Contents
An examination of the Woolworths Marketing practices
Introduction to Woolworths:
This sections gives an introduction to Woolworths Supermarkets and various strategies, which have lead the company achieve its present status of accomplishment.
Woolworths is an Australian retail chain that was founded in the year 1924 as a subsidiary of Woolworths group. Presently there are more than one thousand locations where the supermarket has its business with more than one lakh employee that provides retail services to customers. Woolworths’ supermarket engages its business under the slogan “The fresh food people” which is also used for marketing purposes. The major products of the supermarket are everyday essentials, food products, fresh vegetables and fruits as well as pet care products. It is one of the monopoly companies in Australia with market share of 34 percent in the grocery selling that shows an increase of 1. 4 percent as a comparison to a decrease of 1.6 percent in the share of Coles (foodnavigator-asia.com, 2019). This shows that the organisation have high reputation in the market that helps it to attract more customers. The scope of this report is to assess the marketing mix of Woolworths in order to know its marketing strategy and foe providing necessary recommendations.
Article Summary
The given study will represent various elements of marketing mix in any organisation by taking the example of Woolworths. A detailed discussion on market mix shows that it has seven major dimensions such as Products, place, price, promotion etc. and explanation of same provided the view on strategies adopted by the company for providing their products to the customers in a most effective way. Woolworths provide great variety of retail products at its supermarkets which are located all over the country. In order to promote its products, it uses advertisement as major tool and sold the products under premium strategy. The stores are properly managed and employees are trained to provide quick customer services. However, it is recommended that Woolworths needs to change the pricing strategy to attract more customers and also to diversify products portfolio for competing with other retail companies.
Marketing mix:
Marketing refers to the tool of promoting and selling products or services through various actions and tactics. It also includes market research as well as the advertisement so as to aware of the customers about products, various offers available, etc. Further, the marketing mix is a wider concept that includes seven different elements related to the product which a company is going to market. It consists of the decision related to those elements so that successful marketing practices can be adopted. It has become an important framework that described the valuation of different product attributes and their arrangement so as to maximize the customer base. Our Assignment help service can help you in understanding this concept and we will craft a perfect copy of your assignment adhering to the requirements in the question file.
7 P’s of Marketing:
Marketing mix defines the mixture of seven elements so that an effective marketing strategy can be formed. All the elements are independent and influence each other (Mix, 2019). They form a proper business plan for the product promotion and thus, needs lots of research and understanding. In needs to be noted that there were only 4 P’s initially which were basically shows the marketing mix for the products. However, with the changing business environment there is tremendous shift from the products to services and thus, these four P’s extended to seven P’s. In the beginning there were only product, price, place, promotion but the changing time 3 more P’s physical evidence, people, process are also added. The explanation of all these elements are given as:
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Process:
It includes the whole sequence of activities from making product to its distribution. A well -tailored process can help to minimize the cost to possible extent. Process can be related to any activity such as pay system, distribution system and other systematic procedures that may help to run all other activities efficiently.
Product:
The main element is product which is produced in order to provide it to customers and satisfy their needs. Products can be tangible or intangible but the main motive is to provide right type of products or services so that there will be increased demand. In order to the provide accurate products to customers there need to extensive market research in order to describe the production cycle of product. The marketers need to provide right mix of products and also bring reinvention when the product reach decline stage. Diversification of products is a better idea as it will help increasing the profits. Moreover, in order to deliver right products, it needs to know the demands of the customers.
Price:
It is an important component that defines the revenues to the firm and its survival. In order to make accurate marketing plan, it is necessary to decide the price strategy. Price needs to be according to the perception of the customers as they will not but it if they perceive it high. However, the company should also consider the competitors price for the similar products so that accurate pricing strategy can be selected. There can be market penetration strategy under which premium price on the basis of its quality feature. There can be market skimming pricing strategy under which lower price is offered at the starting and under neutral pricing average price of product is provided. Further, in order to set the price, the marketer find answers such as cost of producing product, change in market share due to price changing and competitors price etc.
