MKT00720 - Woolworths and Coles: Competitive Marketing Analysis

This report provides an analysis of the marketing strategies employed by Woolworths and Coles, two major players in the Australian retail industry, to gain a competitive advantage. It examines their approaches to product mix, customer relationships, and marketing campaigns, referencing articles from sources like the Sydney Morning Herald and news.com.au. The analysis highlights Woolworths' shift towards personalized marketing and service orientation, as well as Coles' strategies of international expansion and price reductions to compete effectively. The report concludes that both companies have adopted customer-centric approaches, emphasizing the importance of understanding and catering to customer preferences to achieve sustainable competitive advantage in the Australian retail market. Desklib provides a platform for students to access similar case studies and solved assignments.

Running head: ANALYSIS OF WOOLWORTHS AND COLES
ANALYSIS OF WOOLWORTHS AND COLES
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1ANALYSIS OF WOOLWORTHS AND COLES
Executive Summary
The report is based on the analysis of two companies and the ways by which they have tried
to gain competitive advantage in the industry of their operations. The first company which
has been considered for this study is Woolworths which operates in the retail industry of
Australia. The second company which has been considered in this case is Coles which also
operates in the retail industry of Australia. The marketing related activities of the firms have
been analysed with respect to the information which has been provided by various
newspapers and articles as well. The success of these companies in gaining competitive
advantage in the industry has also been discussed in the report.

2ANALYSIS OF WOOLWORTHS AND COLES
Table of Contents
a. Introduction................................................................................................................3
b. Description of the cases.............................................................................................3
c. Evidence based on marketing related success............................................................4
d. Explain the ways by which these organizations achieved success in the industry....5
e. Conclusion..................................................................................................................7
References......................................................................................................................8

3ANALYSIS OF WOOLWORTHS AND COLES
a. Introduction
The marketing based activities of an organization play a major role in the operating
processes and creating a profitable position in the industry. The promotion and marketing
related strategies that are formulated by the organizations have the ability to increase the
revenues in their operating areas. The companies are further able to gain competitive
advantage in the industry of its operations with the help of appropriate marketing. The
activities related to marketing that are performed by the companies are therefore vast and
they differ based on the organizations. The competitors which these organizations have in the
industry are faced in an effective manner by developing proper strategies of marketing
(Daspit et al. 2017).
The report will be related to the analysis and discussion regarding the marketing
activities that are performed by different organizations. The companies which have been
considered in the analysis are a part of the same sector in Australia. The two companies
which have been considered as a part of this analysis are Woolworths and Coles. These
organizations operate in the retail sector of Australia.
b. Description of the cases
Woolworths is an Australian organization which has its operations in the retail
industry of Australia and New Zealand. The organization has been able to gain the position of
the second largest company in the retail industry of Australia with respect to the total
revenues that have been earned by it. The company had established its first store in the year
1924 in Sydney. Woolworths has thereby been able to develop a different position in the
industry with help of strong customer relationships. The company has also gained a
competitive advantage in the industry with the help of its unique capabilities
(Woolworths.com.au 2018).

4ANALYSIS OF WOOLWORTHS AND COLES
Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty. Ltd., which trades in Australia with the name of
Coles has been trading the retail sector of the country. The headquarter of the organization is
located in Melbourne and it operates under the parent company named Wesfarmers. The
organization was established in the year 1914 in Collingwood, Melbourne by George Coles.
Coles operates more than 800 supermarkets all across Australia. The organization has
employed around 100,000 employees. The company was known as Coles Supermarkets
which was later named as Coles Group Limited. The organization was further purchased by
Wesfarmers in the year 2007.
The two companies which belong to the same sector in Australia have been able to
achieve their objectives based on marketing related strategies. The research that will be
conducted related to the marketing objectives of the two companies is mainly based different
articles that have been able to depict the ways by which they have implemented the strategies
in different organizational processes (Hill, Jones and Schilling 2014).
c. Evidence based on marketing related success
The products that have been offered by Woolworths in its product mix have been
improved in order to create competitive advantage in the industry. The organization has
always aimed at providing offers to the customers based on the preferences and choices. The
company has been able to create successful relationships with the local growers and farmers
as a part of process based on the development of competitive advantage. Sydney Herald,
which is a famous newspaper of the country has published an article based on which it can be
proved that a marketing campaign has been designed by the organization in order to create a
successful position in the retail industry (Mitchell 2018).
The greatest and fierce competitor of Coles in the Australian retail market is
Woolworths. The organization has always aimed at providing tough competition to

5ANALYSIS OF WOOLWORTHS AND COLES
Woolworths with help of its strategies. Coles has planned to create a competitive advantage
in the market with the help of international expansion strategy. The organization planned its
launch in the UK retail market in order to create an advantage in the retail sector. The
company has thereby planned the expansion with the help of increasing its online presence
(NewsComAu 2018). The first online store was planned by the organization in order to
increase its sales and presence. The article which has helped in providing information based
on the strategy that has been implemented by Coles is news.com.au. which is known to
provide information regarding various aspects related to different sector in Australia (James
2016).
d. Explain the ways by which these organizations achieved success in the industry
The strategy that has been implemented by Woolworths in a successful manner to
create a competitive advantage in the market target or personalised marketing. The company
has been able to customise different marketing based activities in order to provide the offers
to customers based on their choice and preference. The company had previously followed the
process of mass marketing which was changed later on in order to create an advantage over
the other organizations. The buying based history of consumers is helpful for the
development of personalised offers (Adbrands.net 2018).
The main aim of Woolworths behind the implementation of new marketing strategies
is the repositioning of the brand and further increasing the customer base. The activities of
the organization related to advertising and promotions have been organized to attract a larger
group of customers. Another major strategy that has been an important part of the ways by
which competitive advantage has been created by Woolworths is related to the change of
strategy from product oriented to service oriented in nature. The company has been able to

