with the customer journey
(Sansone & Colamatteo, 2017).
The shift towards the personalized shopping experience
The expectation of the customers has shifted from material possession to
personalized experience. The customers expect that the company will actively
involve them and will deliver the best customer experience. In response to the above
trend, Cold Storage focuses on delivering a personalized experience to the
customers through hiring knowledgeable staff that is able to guide the customers and
meet their expectations. The company has developed telecommunication channels

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that allow interaction with the customers and analyzing their preferences. It uses
artificial intelligence to provide more choices to the consumers and boost the sales of
the organization (Pantano, Priporas, Sorace & Iazzolino, 2017).
The growing culture of immediacy
It is analysed that the younger generation demands for the quick response
and consists of impatient customers. Considering the changing trends and
expectations Cold Storage focuses on improving its supply chain and updates the
inventory in real time. It also provides the option of same-day delivery and uses
innovative technologies to provide a quick response to the changing needs of
customers. It focuses on the effective management of the supply chain.
The company has effectively managed to increase its online presence and
deliver fresh quality products to the overseas market. It has focused on integrating
the system to design Omni channel strategies and provide the best digital
experience to the customers. The company effectively uses artificial intelligence to
satisfy the diverging needs of the customers (Pantano, Priporas, Sorace & Iazzolino,
2017).
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Customer profile
Customer profile provides a description of the consumers including their
behaviour and interests. It helps in grouping customers with similar characteristics
and helps the company in taking important management decisions (Ghosh, Jain, and
Dekhil, Entit Software LLC, 2017). The components under customer profile include:
Demographics
Cold Storage develops the products for the infants to the older generation. It
develops the product for all age groups. The company targets the middle to higher
income groups and develop the products both for males and females (Ozawa et al,
2016).
Socioeconomic

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It targets the middle-income group customers who are professional as well as
households. The company made the products for the families to satisfy their
diversifying needs. It includes the households of Singapore and foreigners
(Hendrickson, 2019).
Psychographics
The psychographic segmentation includes the attitudes and beliefs of the
customers. It is analysed that the Singaporean customers are health conscious and
are ready to pay more for quality products. The company delivers fresh quality and
healthy products to the customers. It targets the customer who prefers quality over
price (Ozawa et al, 2016).
Operational process
The operational process consists of the elements from initial planning to
designing the process and controlling of the activities to efficiently achieve the
objectives of the company. In the operational process, the company focuses on
selecting the best quality raw material and develop a strong relationship with the
suppliers to develop the best quality product. The company focuses on measuring
the operations to ensure that the quality, speed, cost and flexibility is maintained. It
shapes the overall strategy and takes the trade-off decisions. It adopts the job
process type of processing to provide a wide variety of products at a short span of
time (Ayers & Odegaard, 2017). Cold Storage focuses on continuous innovations
and delivers high-quality products to its customers. It focuses on managing the
capacity constraints, inventory and volume variability. It allows to effectively manage
the supply and the demand of the products. The company applies buffer safety that
protects the company from uncertain fluctuations and allows the company to
continuously satisfy the expectations and needs of the customers. It focuses on
analysing the internal and the external factors and ensures proper forecasting to
avoid the uncertainties and effectively converts the input into output (Teller, Holweg,
Reiner & Kotzab, 2018).

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Merchandising Strategies
Merchandising strategies are a valuable component for the success of the
organization. It helps in the success of the retailing business and allows the
company to be competitive from others. The strategies are designed in accordance
with the goals of the organization and focus on attracting maximum customers
towards the brand (Ellis, 2018).
Cold Storage offers healthy food products for the health conscious customers
and applies their private affordable food label for the people who cannot afford high
range products. The company also designs various international products for
foreigners in Singapore. The company uses artificial intelligence to understand the
needs of the customers and uses top-notch technology to provide ease to the
customers (Lombart et al, 2018).
It also adopts the visual merchandising strategy under which it sorts the
products under different shelves that put brighter products in the front and lighter at
the back. The company also puts signage to guide the customers and make them
aware of the products. The location of the stores is made according to the
convenience of the customers and charges high prices in comparison to its
competitors (Ellis, 2018).
Marketing Strategies
Marketing strategies help in creating strong brand recognition and allows the
company to sustain its competitive advantage. It consists of the pricing and the
products offered by the brand. It also includes the promotional strategy that the
company uses to attract potential customers (Okorie, Tipi & Hubbard, 2016).
Cold Storage continuously strives to provide higher quality products are
provided a diversified range of products. The company is highly dedicated towards
in-store bakeries, baby sections and make your own pizza counters. It charges high
prices for its products because the company enjoys strong brand positioning. It
serves the products that range from everyday essentials to special occasions
(Hollensen, 2010).

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Cold storage operates 53 stores in Singapore that are located in neighbouring
and city areas. It operates as a supermarket that creates difficulty for the competitors
to enter in the city area. In order to promote the brand, the company has focused on
designing health awareness promotional programs that help in educating the
customers and has developed “Eat2+2” program that encourages healthy eating. It
has also designed a loyalty program and provides a 24/7 facility to the customers. It
offers a “no frills” category under which the products are not highly priced and
satisfies the diversified expectations of customers (Global Cold Chain, 2019).
Recommendations
For the management of the inventory, the company must focus on cloud-
based inventory management to analyse the real statistics of the stock and must
track stock all the times to ensure all time availability. It must focus on analysing
human behaviour and delivering more personalized services at the stores and the
website. It will allow in providing maximum satisfaction to the customers and turning
them into loyal ones (Jeanpert & Pache, 2016).
The manager must focus on adopting a laissez-faire style of management to
effectively delegate the task and allows the employees to effectively manage their
responsibilities. It will allow the employees to apply their creativity and will lead to the
professional development of employees. The company must focus on engaging the
employees in the decision making and providing the platform to generate creative
ideas for the growth of the business. Development of incentive plans and reward will
provide job satisfaction to the employees and will motivate them to perform the job
roles in an efficient manner (Wellman & LePine, 2017).
Conclusion
From the above analysis, it is critical to note that Cold Storage focuses on
providing quality products to its customers and provides a wide variety of goods. It
ensures that the products are safe and targets middle-income groups. The company
focuses on analyzing the current trends in the retail market and aims to deliver
personalized services for gaining huge market share. The company adopts the visual
merchandising strategy to attract the customers and puts brighter products on the
front sides. It develops promotional programs to create health awareness and loyalty

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programs for retaining the customers and creating potential customers for the brand.
The company analyses the operating environment and develop the policies that do
not violate the laws and norms of the country. It considers the customer profiles and
understands the changes in their behaviour for delivering maximum satisfaction.

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