Coles Supermarket: History, Organizational Structure, And Market Expansion

History of Coles Supermarket

Coles supermarket is one of the biggest retail chains in Australia that is associated with the supermarket, retail and consumer services across Australia and abroad. The headquarters of the company is located in Melbourne. Established in 1914 by George Coles, now there are 807 supermarkets of Coles throughout Australia. There is more than 100,000 employees work in the company that indicates the dynamic business orientation of Coles Supermarket (Education.gov.au 2018). As far as the organisational structure of .

Coles supermarket is concerned it can be stated that John Durkan is the CEO of the company. Besides this, there is an executive board comprised of Tony Buffin as the CFO (Humanrights.gov.au 2018). Besides this, there are executives and representatives from various departments like innovation, grocery, brand and media, communications and the supply chain (Coles.com.au 2018). Therefore, it can be argued that the Coles supermarket has a strong and transparent organisational structure in order to establish an effective business throughout Australia and overseas.

            As a matter of fact, the Coles supermarket provides a series of products and services such as supermarket, retail and customer services.

Supermarket

• The Coles supermarket is considered to be one of the largest supermarkets in Australia.
• From food products to the daily necessary household items all can be found in the supermarkets (com.au 2018).
• Moreover, the supermarket giants are also offered liquor and gift cards to the customers.
• Fresh vegetables can be found in Coles supermarket and the company is specially focused on the quality of the products.

Customer service

• The Coles supermarket is very concern about its customers and their safety.
• On the basis of this, a 24/7 customer service line has been opened so that the customers can lodge their feedbacks and grievances anytime (com.au 2018).
• Moreover, the quality of the products is also considered to be an important aspect and for this the company introduces the product recalls process where any issues regarding the product quality can be ventilated and the company management will take necessary investigations and actions regarding that.
• Core values and vision

The core values are as follows,

• Providing quality products in a lower and affordable price to the customers.
• Delivering better and easier shopping experiences to the customers.
• Delivering long-term relationship with the suppliers.

The mission of the Company is referred as creating trusted value of their products with offering an affordable price.

Potential growth strategies

• Low pricing strategy is considered to be one of the major strategy that Coles supermarket has implemented in its business growth.
• In addition to this, partnering with Wesfarmers has become a strategic advantage for Coles supermarket to sustain its business profoundly.
• In addition to this, with the advent of the technological advancement Coles supermarket also adapted the new shifts in business by introducing the online purchasing interface (Elmas 2018).
• Furthermore, the relationship with the local suppliers also facilitate advantages to the aggressive business expansion of Coles supermarket.
• In fact, the influence in the Australian market with approximately 80% market capitalisation is one of the growth strategies of Coles supermarket(com.au 2018).

	Questions	True	False
1	A marketing plan and a marketing strategy mean the same thing.		√
2	The four “Ps” of marketing are: Product, Promotion, Price, and Personnel		√
3	The marketing management process consists of (1) planning marketing activities, (2) directing the implementation of the plans, and (3) controlling these plans	√
4	Personal selling and advertising are both forms of sales promotion	√
5	Target market and marketing mix mean the same		√
6	Focusing on existing products and existing markets guarantees growth for any business?	√
7	Implementation means putting the marketing plan into operation	√
8	Market penetration is the name given to a growth strategy where the business focuses on selling existing products into existing markets?		√
9	Developing new products is considered a low-risk activity for a company?		√
10	Diversification is the name given to the growth strategy where a business markets new products in new markets and is considered high-risk	√
11	Developing an export market is considered as a diversification strategy?	√
12	A strategic alliance is the same as Franchising		√

• Where were they?

In the previous decade there was a huge competition between Coles and Woolworths in order to dominate Australian market more intensely. In that process, Woolworths surpassed Coles with a huge margin because of implementing unique marketing strategy.

• Where are they now?

In present times Coles succeeds to establish its market capitalization more extensively and in return the company succeeds to encapsulate the Australian retail market approximately 80%. From that point of view it is a significant achievement for the organization.

• Where do they want to be?

