MAN301 Marketing Report: Cole Supermarket's Competitive Analysis

This report provides a comprehensive marketing analysis of Cole Supermarket, a major Australian supermarket chain. It begins with an executive summary highlighting the company's position in the market, its use of technology, and its competitive landscape, especially concerning Woolworths. The report then delves into a business analysis, emphasizing the importance of understanding market share and trends. It presents a detailed market overview, including market size, trends, and the competitive landscape, with market share data for key players. A SWOT analysis is conducted, identifying the company's strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats. The report also examines the company's corporate and financial performance, strategic options, and the impact of the general environment using PESTLE analysis. Furthermore, it analyzes the five forces impacting the company, competitor analysis, and resources and capabilities to achieve a competitive advantage. The analysis concludes with strategic recommendations and highlights key competencies like Coles pricing and supply chain optimization, and the type of competitive advantages these competencies provide.

Running Head: MARKETING 1
Name
Institution
Date

MARKETING 2
Marketing
Executive summary
Cole supermarket is among the most developed organizations in Australia. It deals with
retail stores. The organization was established in early 1914 during the Second World War. Just
like any other organization, Cole Supermarket started as a small retail store and grew to a large
supermarket that it is today. It controls more than 31% of the market share in Australia being the
second largest supermarket in Australia. The organization promotes customer satisfaction by
providing goods and services that meet the customer’s preferences and wants. Besides customer
satisfaction, Cole supermarket has also incorporated technology in its operations.
Technology has enabled the organization in achieving computerized management. The
organization has also been able to sell most of its products through the internet. This has been
essential in solving business management challenges that are faced by many organizations today
such as delayed salaries and decrease in productivity. Moreover, online selling plays a crucial
role in attracting new customers for the organization. Cole Supermarket majorly competes with
Woolworth Supermarket in the Australian supermarket.

MARKETING 3
Introduction
Business analysis is an essential tool that every business organization must be aware of,
regardless of the type of products or services they produce. According to Mao (2018), Phillipov
(2016) and Pulker et al. (2019), analyzing the business will ensure that an organization is aware
of its market share. Therefore, it will be easy to produce goods and services that meet the current
demand. Business analysis is also crucial since it depicts the business trends as well as future
uncertainties. The focus organization in this paper will be Coles Supermarket which is one of the
leading organizations in Australia that supply fresh fruits and other products to customers.
Just like any other organization, growth of Cole supermarket will depend on its strengths
and weaknesses (Kobets & Yatsenko, 2018). Cole Supermarket will also benefit from reduced
operational costs. This is because the analysis will ensure that processes are run in an efficient
and effective manner. Cole supermarket will also have to analyze its structure if it has to achieve
a competitive advantage over competitors such as Woolworth. To achieve a competitive
advantage, Cole supermarket will also have to adopt competitive strategies that are rare, valuable
and hard to imitate. These strategies will also ensure that the organization is able to prioritize
their operations thus improving productivity.
Market Size and Trends
There is a very stiff competition in the Australian markets especially in supermarkets and
grocery stores. Most supermarkets have adopted methods such as price reduction initiatives to
attract new customers rather than price differentiation. According to Ma (2015), Shabanova et al.
(2015), Jensen & Sommer (2017), and Steele et al. (2017), there are five major competitors in
this industry with that shares market with Cole Supermarket. They include Woolworth, ALDI,
other supermarkets, Franklins and Specialty foods. Their market shares are as shown;

