Which Strategy of Marketing Products Is Better - of Woolworths or Coles Supermarkets in Belconnen - Example

Course name: Professor’s name: University name: City, State Date of submission: A REPORT ON COMPARISON BETWEEN WOOLWORHTS AND COLES SUPERMARKET IN BELCONNEN BY STUDENTS IN UC CAMPUS. Abstract or Summary In every aspect of our life today competition is the key thing. Everywhere in the world today businesses are competing to earn a bigger market share. This report is about two supermarkets in Canberra Australia namely Woolworths and Coles supermarket. They are the two giant supermarkets in Australia as illustrated by Tread gold[Tre96]. This research was conducted to know which one of the two supermarket people prefer to shop. Woolworth and Coles supermarkets are located at close range everywhere in Australia. A case study is in the case of Canberra shopping malls. In this malls you will find both of this supermarkets. These report is interested to know which strategy each of these two supermarkets uses to market their products. It also shows how this two supermarkets are competing to have a larger market share. The report also would like to know how for example Woolworth plans to beat Coles supermarket in market, which marketing strategy it employs. The report also looks at the things that will affect people’s decisions when choosing which one of the two supermarkets to shop from. The report will also show which one of this two giant supermarkets the students from the University of Canberra will choose to shop from when they go to shop at Belconnen shopping mall. This research stresses more on things that affects people’s choices. Most of the information and views in this report was provided by the students from the University of Canberra. The findings from the research were that people are more interested in prices rather than the name of the supermarket. People will shop where product promotion and price favors their purchasing power at a given point in time. Even though most of the times these two supermarkets are located at the same location, people will either chose Woolworth or Coles because of their product promotion and price rather than their brand name[BT12][Roy14]. INTRODUCTION In 2013, an online research was conducted and it showed that Woolworth supermarket shared gained market shares of about 39% while Coles gained market shares of about 33.5%[BT12]. This puts emphasis on the fact these two supermarkets are the leading stores in the field of supermarkets in Australia. Recently, according to these research, these two supermarkets located in Belconnen mall have become more known to the students from university of Canberra. Since the Balconnen mall is located very close to the University of Canberra, it was easy for the research to focus on getting the opinion of students about these two supermarkets. The research showed that student’s preference on either of the supermarket was driven by prices of products and the promotional strategies which these two supermarkets use. There is enough prove that there has been an intense competition between this two supermarkets for over two decade[Kei12]s. for these report to be termed as a valid report and be accepted, recognized research methods had to be used in gathering and analyzing data. Some of this research method include, case study, interview, observation, and so forth. We out the data we collected it in several different forms. These data was both of high quality and quantity. We collected data that was very detailed and could apply to other studies.in choosing who to interview we picked students randomly from the university. Also a website known as survey monkey was used to get information from the students from the University of Canberra. These online supply produced 34 feedbacks. A questionnaire which had about 11 questions with multiple choices was used to conduct the research. The findings were presented by use of table and diagrams. BODY Project Scope The main reason for conducting this research was to look at what factors would influence the choices of people when choosing which supermarket to shop at. It is to test the consumer behavior in Australian supermarkets. This report answers the question “which element affects buyer’s decisions in making a choice on which supermarket to shop in”. It is very important to come up with a budget and plan on how the research is going to be carried out. The research should also focus on population and limitations of the research group. Assumptions of Project Budget Conducting this research will incur some expense which the university isn’t going to cater for. In order to raise enough money to cater for any expense going to be incurred, each member of the research group will be require to contribute 20 dollars. This money will be used on the following; printing of questionnaires, tips for interviewees, on food for researchers, transport, internet access and mobile phones. This budget is just an assumption a detailed one will be provided in the project. Schedules The report is to be submitted on or before 8 may 2014. This will allow the researchers to manage the time provided well and be done with research on time. Member will be asked to keep a good truck of time while doing tasks given to them. The research was completed in time because the researchers were active. The visited the supermarkets to carry out observations and asked peers in school to fill the questionnaires for them. Research Population In preparation for this research one of the key things we did was to determine the size of sample we were going to use. In our study we used a sample from the university and the village around it. The main aim for these research will be to determine which supermarket between Woolworth and Coles is more preferred to students from the university. By use of the Survey Monkey which is online link, it is going to be easy to reach large population. A questionnaire of 11 questions with multiple choices was designed. The number of students