Marketing Management Report: Woolworths Challenges Analysis

This report assesses the marketing challenges faced by Woolworths, an Australian supermarket chain. It begins by outlining the company's background, market position, and revenue. The research aims to identify marketing challenges through an examination of Woolworths' internal and external environments. The report addresses the overarching problem of inefficient market expansion and its impact on sales and profitability. Research questions focus on marketing's role in sales, specific challenges, the link between challenges and profitability, and recommended activities for improvement. A literature review, including articles and journals, supports the analysis. The report concludes with a company letter seeking permission to conduct research and provides references to relevant sources. The study's goal is to provide insights and recommendations to enhance Woolworths' sales volume and overall market performance.

Running head: MARKETING MANAGEMENT
MARKETING MANAGEMENT
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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Report title: The assessment of the marketing challenges that are faced by Woolworths
Industry partner
The organization, Woolworths, is an Australian supermarket which was founded in the
year 1924. The diverse range of product offerings of the venture supported the same in
enhancing the rate of operations in alignment with the needs of the customers. Woolworths is
headquartered in Bella Vista, New South Wales and the revenue in the year 2018 was A$56.726
billion (Woolworths.com.au 2019). The organization recruited 115,000 employees for the
smooth functioning of the different stores in the convenient locations of Australia
(Woolworths.com.au 2019). The organization is one of the top retail chains in Australia and the
same along with Coles hold around 80% of the market shares in Australia (Woolworths.com.au
2019). The diverse range of propositions and the improvements in the quality of the offerings
enabled the organization in maximizing the rate of sales.
Research field
The research will be aimed at assessing the marketing operations of the concerned
organization and the challenges that are being faced by the same. The assessment of the
marketing challenges would be based on the assessment of the external and internal operational
environment of Woolworths. The assessment would also support in delineating the
recommended activities with the objective of enhancing the expansion and sales growth related
objective of the venture. The development of the research would thereby support the
organization in examining the challenges and thereby develop strategies for mitigation.

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Overarching problem
The lack of efficient expansion of the organization in the different emerging markets has
restricted the capacity of the venture in examining the efficiency of the operation in alignment
with the needs of the venture. The organizations undertake market expansion with the objective
of enhancing the sales volume and the profitability. In this relation, it has been noticed that the
lack of proficient expansion of the Woolworths affected the rate of sales and profitability since
the last 20 years (Woolworths.com.au 2019). The lack of efficient market expansion related
procedures affected the capacity of the organization in attracting the attention of huge number of
consumers towards the product offerings of the same.
Research aim
The research will aim at identifying the different marketing challenges that are
encountered by Woolworths and thereby suggest a list of recommended activities for enhancing
the rate of sales volume.
Research questions
The research questions would be:
 How does the marketing operations of the organizations support in enhancing the sales
volume?
 What are the marketing challenges that are being faced by Woolworths?
 How is the marketing challenges of Woolworths related to the diminishing profitability of
the venture?
 What are the suggested activities that might be undertaken by Woolworths with the
objective of enhancing the rate of profitability?

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Literature review
The literature review will be conducted through assessment of articles and journals in Google
Scholar. The keywords that were used while initiating the search was:
 Marketing challenges
 Diminishing profitability
 Customer awareness
 Woolworths’ position in the market
Literature review
Author/ authors Year Title Journal Page/ volume
P. Mishra and P.
Sharma
2014 Green
marketing:
Challenges and
opportunities for
business
BVIMR
Management
Edge
7(1)
J. Xie, T. Hong
and J. Stroud
2015 Long-term retail
energy
forecasting with
consideration of
residential
customer
attrition
IEEE
transactions on
smart grid
6(5), pp.2245-
2252

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Company letter
To the CEO
Woolworths
Address
PERMISSION TO CONDUCT RESEARCH ON MARKETING CHALLENGES
Dear Sir,
It is to bring to your notice that I am intending to undertake a research on the different
marketing challenges faced by Woolworths. The research would evaluate the different marketing
prospects for the organization based on primary and secondary assessment of the market needs.
Therefore, please provide me with the permission for conducting the research on the different
marketing challenges faced by Woolworths and thereby suggest recommended activities for
enhancing the rate of sales for the venture.
Thanks for your time and consideration in this matter.
Yours sincerely,
(Name of the researcher)
(Name of the university)

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References
Mishra, P. and Sharma, P., 2014. Green marketing: Challenges and opportunities for
business. BVIMR Management Edge, 7(1).
Woolworths.com.au (2019). Welcome to Woolworths. [online] Woolworths.com.au. Available
at: https://www.woolworths.com.au/ [Accessed 27 Jul. 2019].
Xie, J., Hong, T. and Stroud, J., 2015. Long-term retail energy forecasting with consideration of
residential customer attrition. IEEE transactions on smart grid, 6(5), pp.2245-2252.