Coles Supermarket Case Study Help: A Complete Overview
Before discussing why you need to hire Coles Supermarket Case Study Assignment Help, here is an example that illustrates how a case study is written.
About Coles:
Coles Supermarket is in the forefront of the supermarket chains in Australia. This retail supermarket maintains a good financial report all through the years, expanded its market to become famous in the multiple nations and still growing. Coles Supermarkets Australia Pty Ltd that has been trading as Coles everywhere is a popular Australian Supermarket with a retail and consumer service chain. It is headquartered in Melbourne and it is a part of Coles Group.
Founded in the year 1914 in Collingwood by George Coles who used to operate as many as 807 supermarkets all over in Australia that includes the re-branded BI-LO Supermarkets also, it is known to have recruited a huge manpower comprising of 100,000 employees. Along with the rival Woolworths, the company account for over 80 percent of the Australian market. Between 1986 and 2006, Coles Supermarket became the brand of Coles Myer Limited that was Coles Group Limited Later on.
About the company will be an important section that a Coles Supermarket Case Study Assignment Help will mention.
Background and History of Coles:
G.J Coles or George James Coles retail trade working for his father’s Coles store business from 1910 to 1913. The store continued to operate as “the original coles” at Wilmot, Tasmania till it was destroyed accidently by fire on 24th January 2014. Coles came into being when G.J. Coles opened “Coles Variety Store.” In the year 1914 right on the Smith Street in Melbourne which was a suburb of Collingwood. Coles was interested primarily in the food retailing and hence it expanded the market further in 1958 and acquired John Dickins grocery stores and the Beiby’s chain in South Australia. Finally, it acquired Matthews Thompson grocery stores in the South Wales in the year 1960.
In the year 1960, the first supermarket under the trading name of Dickins was opened in the suburbs of Melbourne. By the year 1973, Coles has established stores in all the Australian capital cities. From 1962, Coles supermarkets started getting branded as Coles New World and the accompanying space age theme imagery has made the supermarket a clear-cut winner. In the year 1991, the stores were rebranded as Coles Supermarkets and from 1998 it was named as Coles simply.
In the year 2004, the liquor division of the Coles Liquor Group was moved from Chullora in Sydney to the company head-office in Hawthorn East. Coles Myer CEO John Fletcher cited the move to a better efficiency between the liquor and the food departments. Craig Watkins, a 35-year old veteran and the director of the Coles Liquor retired from the company.
It was in 2006-2007 that BI-LO supermarkets began to be badged as Coles Supermarkets. Newmart supermarkets, under which BI-LO was traded in the Western Australia was also badged as Coles Supermarket in the year 2002-2003.
Newmart stores that were co-located with the Coles in the same area were sold to Foodland and re-branded as Action Supermarkets chain which is defunct now. Conversion program was put on a hold at Easter 2007. On 2nd July 2007, Western Australian based company Wesfarmers get convinced for purchasing the Coles group Limited for A$22 billion and the purchase was done in the early 2008.
In the year 2007, Wesfarmers gave up its plans for restructuring of Coles Group following its expected takeover and the company announced that three will be three planned divisions comprising of liquor, supermarkets and convenience stores. In the year February 2008, Wesfarmers were appointed as UK retailer Ian McLeod as the managing director of the Coles Supermarket and of fuel and convenience businesses.
In the year 2011, Coles acquired National Australia Bank and earned 50 per cent interest in Australia’s largest loyalty programs known as flybuys. In the September 2011, Coles commenced the stocking private label clothing in the stores.
In 2014, John Durkan was chosen as the new Managing Director. In 2018, Wesfarmers made the idea of demerging the Coles business clear to the public and retained only 20% of the interest. In the year, 2018, Steven Cain was appointed as CEO of the Coles Supermarket which was part of the de-merger of Coles from the well-known Wesfarmers.
With the help of Coles Supermarket case assignment help, you can get a clearer idea about the background of this food giant.