Coles supermarket intends to expand its market outside Australia and dominate the international market more rigorously. From that point of view, the organisation is willing to make joint venture with other international retail giants to enter into the new markets.

• What will they do to get there?

Joint venture and direct exporting are the main features that the Coles supermarket will follow in order to deal with the extension of its business overseas and make profit through this expansion.

            According to Lozanoet al. (2015) SWOT analysis is a tool that helped the companies to evaluate its position in the high competitive market by elaborating the strengths, weakness, opportunities and the threats of that respect company. On the other hand, Kanget al. (2015) opined that the SWOT analysis is related to identify the opportunities and abilities of as company to expand its business for future sustainability.

In response to this, it is important for that organisation to figure out the strengths and pointed out the weakness so that the company can take decisions accordingly. In addition to this, the external threats are also discussed so that the company can deal with it. On the other hand, Carraher Welsh and Svilokos (2016) asserted that SWOT analysis is resembled with a mixed report of both the internal and external analysis of an organisation. As a result of that the company can get a glimpse of both the factors through a single analytical tool.

Organizational Structure of Coles Supermarket

Importance of SWOT analysis for marketing plan

• The main importance of the SWOT analysis is to figure out the weakness of the company. As a result of that in course of initiating a marketing plan it became important for the organisation to keep in mind about the weaknesses and establish a better marketing plan.
• In addition to this, underlining the strengths will provide a strategic advantage to the organisations to set a blueprint of marketing plan by exploiting the strengths of the company.
• Moreover, identifying the threats will also considered to be a benefit for implying new marketing plan because it reveals the gap and the threats that must be filled up or mitigated in order to sustain in the market.
• As a matter of fact, the SWOT analysis shows the positives and the negative factors of an organisation. As a result of that the company can fix its aims and objectives accordingly and based on those underlining objectives it becomes easier for the company to plan a marketing strategy

            As per the research conducted by Huang and Sarigöllü (2014) it can be stated that the PESTLE analysis is a marketing principle framework that facilitates the helps the company to get acknowledged with the external environmental situation in which the company does its business and points out the possible measures that the organisation must take.

Different aspects of PESTLE

            PESTLE is an acronym that is based on P for political, E- Economic, S-Social, T- Technological, L- Legal and E-environmental aspects. All these factors are responsible to execute an external environment analysis for an organisation that have an intense impact on the business orientation of a company. Moreover, it can be argued that those external environmental factors are essential to deliver a better understanding of the business environment on which the company can take necessary decisions.

SWOT analysis of Coles supermarket

Strength	Opportunity
§  Coles supermarket controls most of the Australian retail market. §  The attractive pricing strategy is considered to be an effective measure for the organisation. §  Unique promotional strategy for capitalising the Australian market is also identified as one of the significant feature of Coles supermarket. §  The Coles supermarket provides 80% of employment and revenue share for the Australian government in the retail sector.	§  Seize great control over the supply chain and harvest profit in multiple points. §  Geographic expansion will provide new market expansion. §  Sponsorship and marketing will boost the business. §  Huge brand value will foster better market capitalisation.
Weakness	Threats
§  Lack of effective communication with the suppliers. §  Negative publicity for issues with the Australian suppliers. §  Intense competition in the Australian market with a lower margin.	§  Intense competition in the Australian market. §  Fluctuating behaviour of the consumers. §  New entrants intensify the competition heavily.

	Please review each question and place a “tick” into either the true or false box below which you believe represents the best answer Questions	True	False
1	A SWOT Analysis stands for Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, and Time        .		√
2	External factors are strengths and weaknesses		√
3	An organisation should influence internal factors.	√
4	Opportunities and threats. are within an organisation’s control.		√
5	By Identifying Opportunities and Threats it allows you to plan for outcomes
6	It is not important to know about your competitors when conducting a SWOT analysis	√
7	A SWOT analysis is a complex long-term planning tool for understanding the external environment of an organisation.		√
8	A SWOT analysis is a method of conducting a general and quick examination of an organisations current position, which will inform the actions to be taken to reach a favourable future position.	√
9	PESTLE is a strategic framework for understanding external influences on a business.	√
10	PESTLE stands for Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal and Environmental factors	√
11	The Situation analysis of your Marketing plan is the final section of the Marketing Plan  and  includes researching and analysis of your target market, competition, business challenges, and your company’s differentiation.	√
12	The Product Life Cycle means the sequence of stages that every product progresses through until it reaches the stage where it is finally abandoned or discontinued from the market.	√