Place:
It describes the distribution area of products or its position in the market so that it can easily reach the potential customers. In order to place the product, there is need of deep knowledge of target market. The distribution strategies can be intensive, exclusive or selective distribute and selection of strategy depends on where customers want products, access to channels, sales force etc.
Promotion:
It is one of the most important component as it helps the brand to get recognition and increase the sales. It consists of sales organisation, public relations or sales promotion etc. The advertisement is also part of promotions which includes various communication methods such as television, radio, social media etc. The marketers have to decide the marketing message, so that there will be effective promotion. The marketer has to decide the budget of the
People:
They are the essential part of business as people and it includes all the human forces that are attached to a product. In a business, employees are essential part for providing the products and also its marketing (Mix, 2019). If the employees will work effectively, the success of the business is assured.
Physical evidence:
It refers to the can be understood as the evidence of delivering service and also as the perceived value of product or service in the market. It revolves among the term branding. To illustrate, when one talks about coffee, the first thought would be Starbucks. Thus, this element describes the customer perception and psychological effect of the product on customers.
Marketing mix of Woolworths
Product:
Woolworths provides a variety of retail products such as grocery products, baby care products, pet care products, processed food products, fresh fruits and vegetables etc. Thus, it has diversified products mix which is an advantage to the organisation. Besides that, the product range also includes DVDs, stationery items, magazines etc. (Woolworths.com.au, 2019).
Price:
Woolworths have different pricing strategies for different products. For its fresh products, it charges premium price and for other common products it has neutral pricing strategy. Further, the organisation also provides rewards to the customers at some stores where the vouchers are provided to the customers by collecting points through customers (Woolworthsholdings.co.za, 2019). Further, discounts are also provided through the swiping cards provided by the stores.
Place:
Woolworths have more than 1,000 stores including more than 950 supermarkets. It also has its online platform to provide door to door delivery of products. Further, it also has its own mobile app so that customers can easily buy the products (Woolworthsholdings.co.za, 2019).
Promotions:
Promotion and marketing has essential role in the retail sector due to increasing competition. Woolworths is also indulging in promotional activities through various communication channels. The market campaign of company highlights its slogan “the fresh food people” (Woolworthsgroup.com.au, 2019). It used tools of social media, newspapers, television and other internet platforms to promote its products. Further, it also provides discounts, gift cards etc. as way of promotion in order to attract 6 more customers
Physical evidence:
It shows the ambience of the place where service is provided. The stores of Woolworths are neat and tidy as well as very eye catching. There is proper placement of products at the shelves so that customers will easy get the products they look for. The official website and mobile application of company helps the customers to track the products. In order to set the brand in mind of customers it used banners and posters etc. In addition to it, the financial reports of the company are made public for the customers and other stakeholders so that they could know its practices.
People:
The supermarket have employed more than one lakh employees at different locations so as to provide better services to the customers and guide them in reaching the required products in the stores. The company increased its employees every year with expansion in the activities so that better services can be provided. Most of the credit of the success of Woolworths went to the employees who attend the customers and the sales managers. The company has strict process of hiring employees and their training so that they can effectively communicate with the customers. Further, there is zero tolerance policy that means the company assured that there will be no discrimination or harm to the employees.
Process:
As the major aim of the organisation is to satisfy its customers, it sued such processes which will be customer friendly. It provides quick billing service, supportive staff and other such facilities for customer comfort. In addition to it, the company also take the feedback from customers so that it can make improvements in the existing processes.
Market strategy of Woolworths:
From the above analysis of marketing mix of the company, it has been analysed that Woolworths follow many marketing strategies in order to attract customers for its products. Following are the major strategies followed by it:
Diversified products portfolio:
The company have diversified products portfolio strategy under which it provide4s various products in categories of apparel and accessories, household products, baby products, pet products, liquor and drinks, frozen food, pantry and bakery products etc. This diversified portfolio helps the company to minimize the overall cost of the business and maximize the products as less revenues in one category are compensated by more in other category.