Growth of Coles Supermarket:
Sales growth of the supermarket begins to slow down at the end of the last year and the company faced a challenge of sustaining well in challenging competition of the retail market.
Key Points of the Coles Supermarket:
- Coles half-year net profit rose up from 14 per cent to $738 million and the restructuring of the supply chain will need an additional investment of $146 million.
- IOOF profit of the company surged to 200 per cent in the first half of the financial year that boosted one-off items.
- IOOF lifts its provisions for the purpose of covering the regulatory costs and the compliance arising from the royal commission.
In its first standalone result ever since the spinning off from Wesfarmers, Coles reported comparable supermarket sales growth of 1.3 per cent in the second quarter of FY down from 5.1 per cent in the last year. “Coles little shop” collectables is the campaign that enhanced the sales growth more than half but its impact waned out in the second quarter. But, as a matter of fact the average basket size of rose up by 3.1 per cent in just half a year and the demand for its products soars up drastically.
The company was not able to pay an interim dividend but Wesfarmers will pay the dividend soon.
As the part of their marketing strategy, the supermarket is now more focused in growing its range of the convenient food products that has added up around 200 product lines and the giant is trailing new store formats also. It is more focused on the convenience of the masses and premium fresh food quality and the company has continued giving outstanding services to its customers.
Revenue Generated by the Supermarket:
Another important area to be highlighted by Coles Supermarket Case Study assignment help is revenue generated by the company. Coles has reported 9.1 percent drop in full-year profits to $1.43 billion. Chief Executive Officer, Steven Cain is of the belief that supermarkets are now entering into competitive field.
Despite a 2.7 per cent increase in comparable supermarkets, there was a reported profit of $30.9 billion investments in the supply chain and the company restructured its profits. In the first full-year report of the market the company will de-merge from the Wesfarmers only in the previous year. Coles reported the total revenue to $38.4 billion but it showed the positive results online and in the private labeling.
Online growth of the company grew by 30 per cent and a total of $1.2 billion of sales revenue was generated that the made the channel profitable for the very first time in the past two decade. Home delivery became popular all over the country. With the annual sales growth of more than double the national average, retail experts are of the belief that the company will grow by leaps and bounds by the year 2023.
Private Label Powers in the Offing:
Supermarket introduced as many as 1200 private label products in the previous FY and reported that the sales of its own brand are growing at twice the rate of other products.
Total Coles Group sales include several things like fuel, supermarkets, convenience, hotels and liquor etc. The sales were up to 3.1 per cent and grew by $35 billion. EBIT was down to 8% at 1.335 billion. One of the best and fastest growing categories in the supermarkets is “convenience.”
Collectables were not a part of the long-term plans. Supermarket did not intend to focus on the collectables solely as a part of their long term growth and shifted its attention to the loyalty schemes. Collectables are not a part of Coles long-term growth.
Poor Performance of the Coles Express:
Coles Express fared badly all through the year and the comparable sales increased by just 0.1 per cent. EBIT dropped to 70% on the last year to just $50 million.
Coles Supermarkets eliminated a $30 million annual fee to the Coles Express for making use of the Coles Brand. Weekly fuel volumes of the company fell to 13 per cent to just 60 milliliters per week. In the liquor section the comparable sales grew by 1.2 per cent to $ 3 billion as the category launches 64 exclusive lines. The supermarket is under an immense amount of pressure from the fresh food category and hence the fresh produce, meat, bakery had a negative influence.
The supermarket has continued to grow even after tremendous amount of pressure from the drought. It has impacted its produce, bakery and meat etc. Analysts are of the belief that Coles is worth to Wesfarmers. Market analysts from the Credit Suisse value Coles at $18 billion approximately. Citi analysts are of the view that it has a net worth more than $18 billion and also said that the sales reported was a good move for Wesfarmers.
Online sales of the company have continued to be grown by 30 per cent in the last one year to June 30. This added to $1.1 billion in the sales revenue range while the expansion of the own brand products grew more than twice than rest of its businesses.