MARKETING 4
Retailer Market Share in %
Woolworth, 41.1%
ALDI 14.0%
,Other supermarkets, 7.3%
Franklins 5.9%
Specialty foods 1.2%
Coles 31%
Table1: Market Shares for Australian Food Stores.
From the data provided, it can be seen that Woolworth has taken lead in the market;
hence Cole Supermarket has to devise strategies which will ensure that it increases its market
size. Although there has been a slight increase in the market share as compared to previous years,
the increase is very minimal which means that Cole supermarket is at a risk of losing its
customers to competitors. This drives the need to adopt new techniques that will ensure that Cole
Supermarket is able to attract new customers while still retaining the existing ones.
Trends
Although Cole Supermarket is not the leading organization in Australia based on the
market share, it has managed to increase its overall sales by $4.8 billion in 2017-18 accounting
period. Kipturgo (2016), Ali & Faroque (2017), Zhang (2019) state that, increase in market share
for Coles Supermarket can be attributed to the ‘DownDown’ approach that the organization has
adopted. This approach is concerned with reducing product prices and increasing volumes, which
in return increases profitability. Coles Supermarket should ensure that it couples the
‘DownDown’ approach with other techniques to increase its market share.
SWOT and Competitive Advantage
Both the SWOT and competitive advantage analysis will be important to the growth of Cole
Supermarket. The following is the SWOT analysis of the organization.
STREAGTHS

MARKETING 5
1. Cole Supermarket commands a bigger market share of around 31% in the retail store
industry.
2. Cole Supermarket has unmatched advertising and branding.
3. Cole Supermarket has attractive pricing policies.
4. Cole Supermarket has successful promotional campaigns.
5. Cole Supermarket ensures customer Satisfaction.
6. Cole Supermarket has a comprehensive online ordering service.
7. Cole Supermarket has a large labour force which improves productivity.
WEAKNESSES
1. Negative Publicity by suppliers which has reduced the number of customers.
2. The organization has Lower operating margins than the competitors.
Opportunities
1. Geographical expansion can help the organization to acquire more customers.
2. Implementing more techniques besides the ‘downdown’ approach can increase the
market share.
THREATS
1. Stiff Competition.
2. Customers are shifting to smaller retailers
3. Lack of clear product distinctive communication.
4. Entry of new players with new game changing techniques.

MARKETING 6
Coles Supermarket will ensure that that it achieves competitive advantages by adopting
specific competencies. The competencies will include team building, Coles pricing, adopting
highly optimized supply chain, and being experts in retail.
Financial and Corporate Performance
Corporate performance for the Coles Supermarket will involve tools that will be used to
formulate the strategies that the organization will adopt for performance monitoring and
reporting. Coles Supermarket will make use of tested and proven methodologies to improve its
business management. On the other hand, financial performance will involve measures that will
show how Coles Supermarket will be able to use assets to generate revenues. In this case, it will
involve measuring how the organization is financially health.
There will be strong connection between financial and business performances in the
organization. This is because financial rations will be used to determine business performances
for Coles Supermarket. These ratios include liquidity, leverage, profitability, and efficiency
rations.
Strategic Options
Strategic options for Coles Supermarket will involve actions-oriented responses that the
organization will face. These options will take advantage of organizational trends, actors, facts,
threats and opportunities. These options will be used as an alternative to competencies in
achieving the objectives of the organization. Strategic options that will be available for Coles
Super market are Liquidation, Turnaround, Diversification, and Stability.
MAN301 Template 1: SWOT and Competitive Advantage.

MARKETING 7
1.
Characteristic Examples How the Characteristics affect
Coles Supermarket
Political/Legal
Tax policies in Australia
Intellectual property laws
The growth as well as productivity
of Cole Supermarket depends on the
tax policies in Australia. If the
policies are favorable then the
company is guaranteed of success.
Protecting the intellectual property
will also ensure that the company
achieves a competitive advantage
over its competitors.
Economic
Inflation
Demand and Supply
Inflation will have negative impacts
on the growth of Coles Supermarket.
Coles Supermarket ensures that it is
able to meet the market demand in a
bid to, maximize its profits.
Demographic
The structure of the population.
Aspects such as age and gender
affect the marketing structure for
Cole Supermarket.
Socio-cultural
Customers’ culture, believes and
attitudes.
Aspects such as culture, believes and
attitudes have impacts on what
products that customers purchase.
Global
Economic and political stability.
Coles Supermarket will thrive when
there is both economic and political
stability in Australia.
Technological
Technological; factors that can
affect Cole Supermarket include
the following
1. The technological
methodologies used by the
competitors.
2. How quickly technological
culture diffuse to other
organizations.
Technology can easily dismantle the
pricing structure and landscape in
the market.
2.
Force

