Developing Strategies in the Food Industry - Free Samples to Students

Question: Discuss about the Developing Strategies in the Food Industry. Answer: Introduction This report is conducted to strategize the marketing plan for the Coles Supermarket. The purpose of this report is to outline the complete marketing strategies that will be required for achieving its marketing objectives. The rise in the retail and food industry in Australia has increased the level of competition, which becomes necessary for the organizations to define a particular marketing strategy. This report is based on the Australian organization, i.e., Coles. Coles is the largest chain of supermarkets in Australia. Coles was founded in the year 2014, where it opened its first store in Melbourne, Australia. Coles is a wholly owned subsidiary organization of Wesfarmers. The Organization belongs to the Retail and consumer services sector of Australia and is considered as the largest Australian supermarket chain. This organization has over 800 stores operating across Australia and has more than 100000 employees working in their stores. The Coles supermarket holds around 45% of the market share of Australia and has revenue of around A$ 38 billion in the year 2016. This organization has recently completed its 100 years of service in the year 2014. Coles supermarket has various rivals, but they still have managed to compete with the competition from the rival firms and is known as the leading supermarket in Australia. Coles has a wide range of products like groceries, liquor and meat and this organization aim at selling its own brands. The Coles has been able to satisfy a large number of customer base with its wide range of products and services (Commonwealth of Australia, 2011). Coles has also opened its online grocery store in order to provide better quality services to its clients. Coles serves around 1.2 billion of customers through its various outlets. Coles has been supported by the industry in which it belongs as this industry has huge growth that has helped Coles in managing and sustaining its brand image and position. The Mission of Coles: To give people of Australia a shop they trust, delivering quality, service and value. The Corporate vision of Coles is to establish itself as a world class brand and also aims at growing a sustainable future of Australia by providing the proper means. The report states complete analysis of the market in order to formulate the best marketing plan for the Coles Supermarket (Coles Supermarkets, 2017). The Coles supermarket has a great influence on the market share of the Australian markets. The company contributes to the growth of the economy. The product line of Coles is daily products, meat, liquor, apparels, bakery products and many more. The company has been following the policy of low price as their marketing strategy for a past few years in order to attract and induce the customers to buy its products and services. Fresh produce is the chief element of the Coles product range. The main competitor of Coles is Woolworths with a 40% market share in the industry. Coles aims at gearing its marketing strategies towards the food, fuel and liquor services (Bloore, 2015). The organization aims at selling the best quality products to its customers through all stores. Coles has appointed talented staff at all its outlets in order to handle the customers and their feedbacks.The Coles supermarkets target the customers of different income groups. In concern to the promotional activities, the Coles makes use of media like radio, TV, newspapers and internet in order to attract the customers. Environmental Analysis This part of the report will help in analyzing the possible external factors in the industry in which Coles operates. Political factors: The political situation of Australia affects the retail industry. The Government regulations against the duopolistic market of Australia affects the other small enterprises. The logistical policies of the government in the retail sector has been faced by Coles. No other such political problems with regard to the produce of Coles has been faced. Economic factors: A considerable decrease in the economic market conditions has caused problems to the Coles supermarket. The reduction in the currency has also decreased the level of spending from the Australian consumers. The bargaining power of the suppliers have been drastically changed in the recent years, which brings problems for the Coles supermarkets. Social factors: The retail industry has been affected adversely from the social aspects of the external environment. The Australian people tend to expect more from the supermarkets. It becomes the duty of the Coles to produce that ordinarily develops the society as a whole. The recent trends in the society states that they expect a societal organization in their country. Thereby, Coles is implying to take societal initiatives in order to attract customers. Technological factors: The technological advancements have caused great impact on the Coles supermarkets. The application of the green refrigerators in the grocery stores in order to protect the fresh produce. The use of the internet by the coles customers and the advancements in the payment facilities affected the Coles markets. Adding the self checkout facilities will also help in speeding up the process of shopping at Coles Supermarkets. Legal factors: The law of carbon tax has been implemented in the retail industry of Australia, which creates an impact on the Supermarkets like Coles and Woolworths. The implementation of the ACCC regulations affects the operations of the Coles supermarkets. Also, the strict rules are applied