I.	Multiple Choice Answer Quiz – Please answer all 10 Questions	Which is the best answer A,B,C or D
II.	Internal characteristics that place the business at a disadvantage relative to others is called a  A Challenge B Strength C Threat D Weakness	D
III.	How does PESTLE help your strategic analysis when developing a marketing plan? A.    It helps you to identify the strengths of your company B.    It helps you to find the weaknesses of your company C.   It helps you to see how your company’s financial well-being is affecting the environment D.   It helps you to find solutions to problems, create marketing strategies, and stay ahead of your competition	D
IV.	Which of the following are considered political elements of PESTLE? A.    Visa requirements and trading tariffs B.    Weather and climate C.   Currency inflation and interests rates D.   Age and gender	A
V.	Legislation can effect which of the following factors in a PESTLE analysis? A Political C Technological C Social D Economic	A
VI.	Which of the following list is not a part of an organization’s external environment? (Select ONE) A. Customers B. Competitors C. The micro-environment D. All of the above options listed are a part of an organisation’s external environment	C
VII.	Which of the following statements is the best definition of a ‘competitor’? A   A company operating within your industry B   A company operating within your region C   A company which supplies a similar good or service to you D   A company which uses the same marketing channels as you	C
VIII.	The following statement describes the company’s business vision, including the unchanging values and purpose of the firm and forward-looking visionary goals that guide the pursuit of future opportunities. A. Mission statement B. Vision statement C. Objective statement D The marketing Plan	B
IX.	What question should a business mission statement answer? A.    How a company goes to market and increases its revenue B.    Why a company sells the products to the consumer C.   Why a company is in business and what they are trying to accomplish D.   How a company plans to market specific products to the domestic market	C
X.	The very last section in a marketing plan should contain A  Summary of the Marketing Plan and contents page B  Financial projections C  The marketing strategy D  A situation analysis	B
XI.	A new company has broken in the market you are competing in, what does this represent to your business A  A strength B  An Opportunity C  A weakness D  A Threat	D

SAQ1. Description of the situational analysis

            It can be stated that the Coles supermarket enjoys a better position in the Australian retail market. In this context, the most significant strength of the company is resembled with the effective and unique pricing strategy. The low pricing strategy is identified as an effective strategic decision that was developed by the Coles supermarket executives. Moreover, generating the maximum revenue for the Australian government is also creates a better advantage for the company. However, there are some weakness in terms of the lack of communication with the suppliers. As a result of that it hampered the healthy business expansion because of spreading negative publicity (Datta Ailawadi and van Heerde 2017).

Nevertheless, there are plenty of opportunities for Coles supermarket to penetrate the Australian market more extensively. In this regard, the control over the supply chain is an effective step for Coles supermarket. Moreover, entering into the new market backed by huge sponsorship can be effective enough. Moreover, the brand value is also considered to be an important aspect for this. Nonetheless, there are some threats that cause serious problems for the business development of Coles supermarket. Intense competition and the fluctuation in demands of the customers are identified as the most emerging threats for Coles supermarket. Besides this, entry of new retail companies would also intensify the competition.

SAQ2. Product life cycle diagram

SAQ3. Product life cycle description

            The UHT milk was one of the popular product that had great demand among the customers. The primary reason was the low price of the product. During the year 2015 Coles had started selling the UHT milks with a price of 95c per litre. At that time it was the best possible price that could be offered by the retail companies. As a result of that the sales growth of the UHT milk had jumped up to 4.5% annually (Fan Lau and Zhao 2015). However, in course of time Woolworths started to offer the UHT milk with the same price. As a result of that the sales growth of the product started growing downward and finally it lost the permanence in the Australian market.