who responded to the questionnaire were only 30. In addition a group interview was conducted. It required 5-8 volunteers to be interviewed. These volunteers were supposed to be students from the University of Canberra who could either be locals or internationals. Internal stunted were very helpful because the made the research more valid due to diversity in cultures and behaviors. In conclusion, the research population was students from the university. Limitations Firstly, the time provided for the research will not be enough for the research to be very much detailed. It is also going to be difficult to carry out research on a big population. Another limitation is on money available. The amount money that is available is inadequate to finance well detailed and comprehensive research. Regard less of these barriers the research team is very determined to carry out a good research with all the findings required. Review of Related Literature. Literature Review 1. We carried out this research in order to know what influences consumer behavior when it comes to food section in Australia. The case study was Woolworth and Coles supermarket. In Australia, a larger percentage of the market share is share between this two supermarkets. They have a market share of about 70%. This finding is according to the National Association of Retail Grocery of Australia. It is estimated that in a duration of five years, Woolworth will have improved its distribution and supply sector. This will be achieved by developing a supply chain management which runs smoothly and is friendly in terms of cost. Woolworth also set the national prices for packaged milk in Australia making it the first retail chain to ever do that. In addition, recently these supermarket has been looking into the idea of widening the amount of pharmaceutical services it supplies. Woolworth and Coles supermarket have become the main giants in provision of petrol vouchers. They are also the main suppliers of fresh foods in Australia. Form this it is safe to conclude that this two rivals are the main retail supermarkets in Australia. This is because they give quality services to their customers[Jac05]. 2. According to Merrilees B and Miller D, Woolworth and Coles supermarkets have used different ways to get customers. Each one of these two supermarkets has used its own promotional strategy to convince a greater number of customers than the other to purchase goods from their stores. For each supermarket to have a larger market share than the other, it had to use a different way to marketing its self. These two supermarkets are the main food retailers in Australia. Woolworth supermarket dwells more on providing fresh foods. The two supermarkets together with Franklins were the first to become upmarket retailing supermarkets stocking fresh foods. By doing this, they were trying to enter into to a new line of operation. These two supermarkets overthrew other two retailers who were initially in this field of supply namely, Metro and Express. It can be concluded that Mirrilees B and Miller D gave an overview of how Woolworth and Coles supermarket have grown into the markets over the years. They have explained how these supermarkets have used different market approach in order to fight their way to the top[Mer08]. 3. Keith S (2012) explained the main idea of this research in terms of the effects Woolworth and Coles supermarket had on food production and retail and how they would solve shortcomings in this field. Firstly, Keith looked at the very high purchasing power of these two super markets in the field of fresh food production. Secondly, it was found that rise in demand for private label goods was because they are relatively cheaper than branded goods. Thirdly, the price rivalry between Woolworth and Coles supermarkets is highly beneficial to the buyers. Fourthly, a lot of buyers came to this supermarkets to buy fresh foods. These made the two supermarkets to grow really fast in terms of market share. Lastly, these two supermarkets provides extra services like selling gas. If a buyer has a card from this two supermarkets they can purchase goods at a discount. Keith concluded that this two supermarkets are in intense completion[Kei12]. 4. According to MagdaNenycz-Thiel these two supermarket which have about 70-74 per cent market share can be viewed has giants in the retail field and are only competing between themselves. In 2005 after Woolworth supermarket begun to advertise private labels, Coles supermarket immediately followed and it started offering premium on private labels. Woolworth supermarket employs the strategy of home branding which is not the same with the branding in the market. On the other hand Coles supermarket uses SKUs in Australia only which is lower than that of Woolworth. These proves that this two supermarkets are constantly competing in everything regardless of the different strategies used by each of them[Nen08]. 5. In Australian economy, the highest rated industry is the grocery one. Price tag on food products affects the daily lives of buyers. This sector of the economy of Australia has a very big number of laborers and it is connected to other sectors which are agriculture, manufacturing and transport. Government and policy makers uses this sector in making of some key decisions that affect the economy of the country. In these country, supermarkets which give around 70 per cent of the sale of food and grocery are very important in grocery industry. Coles supermarket is on the big fish industries in Australia, it has a 31 per cent share in grocery market. These is less than that of Woolworths. In the GDP of Australia Coles supermarket plays a very major role. It provide 6 billion dollars to the GDP of the country.Coles supermarket has also employed a very large number of workers of around 65,000. In 2010, these supermarket come up with a pricing formula which would help to attract large numbers of buyers. This formula was known as “Down Down.” Section of these formula was