in the coding system of the supermarkets that adversely affect the Coles (Team, 2012). Environmental factors: The environmental factors of the country create impacts on the retail industry of Australia. Coles is being affected by the environmental issues. The produce of liquor through the Coles have caused an impact on the environment adversely. The supermarkets are forced to use sustainable products. Thereby, the Coles supermarkets use sustainable products and have established eco-friendly supermarkets. Competitors Analysis The grocery produce of the Coles has the most number of competitors in the retail industry of Australia. Every brand aims at positioning their brand on top by promoting and delivering the best services to the customers. The biggest rival to the grocery and fresh produce of the Coles supermarket is the Woolworths and Aldi. The same products are offered at Woolworths and Aldi, the competition is very high based on the timely delivery, price, promotion, added value service and etc. Aldi is the biggest rival as it lower its prices at any point of time in order to capture a huge market share, which creates problems for the Coles supermarket to ascertain a specific price for their grocery products (Woolworths Limited, 2014). The Coles delivers the best fresh fruits and vegetables, thereby, Woolworths has also started to induce the customers by giving the best fresh produce to the Australian customers. The immense level of competition is faced by the Coles in the retail sector as any change in one supermarket adversely affects the strategies of the other supermarkets. The grocery items or the fresh produce of the Coles supermarket is the highest selling product. The customers that have the highest purchase of the fresh produce of the Coles supermarkets is the humans of the middle level income group (Keith, 2012). The target customers of the Coles supermarkets are the median income group of customers in order to provide them with the basic necessities of life. Since, Coles has aimed at growing the future of the Australian people, they produce high amounts of grocery products that are necessary to lead a life. Thereby, the middle level and low level income group of people are targeted. The buying behavior of the customers is changing with the change in the social trends. SWOT Analysis This part of the report considerably aims at defining the core competencies and weakness of the Coles Supermarket pertaining in the retail industry of Australia. Strengths Opportunities Second largest producer in the grocery sector of Australia Trying to sell private label products in order to increase more sales Delivers combinations of products and services, which are different from other supermarkets An opportunity to capture huge market share in the liquor market Consumables sold by Coles are indigenous in nature With the availability of huge customer data, coles have the opportunity to establish insurance policies Provides cost savings goods and services Has the opportunity to scan the market for expansion in sectors of Asia Weakness Threats Problems from the suppliers Regulatory actions of the legal department Attitude problems from the suppliers Actions of ACCC have brought problems in the relationship with the suppliers and Coles Management problems in the supply chain Competition from Woolworths has increased Issues in managing all the outlets at various locations Change in the eating and spending habits of customers Threats from competitors in insurance and liquor sector (Rawal, 2013). Potential target market The Coles group aims at satisfying a large customer base through their wide range of products and services. The Coles has also aimed at targeting a specific market segment in order to increase its sales and customer satisfaction. For an effective marketing plan, it is important for the organization to determine its target audience and their buying behavior based on the various factors. The demographic, geographic, psychographic and behavioral factors of the target market are briefly outlined. Demographic Factors: The Coles supermarkets aims at targeting the customers of on the basis of gender also. The females of age group 18 to 35 are targeted in order to produce and sell the most of the grocery products to them. The males of the age 18 to 25 are targeted and also the young children are targeted in order to sell the various bakery and confectionery items. The customers are targeted and welcomed for all cultures. The middle and low level income group of people are targeted the most. Geographic Factors: The Australian customers are targeted by the Coles group, which live in the cities of Australia. Also, the customers who live in the coastal areas of the Australia are also targeted with their wide range of product line. The outlets have been opened at almost every city of Australia in order to induce the customers from all the areas. Psychographic Factors: The Coles aims at selling the grocery and fresh produce to the targeted customers that are males and females in order to motivate them to eat fresh that will cater to increase their well being. The household sector has been adversely impacted through the policy of producing the fresh fruits and vegetables as this helps the customers from preventing themselves from any health problems. The targeted audiences psychographic needs are also considered (Murray, 2014). Behavioral Factors: The targeted customers have unique behaviors. They tend to buy the products that are high in quality depending on the price of the product. The customers aim at getting timely delivery of the grocery products and due to this, the online store of Coles guarantees quality and