Geographical segmentation:
The organisation have selected many geographical areas to cover the whole market in many countries. It has over 1000 stores in Australia alone order to provide its products. Further, under thus geographical segmentation, Woolworths cover every single segment of market with its products. It has it stores at every place in the business countries so that people at any location in the market can buy the products form the store.
Premium and mixing pricing strategy:
The company have premium pricing strategy for most of its products as it is based on quality products to the customers (Woolworthsholdings.co.za, 2019). Some products of the company have priced at higher prices than the rival companies as Woolworths compete them on the basis of quality. Fresh food products have basically premium pricing. On the other hand, for some products it has prices at par with that of rival firms. Thus, this mixed pricing strategy helped the company to earn more profits and assure its growth in the market.
Integrated communication marketing strategy:
The company followed innovative marketing for its products under which it launched many schemes for brand visibility in the market. Further, it uses various tools of communication such as newspapers, billboards. Leaflets as well as social media such as Facebook, twitter, you tube etc. in order to create niche place among the customers. It also started fresh food people campaign which continued till 2012 (Woolworthsgroup.com.au, 2019). Further, it also provides rewards for shopping and other discounts as a promotional tool.
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Recommendations:
One other way of examining the position of the company in the market, is to carry out Woolworths SWOT analysis. This helps in getting a better pictiue of the company's stand in the market. Although, it is clear from the above analysis that Woolworths is doing very well in its business and have large customer base. However, the company also faced competition due to entry of many foreign as well as domestic supermarkets that provides products at lower cost. In order to compete them, Woolworths required:
- It required to make changes in its pricing strategy so that the prices can compete with that of lower prices of rival companies such as Coles and Aldi etc. It needs to lower the prices of most common products so that it can attract large customers. Further, it can also and more products in the portfolio and beat rivals through premium prices on quality basis of differentiation babies.
- It needs to start another market campaign under which it can provide discounted products to attract more customers at once. It needs to highlight the uniqueness of its products under the differentiation strategy so that customers will be ready to pay the premium amount for the products.
Further readings
References
- foodnavigator-asia.com. (2019). Supermarket wars: Woolworths takes commanding lead over Coles in battle for Australian grocery sales. Retrieved 26 December 2019, from https://www.foodnavigator-asia.com/Article/2019/04/30/Supermarket-wars-Woolworths-takes-commanding-lead-over-Coles-in-battle-for-Australian-grocery-sales
- Mix, T. (2019). Marketing Mix Definition - 4Ps & 7Ps of the Marketing Mix. Retrieved 26 December 2019, from https://marketingmix.co.uk/
- Woolworthsholdings.co.za. (2019). Our Strategy – Woolworths Holdings Limited. Retrieved 27 December 2019, from https://www.woolworthsholdings.co.za/overview/our-strategy/
- Woolworths.com.au. (2019). Woolworths Supermarket - Buy Groceries Online. Retrieved 27 December 2019, fromhttps://www.woolworths.com.au/
- Woolworthsgroup.com.au. (2019). The Woolworths Story - Woolworths Group. Retrieved 27 December 2019, from https://www.woolworthsgroup.com.au/page/about-us/The_Woolworths_Story/How_We_Were_Founded
FAQ
What are the 7P's of Marketing mix?
The 7 Ps of marketing mix include people, price, product, place, promotion, packaging and positioning that helps to analyse the business activities of organization and achieve organizational results in the marketplace.
What is the difference between the 4 P's and 7 P's of marketing?
The 4ps of marketing include product, price, place and promotion and the service marketing mix i.e. 7Ps include addition of three other Ps which include people, process and physical evidence that are used to review the customer service experience.
What is Woolworths marketing strategy?
Woolworths is a leading Australian retail company that offers a diverse range of products to its customers at low prices. The place and distribution strategy of the company include the sale of products at supermarkets and a number of convenience stores. Further, the company adopts cost leadership strategies to enhance its customer base.