to keep prices of selected good always down rather reduce their prices for a short period of time then raise them again. The idea is to make buyers use these consumer surplus in purchasing other goods in the store. It can be concluded that since Coles supermarket has its own unique way of responding to consumers’ needs, the feeling one has while shopping in this two supermarkets is not the same[Del12]. In summary, from the findings of these researchers it is okay to say that these two supermarkets are constantly competing for a larger market share. One can also say that Woolworth supermarket is more of fresh produce seller as outlined by the findings of two of the researchers. On the other hand, both of this two supermarkets have dwelled much on food retailing. In conclusion, regardless of which marketing formula each one of this supermarket applies, they will always remain as rivals in the market. Methodology Qualitative Methodologies Case study-Focus group Focus group methodology is going to be used in data collection so that high quality data can be realized. This is going to provide data that is diverse and of good quality. 5 students are going to be picked randomly in the campus and asked to fill in questionnaires provided to them by our research team. In terms of time, the focus group interviewing will take about 15-30 minutes. This will provide us with first hand data that is not interfered with. After data is completely collected it will be analyzed to get qualitative data. Action research. These research stresses on element that influence peoples decisions on which supermarket to shop from, between Woolworth and Cole supermarket. In order to carry out an action research, the research team went into the village around the University of Canberra. The team carried some small gifts in order to motivate the people to answer the questions one heartedly. This was done in order to collect high quality data as possible. This was also done within the supermarket. Well detailed questionnaires were issued. These would enable us get well detailed findings on buyers from within and around the campus preferences between the two supermarkets. Quantitative approaches Survey A survey was conducted within the campus using the survey monkey link. Questionnaires were written and distributed to the students. From this 30 feedbacks were realized. Data collected was tabulated and also pie charts were used. After completing all these assumptions will be made based on statistical data. These method provides a well detailed data. Mixed methods In quantitative research, observation, investigation, experiment and statistics study social phenomenon are used. For objective findings to be found, an objective research is needed.In these form of research, it is usually found that the research takes data form. This method mainly includes case study ethnography, action research, and grounded theory. The research team from our group used action research, questionnaires which were provided online and interview. By use of action research, which required going into the village around campus to get firsthand information, a quantitative data was realized.it was found that, buyers choices were highly influenced the prices of goods and the product promotions available. Use of case study did not require any specific method of data collection, that is, any applicable method could apply as long as data it provided was valid. IT was found that some students were not willing to be interviewed. On addition, quantitative analysis is taken as a digital of measurement. It was used to determine the behaviors and the amount value of certain things. In the study quantitative method was determined by number of questionnaires that were fully answered by stunted from the University of Canberra. Even though the data collected using these method is correct and quality, these method has its own limitations. In our study we gathered data survey questions and looked into it according to quantitative theory. These showed the number and consumption behavior of people in Canberra. From the data collected, one can tell why people change their preferences[Sna11]. Human research ethics procedure The study also had to put into considerations the ethics of research design. In the research,four principles of research ethics were used. Firstly, we ensured that there was no harm done to the participants. We were able to ensure that participants were not subjected to any form uncomfortableness. Team members respected all the interviewees. They also told them that if they were comfortable with the questions asked they could quit at will. One of key things that the researchers were careful of was the emotions of the interviewees[Gre00]. Secondly, the researchers were keen on the principle of informed consent. This means informing the participant what the research is about. This allows then to choose whether to participate or not since participation is voluntary. In our research we made sure that before asking or administering any questionnaire, we first explained to the participants the reason as to why we were conducting the research. Lastly, we made sure that the principle of anonymity and confidentiality was followed. These meant that any information we obtained from our participants remained confidential. We explained to our participants that their names would not be disclosed. We also explained to our participants that any information they give us will remain confidential and will not be disclosed to any other person. Conclusion This report gives an overview of the preference of the people when it comes to shopping at either Woolworth or Coles supermarket. It tries to show which of these two supermarket is more preferred. References Tre96: , (Treadgold, 1996), BT12: , (B&T, 2012), Roy14: , (Morgan, 2014), Kei12: , (Keith, 2012), Jac05: , (Jacenko, 2005), Mer08: , (Merrilees, 2008), Nen08: , (Nenycz-Thiel, 2008), Del12: , (Delloite, 2012), Sna11: , (surveys, 2011), Gre00: , (Greg, 2000), Read More