timely delivery of the products. The customers also seek convenience and comfort levels to be increased while shopping, thereby, Coles has aimed at providing smooth automate trolleys at the store, which provide comfort to the customers. Positioning of the product The Coles offers the most wanted and necessary product, i.e., the fresh fruits and vegetables in the middle and low level income group of customers in order to increase their standard of living. The main feature of their product is that it is a fresh produce with the help of the Australian farmers. The customers buy this product because it is highly fresh and the Coles maintains low price. The grocery products are also combined with the fresh produce in order to help the customers in saving the cost. The future trend of this product will continue to remain the same as it is highly demanded product and the customers are attracted in large volume due to its price, taste, quality and delivery (Goyder, 2007). The fresh produce of Coles has positioned itself at a very high level apart from its competitors by describing its attributes to the customers and the use through the advertisements. The Coles has managed to position itself due to the quality of products and services offered by them . Product: The core product in the Coles supermarket is the Fresh produce i.e., fruits and vegetables, the grocery items that have considerably increased the sales. The product is highly fresh and contains all the necessary vitamins that are necessary for the intake of the customers. The product is grown in an indigeneous manner by the Australian farmers. The product has attained high levels of sales at all the outlet of the Coles supermarket. Price: The Coles supermarket sells their product at a lower price in order to attract the middle and lower level income group. The company has adopted the down down strategy in order to compete with the prices of the competitors product. The product lies in the reasonable amount, therefore, it attracts mostly the household sector of the Australian people (Singh, 2012). Place: The Coles supermarkets are located at the places where there is high traffic. The outlets are situated near the residential areas in order to attract the large customer base. The outlets are located at the reach of every customer. The distribution and supply of the products and services is very good and smooth. Promotion: Coles supermarket aims at promoting their products through various means of media. Radio is the most important means as Australian customers make use of radio in their day-to-day life. The use of TV is very high among the household sector and youngsters, thereby, the products should be promoted through advertisements on the TV. Also, due to the increase in the use of social media, the Coles can aim at promoting their products and services on Facebook, Twitter and by also, established their own website (CIM, 2009). The aim of the budget is to spend amount at the necessary activities in order to achieve its goals. The market plan is devised to ensure that every activity has sufficient amount to perform its function. If the budget for promotion for Coles supermarket is $250000, then following will be the budget. Production Media Total Radio Radio advertisements 50000 50000 Events 25000 25000 50000 Point of Sale Incentives 10000 10000 Samples 10000 15000 25000 Display 10000 20000 30000 Social media Social media sites 50000 50000 Google 20000 20000 Others 10000 10000 TOTAL 250000 Conclusion The report has highlighted the major situational and SWOT analysis in order to plan the market strategy. It has been found that the Coles targeted audience is its household sector and middle level income group. The Coles main product is the Fresh produce, which is highly fresh and best in quality and by implementing lower prices and various promotional techniques, the sales will increase. The various customer factors and external environmental factors have also been discussed in order to formulate better marketing strategies. References Bloore, R., 2015. Case study Coles Supermarkets, Available at: https://www.brassrazoo.com.au/casestudy/Brass_Razoo_Fujitsu_Case_Study_Coles.pdf CIM, 2009. Marketing and the 7P's: A brief summary of marketing and how it works, Available at: https://www.thensmc.com/sites/default/files/CIM%207Ps%20Resource.PDF Coles Supermarkets, 2017. About Coles: official website. [Online] Available at: https://www.coles.com.au/about-coles. Commonwealth of Australia, 2011. Economic Structure and Performance of the Australian Retail Industry, Available at: https://www.pc.gov.au/inquiries/completed/retail-industry/report/retail-industry.pdf Goyder, R., 2007. Recommended Offer for Coles, Available at: https://media.corporate-ir.net/media_files/irol/14/144042/pres2007/7_2.pdf Keith, S., 2012. Coles, Woolworths and the local. Locale: The Australasian-Pacific Journal of Regional Food Studies, 2, pp.47-64. Murray, D., 2014. Response to Financial System Inquiry (Interim Report) - Coles, Available at: https://fsi.gov.au/files/2014/09/Coles.pdf Rawal, D., 2013. Company Spotlight: Coles Group - SWOT analysis, Available at: https://www.scribd.com/document/350942971/SWOT-analysis-pdf Singh, M., 2012. Marketing Mix of 4PS for Competitive Advantage. IOSR Journal of Business and Management (IOSRJBM), 3(6), pp.40-45. Team, F., 2012. Developing Strategies in the Food Industry: Challenges and Opportunities, Available at: https://www.fishfiles.com.au/knowing/Documents/Module_2-Developing_Strategies_in_the_Food_Industry.pdf Woolworths Limited, 2014. Response to Competition Review IssuesPaper, Available at: https://competitionpolicyreview.gov.au/files/2014/06/Woolworths.pdf