6ANALYSIS OF WOOLWORTHS AND COLES
solve the different operational issues which have been faced previously with the changes in
strategies (Financial Review 2018).
The operating process that has been followed by Woolworths after strategic change
has become service oriented in nature. Woolworths was able to create a large supermarket
chain with the help of the changes in strategies. The organization was also able to beat its
biggest rival Coles in 2006. The organization has thereby claimed a position which has been
dominating in nature. Woolworths has developed successful relationships with the local
growers of the areas in which it is operating (Michael, Storey and Thomas 2017). The
strategy which has been implemented by Woolworths has helped in the proper creation of
competitive advantage.
The online store which has been planned by Coles is based on the ways by which the
company can increase its competitive advantage in the retail sector of Australia. The threat
that has been faced by the organization based on the overseas rivals in the retail sector has
been an important part of competitive strategy. The physical stores of Coles have been an
important part of the success that the company has seen in retail market. The online stores
will be helpful in increasing the awareness of products among the customers and the reach of
the company as well. Coles has been able to provide tough competition to its rival
Woolworths with the help of lower prices based on the services and products (Mitchell 2018).
Coles had reduced the prices of products in order to provide tough competition to the
other companies. The prices of liquor and food have been reduced by the company in order to
cut the sales of the organization. This has further decreased the sales of its rival organization
named Woolworths by around 0.9% in the retail industry of Australia. Coles has operated in
the retail industry with the help of customer centric methods which is related to the decrease
of prices of products and services (Hill, Jones and Schilling 2014).

7ANALYSIS OF WOOLWORTHS AND COLES
The huge number of customers who are present in the retail sector of Australia are
important for the improvement of the competitive advantage of an organization like Coles.
The price war that has been fought in Australia by the retail organization has been won by
Coles with the help of the lower pricing strategy or cost leadership strategy that has been
implemented by the company (Michael, Storey and Thomas 2017). The competition that has
been faced by the Coles in the retail market is based on the ways by which the organization
has been able to create a profitable position in the industry. Coles has thereby been successful
in creating a competitive advantage in the market with the help of two major strategies which
include, the international expansion strategy and lower pricing strategy (NewsComAu 2018).
e. Conclusion
The report can thereby be concluded by stating that the organizations which have
been analysed in the report namely, Woolworths and Coles have implemented different types
of strategies in order to create competitive advantage in the retail industry of Australia. The
companies have operated in a profitable way with the help of the approaches that have been
taken by them. The approaches of both the companies have been totally customer centric in
nature The customers are thereby considered to be an important part of different
organizational processes. The effectiveness of the strategies related to marketing that have
been implemented by the organizations are thereby based on the ways by which the
customers are affected. The companies need to gain competitive advantage by providing
appropriate services to the customers. The levels of sustainability of the two companies can
be increased by implementation of effective marketing strategies.

8ANALYSIS OF WOOLWORTHS AND COLES
References
Adbrands.net. 2018. Woolworths : marketing and advertising profile at Adbrands.net.
[online] Available at: https://www.adbrands.net/au/woolworths_au.htm [Accessed 3 Aug.
2018].
Daspit, J. J., Chrisman, J. J., Sharma, P., Pearson, A. W., and Long, R. G., 2017. A Strategic
Management Perspective of the Family Firm: Past Trends, New Insights, and Future
Directions. Journal of Managerial Issues, 29(1).
Financial Review. 2018. How Woolworths’ personalised marketing is lifting loyalty and
sales. [online] Available at: https://www.afr.com/it-pro/how-woolworths-personalised-
marketing-is-lifting-loyalty-and-sales-20130213-jz5jx [Accessed 3 Aug. 2018].
Hill, C. W., Jones, G. R., and Schilling, M. A., 2014. Strategic management: theory: an
integrated approach. Cengage Learning.
James, S.D., 2016. Strategic bankruptcy: A stakeholder management perspective. Journal of
Business Research, 69(2), pp.492-499.
Michael, S., Storey, D., and Thomas, H., 2017. Discovery and coordination in strategic
management and entrepreneurship. Strategic entrepreneurship: Creating a new mindset, 45-
65.
Mitchell, S. 2018. Woolworths kicks off new marketing campaign. [online] The Sydney
Morning Herald. Available at: https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/woolworths-
kicks-off-new-marketing-campaign-20151020-gkd4dl.html [Accessed 3 Aug. 2018].

9ANALYSIS OF WOOLWORTHS AND COLES
NewsComAu. 2018. Coles leaves door open to price war. [online] Available at:
https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/coles-leaves-door-open-to-price-war/news-
story/364449719d46084312615552b01cb688 [Accessed 3 Aug. 2018].
Woolworths.com.au. 2018. Woolworths.com.au. [online] Available at:
https://www.woolworths.com.au/ [Accessed 3 Aug. 2018].