MARKETING 8
Barriers to entry
This ensures that there are limited
competitors who can enter the market, thus
regulating the level of competition.
Power of buyers
Ensures that Coles Supermarket offers high
quality products. In this case, offering fresh
fruits and foods to consumers.
Power of suppliers
Ensures that Coles Supermarket can set
product prices without external interference.
Threat of substitute products
Substitute products will definitely reduce
the sales that Coles Supermarket makes per
year. This will also reduce the profit margin.
Intensity of Rivalry Intensity of Rivalry with competitors such
as Woolworth put pressure on Coles
Supermarket thus reducing its profit
potential.
3.
Future Objectives
The main competitor is Woolworth
supermarket. This organization strives to
achieve more that 60% of the market share
in Australia by 2022.
Current Strategy
Fast use of social media platforms for
promoting and selling their products.
Assumptions
Woolworth will offer more products
varieties in future.
Woolworth will have more branches in
future.
Capabilities
Identifying critical Competences and ability
to compete in the market.
4.

MARKETING 9
Resources Cole Supermarket has resources that make
its competencies hard to imitate, rare,
organized and valuable. These resources
include the organization’s ,Brand equity,
Culture, Know-how, and Reputation
Capabilities There are four capabilities which have
enabled Cole Supermarket to achieve a
competitive advantage over its competitors.
These capabilities include Strategic value
Analysis, identifying critical Competences,
ability to compete in the market, and
thriving in the free market.
Competencies There are four major competencies that help
Coles Supermarket to achieve a competitive
advantage. They include Coles Pricing,
Highly optimized supply chain, Being
experts at retail, and Team Building.
5.
Are they valuable? Yes they are valuable. This is because they
are among the major reasons for the growth
of the Organization. For instance, Coles
pricing ensures that the company reduces
products’ prices while at the same time
maximizing the production volumes. This is
a technique that guarantees profits for the
organization while at the same time
retaining customers.
Are they rare: Coles pricing is a very rare competency that
has never been by any other organization.
Are they hard to imitate? Yes. These competencies are hard to imitate
which gives Coles Supermarket a
competitive advantage over other
organizations.
Are they non-substitutable? Yes. The competencies are non-
substitutable since there are no other
resources or capabilities can be used as their
equivalence.
6.
Competence Type of Advantage
Coles pricing
Sustainable competitive advantage

MARKETING 10
Highly optimized supply chain
Sustainable competitive advantage
Being experts at retail
Sustainable competitive advantage
Team Building
Temporary competitive advantage
7.
Strengths
1. Commands a bigger market share of around 31% in the
retail store industry.
2. Unmatched advertising and branding.
3. Attractive pricing policies.
4. Successful promotional campaigns.
5. Customer Satisfaction.
6. A comprehensive online ordering service.
7. Large labour force which improves productivity.
Weakness
1. Negative Publicity by suppliers which has reduced the
number of customers.
2. Lower operating margins than the competitors.
Opportunities
1. Geographical expansion can help the organization to
acquire more customers.
2. Implementing more techniques besides the ‘downdown’
approach can increase the market share.
Threats
5. Stiff Competition.
6. Customers are shifting to smaller retailers
7. Lack of clear product distinctive communication.
8. Entry of new players with new game changing
techniques.

MARKETING 11
Strategic Recommendations and Conclusion
Coles Supermarket is one of the largest supermarkets in Australia, however it is not the
leading organization based on the market share. This means that the organization should adopt
competencies that will ensure that it acquires the largest market share while still remaining
competitive in the market. Besides the identified strategies, Coles Supermarket can also expand
sales to existing customers, increase customer retention, achieve and maintain outstanding
customer service, and develop and use a customer database.

MARKETING 12
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