Earlier in this year, the company revealed its plans for branching out into the booming health foods industry. The newly owned brand of the company is offering as many as 28 products which are aimed exclusively at the consumers who prefer eating clean.
Coles has also introduced its 1200 newly owned brand private label products the previous year as it wanted to grow the division sales by 40 % of the penetration as compared to several other products in the market. One of the campaigns started by the company was in the name of “food for now.” It has been a year of the substantial change by the Coles and with this campaign Coles headed towards the most competitive periods in the history.
With the return of the profit growth in the core supermarkets of the company, a 4-year transformation program was started. Delivery of the sales growth strategy and the $ 1 billion smart selling program has made the group stronger than ever.
Marketing Strategy of Coles:
The sole strategy of Coles is to provide adequate services to the customers and achieve long-term growth.
Coles Segmentation Strategy:
Coles segment its customers depending on their buying behavior. With the help of market segmentation a large number of customers can be divided into smaller segments. Cole is targeted towards satisfying the needs of customers effectively. Moreover, the marketing giant segments its customers on the basis of demographic, psychographic and behavioral characteristics.
The company has segmented its customers depending on their age and income. Also, the behavior characteristics of the customers towards different types of products are evaluated for ensuring the best products to the customers.
Coles Market Targeting:
The company targets customers in Australia through its immensely long chain of the retail stores all over the Australia. Moreover, Coles provide a wide variety of products that are suitable both for low and high income customers in Australia.
Market Positioning:
Coles has adopted a low cost pricing strategy which is intended to gain bigger customer base in the industry with a wide ranging products. The supermarket always faces a huge completion from its retailers. ALDI and Woolworths are the main competitors of Coles. The lowest pricing strategy of the company has helped the company grow fast.
Coles Marketing Tactics
Selling a diverse range of the products in the best possible manner, Coles adopted the following strategies.
Products:
The company has developed a very strong product portfolio for the purpose of meeting customers’ needs. There can be a wide-range of products sold by the Coles like the bakery, fresh fruits, meat, liquor, mobile phones, gluten-free products and much more. The company has also launched a diversified brand for its products like Spirit hotels, grass fed, beef, sugars and more. Customers can shop through their Coles app which is aimed at meeting the needs of customers. Coles has also launched different types of beauty and health magazines for attracting a large number of customers and has provided a large number of recipes to the housewives.
Place:
Coles has a widely distributed channel. It provides wide-ranging products to its customers via different types of distribution channels. The company has set up as many as 807 supermarkets in the continent and has popularized its online store focusing on easing customers shopping experience.
Promotion:
Coles has embraced a unique way of promoting its products among the customers. Online promotions and online discounts are being provided by the company from time to time. The company has always tried to have an edge in the market with the help of Social Media Marketing and traditional advertising modes. The act of promotion by the company is meant for the purpose of creating awareness of the products.
Physical Evidence:
The strategy of providing convenient shopping strategy to the customers of the Coles worked. Coles have also tried maintaining effective relationships within its suppliers that has built a positive reputation of the company in the market.
Employees of Coles:
The company has hired a well-experienced staff that can organize people and help them in providing quick services to the customers. Coles is aimed towards providing a regular training to the staff members for improving the quality and effectiveness of services and for satisfying its customers optimally. The company has always taken a soft approach to the HRM practices for the purpose of keeping its employees satisfied and well-motivated.
Process:
Coles has embraced a number of tactics for the purpose of providing quick and hassle-free services to its customers. Apart from that, Coles have also taken a number of initiatives for the purpose of improving supply-chain.
Coles Recommendations about Marketing:
Marketing strategy of the supermarket is aimed towards supplying differentiated products to the customers at the lowest prices. It is aimed at achieving the top most position in the industry by consistent delivery of services and products. A number of management strategies are being adopted by the employees from time to time and this the key for providing quality services to the customers. The company has also adopted a wide-range of strategies for providing better satisfaction to the customers.
Coles has gained huge acceptance and a wide spread popularity in the world of retail. For the purpose of improving its strategic position, the company has always adopted a customer-centric approach.
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