Supermarket, Retail, and Customer Services Provided by Coles

Different between vision and mission statement

            According to Lozanoet al. (2015)it can be stated that mission statement of a company deals with the purpose and primary objectives that consolidates the future of that organisation. On the other hand, Kanget al. (2015) articulated that the vision statement is resembled with the values that any organisation follows. In addition to this, Carraher Welsh and Svilokos (2016) in.

his research had opined that the primary difference between the vision and mission statement was that the mission statement puts emphasis on the present situation or measures that lead to secure the future whereas the vision statement talks about the future of the business. Furthermore, it can be argued that the mission statement of a company deals with the internal factors inside the company. On the contrary, the vision statement is always put emphasis on the external environment surrounded the company.

Mission statement of Coles

            The mission statement of Coles Supermarket is related to its effective relationship with the customers as well as other stakeholders. In this context, the mission statement of Coles supermarket is to cover up all the interests of the stakeholders especially the suppliers and distributors so that adequate supply of products will be continued and at the same time it will bring future sustainability through satisfying the consumers profoundly.

Goals for opportunity

            In this context, there are two important opportunities that Coles can exploit in order to expand its business. The first opportunity is related to establish an unique supply network for continuous supply of products. On the other hand, setting up a brand value is considered to be effective for the organisation to encapsulate the market extensively. For the first opportunity, the goals are developing a better communication with the stakeholders to promote better supply chain management and the putting emphasis on the interests of the suppliers and the distributors. On the other hand, for increasing the brand value Coles can facilitate a better marketing plan and conduct a marketing research for understanding the role of the consumer behaviour

Specific	Increase number of suppliers within 12 months
Measurable	Establishing better communication for the supply chain
Achievable	Installing an application to contact with the suppliers and other stakeholders directly
Realistic	This goal will help the company to attain benefits and advantages in near future.
Time bound	The process will take 6 months to develop.

Specific	Make a better communication with the stakeholders within 6 months
Measurable	Conducting effective business session with the stakeholders
Achievable	Installing an application to contact with the suppliers and other stakeholders directly
Realistic	The online or live chat options will help the stakeholders to ventilate their grievances any time.
Time bound	It will take two months to conduct an effective business session with the stakeholders.

Specific	Enhance the brand value within the next 5 years.
Measurable	Aggressive promotion
Achievable	Making effective marketing and promotional plan
Realistic	Growth of sales up to 5%
Time bound	5 years

Specific	Setting up better operational framework within 12 months
Measurable	Initiating direct communication with the suppliers
Achievable	Installing direct communication interface through application development
Realistic	Enhancing operation greatly.
Time bound	12 months.

Coles express gift card service is selected for the business and is observed to have profitable features and benefits for its target consumers. Two features of this “Coles gift card service” includes offering shell high quality grade fuels at discounted prices and it is available to make online purchases unlimited times in more than 600 Coles stores till the balance reaches zero (Bulmer, Elms and Moore 2018). The benefits offered by this service includes offering convenient way of managing and tracking the fuel expenditure of consumers and offers access to attaining 4c fuel discount receipt when this gift card is used as payment.

Marketing strategic plan

The marketing strategic plan for Coles express gift card service is through flyers advertising. This marketing strategy is suitable in communicating the benefits that the company’s consumers can attain through using its express gift card services (Weichert 2017). The advantages and features offered by this service of Coles can be advertised through flyers by using bold headlines and the leaflet distributed to the target audiences and must be eye-catching so that the consumers are aware of the service benefits.

Competition between Coles and Woolworths in Australia

Resources for the service

Identification of Resource	Bulk activation code for activating gift card issue order and gift card order form confirming self-check-out service
Contact Details of Resource	Contact details such as will be necessary in placing an order for this gift card and for attaining confirmation of details of the order.
Cost of Resource	Coles express gift card activation code and self-check-out maintenance for Coles will require an estimated cost of $ 350 per year
Items or Hours Required for the Resource	3 major items are required related to resource including Coles Group Limited ABN, gift card presentation folder and tax invoice
Allocation Intent for the Resource	The identified resources are deemed necessary in activating gift card issue order and for recoding important information related to the card

            The Vision statement of the Wentworth Institute is to place the institution the best in the region in terms of both facilities and the teaching abilities.

            The mission statement of the     Wentworth Institute is to develop better facility and encouraging scholar students to take an admission for getting better educational faculty.

• As far as the political segment is concerned, the current Australian government has shared its concern for the education of the youths.
• Moreover, a number of international students are also visit Australia to pursue advance studies.
• From the economic perspective Australia is popular for its high lifestyle but minimum expenses in the education make it lucrative internationally.
• Furthermore, the par-time jobs are also offered to the students so that they can maintain their standards of living.
• Fair and prosperous cultural norms lead Australia to become a hub of education.
• The Australian people value knowledge and openness.
• The modern education with smart classroom teaching is considered to be an important aspect for the students studied in Australia.
• In addition to this, the institutes are also promote technological advancement through e-library, books and journals that facilitate better educational environment for the educational sector in Australia.
• Australian Human Rights Commission puts emphasis on the equal opportunity for meritorious students to get education. Even so there are fellowship system that encourages the students to pursue advance studies.
• On the other hand, Australian Education Act 2013 compels the government to fund the schools and colleges so that the educational institutions are enable to implement adequate changes.
• As far as the environmental factors are concerned, it can be argued that good education will make good people who have enough knowledge of what is wrong and what is right. Therefore, it will also develop a better framework for a sound human resource.
• Moreover, the higher education can lead to peace and tranquillity that is also an important aspect for the benefits of the environment.

Strength	Opportunity
§  Good environment for education. §  Better faculty. §  Wonderful educational records. §  Philanthropic works.	§  Making better facility for the students. §  Increase the admission seats. §  Providing distance education.
Weakness	Threat
§  Lack of efficiency in non-teaching staffs. §  Unfriendly student portal. §  Intense competition among fresh candidates for getting admission.	§  Other universities with better educational facility. §  Less pricy educational institutes. §  In-transparent non-teaching staffs.

• Social media advertising can be an useful tool to promote Wentworth Institute.
• In this regard, social media like Twitter and Facebook is very useful for using as promotional tools.
• Moreover, Wentworth Institute can opt for the educational websites where students and aspirants are visited in a daily basis.

            As an educational institute it is obvious to state that Wentworth Institute puts more emphasis on the quality of education. Therefore, it can be argued that the product will be quality of service in terms of the quality of education. Based on this, it can be argued that the facility and quality that are provided by the institute (Huang and Sarigöllü 2014). It is associated with providing faculty and the non-teaching staffs with the advance e-learning process that are essential for a better educational environment.

            In this context, the price of the products are associated with the role to offer the students admission fees and educational fees in order to set some lucrative offers to the students. Based on this understanding, it can be stated that the Wentworth Institute sets a low pricing strategy but high quality service in order to capitalise the market more extensively (Datta,, Ailawadi and van Heerde 2017). As a matter of fact, it will deliver a strategic advantage to the marketing mechanism of Wentworth Institute.

            It is important for the Wentworth Institute to deliver a better location to attract maximum number of customers. Therefore, Wentworth Institute had to set up its campus in a better place that is convenient and free from traffic and noises (Fan, Lau and Zhao 2015). In this regard, the location sets by Wentworth Institute is very advantageous and the local community adds up more benefits because of creating a better environment for education.

            In this regard, the promotional strategy are played a significant role to generate more effectiveness in the process of making better advertisement. In this context, opting social media is beneficial for the organisation to attract more customers. Furthermore, it can be stated that using Facebook and Twitter will be a beneficial factor for the organisation (Bahadir, Bharadwaj and Srivastava 2015). In addition to this, it can be stated that advertising in the educational websites are also contributed in this regard.

Goal	Actions taken	Person responsible
Utilization of social media platforms for suitable advertisements	·         Identifying the feasibility of the social media platform ·         Consulting with an IT expert ·         Incorporation of data on the social media	IT expert, Marketing executive
Establishing proper communication within the organization	·         Assessing the needs of establishing communication channels ·          Creation of a dedicated  online portal	IT expert, University authorities

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