- Woolworths began as a small store in Sydney in 1924 and has since expanded to become Australia's largest supermarket chain, operating 872 stores nationwide. - It aims to be the leader in the grocery industry through continual improvements to its supply chain, products, quality, and focus on providing customers with fresh, affordable groceries. - Key strategies include developing private label brands, enhancing its loyalty program to better understand customer needs, ongoing store renovations, and adapting its offerings and prices to remain competitive against its main rival, Coles.

1. Woolworths’ prides themselves in being Australia’s fresh food people. They
want to be renown for their outstanding performance in their offers, quality
and freshness of products. Continual improvement in areas such as supply
chain and merchandising also impacts consumers decision to people Wool-
worths is the first choice for fresh food. This objective is the essence of the
Woolworths supermarket brand and is therefore the first strategic priority .
Consumers are focused on value for money, and in many cases will shop at
the supermarket that has the best prices. Woolworths has taken consumer
behaviour and their priorities into account and aimed to provide unbeatable
value. The supermarket industry is highly competitive and in order to remain
a leader Woolworths constantly undergoes reviews of their current offers and
the value of their products.
Woolworths aims to please and provide an affordable shopping experience
for their customers. By engaging customers through things such as loyalty
programs and technological platforms, Woolworths are able to establish a re-
lationship with the customers and utilise the information sourced through
these means to better enhance the customers experience.
Woolworths originally began in 1924 as a single basement store in Sydney’s Pitt Street. Since then Wool-
worths has established its reputation in the grocery industry as a well-known household name.
“Woolworths is Australia’s largest supermarket chain. Operating 872 stores across Australia nation-
wide” (Woolworths Limited , 2012).
Woolworths progression in the grocery industry can be explained through the Industry Life Cycle (ILC)
model. Initially in the start up stage the organization will be quite small with different approaches taken in
terms of product type, features, performance and target audience. Once the industry has become estab-
lished, the standards of operations emerge and the growth increases rapidly (Hubbard & Beamish 2011).
This evidently happened within Woolworths with the rapid expansion of grocery stores nation wide.
Woolworth are constantly growing, adapting and improving their business and strategies to extend their
leadership in the grocery industry.
What’s most important for
Australian Shoppers?
2011 2013
High food safety standards 1 1
Close to home 3 2
Good value 2 3
Hygienically prepared food 5 4
Cleanliness 4 5
Convenient trading hours 6 6
Low Prices 8 7
Quality Produce 9 8
Easy Parking 7 9
Range of Produce 10 10
A survey conducted asks thousands of shoppers
to rate the factors that are important to them
FIRST CHOICE FOR FRESH FOOD
Leadership and Business Strategy is a main focus within the
Woolworths industry, “as leadership is needed to develop and drive
business strategy” (Hubbard & Beamish 2011). The slogan for Wool-
worths was changed from “Fresh Food People’ to ‘Australian Fresh
Food People’ in 2012, demonstrating Woolworths as a leader in the
fresh food market. This also reflects the Woolworths vision of their
long-standing commitment to build internal capabilities they “consider
this to be a key driver of their ability to perform, change and grow”.
(Woolworths, 2014)
UNBEATABLE VALUE
“The creation of value for customers requires a demand side perspec-
tive: what is it that is desired/demand by customers?” (Hubbard &
Beamish 2011). Woolworths are very consumer focused with best
quality products at the lowest prices. Woolworths value their custom-
ers and target those who want fresh, quality products. With the loyalty
rewards scheme in place Woolworths are constantly putting consum-
ers first and utilizing the data to create offers that are tailored to the
needs and demands of the customer.
CUSTOMER ENGAGEMENT
Each and every customer of Woolworths has their own needs, values
and attitudes. There are many strands in which organisations base
their strategies on, the Behavioural Theory being the main focus.
“Behavioural theory assumes that an organization has several goals,
based on its having several different stakeholders or stakeholder
groups” (Hubbard & Beamish 2011). Woolworth’s customers being one
of these stakeholder groups and the main focus to their schemes and
strategies, continual relationship building must be done. Woolworth’s
does this by making the shopping experience personal and specific to
everyone’s needs.
 Strive to maintain high quality fresh products
at a value for money price
 Development of in-house brands can have a
potential negative relation with suppliers: incor-
porate Australian suppliers to support the na-
tions economy
 Continue utilising EDR data to enhance offers
 Reduce the amount of self serve checkouts in supermar-
kets as they created a negative impact and reduced cus-
tomer satisfaction
 Remain innovated in the engagement strategies through
updates and improvements on technological platforms
 Continue learning customers needs through the custom-
er, buying behaviours and research
 Maintain their position as a leading
contributor in the fresh food market
 Uphold their strong reputation within in the su-
permarket industry
 Continue improving relationships with
Australian farmers and growers
Woolworths for many years has remained a dominate leader in the gro-
cery industry despite the intense rivalry between it’s main competitor
Coles. Though Woolworths is perceived to be more ‘premium’ and Coles
budget friendly by promising low prices, both uphold the same values of
having fresh, readily available food that’s affordable (Madeline Ross,
2012).
The dynamics between Woolworths and Coles is best represented by
the one vs one duopoly situation in the Game Theory. This theory anal-
yses the nature of competitive interactions between rival organizations
and determines what game is being played in the industry (Hubbard &
Beamish 2011). In this case Woolworths and Coles are the duopoly of
the supermarket industry making up 80% of the market share.
Other smaller competitors have managed to get their foot in the market
though, for example Aldi since its arrival in Australia 2001, has grown
steadily, serving 4.2million customers in an average month. Though this
doesn’t compare to Coles 8.8millon customers, or 9.5million shopping at
Woolworths, Aldi’s market position has resonated well with the Australi-
an consumer.
Woolworths relaunched their in June 2012 to keep their position strong
by emphasizing their expertise and passion for bringing people fresh
food everyday.
FY 2013FY 2009 FY 2010 FY 2011 FY 2012
 Expansion of private labels, with
Homebrand the largest
 Development of Marco label
 Launch of Select label
 Creation of new logo
 40% of stores refurbished in the
2010 format
 Enhanced EDR Program through alli-
ance with Qantas and incorporating
frequent flyer points
 Launch of Everyday Mobile through a
partnership with Optus
3.8 million EDR Members
$32.978 million SALES
 Continued development of exclusive
brands
 Rebranding of Homebrand
 Launch of Marco wholefood
 Reduced 4,400 shelf prices
 50% of stores refurbished in new for-
mats
 Commencement of 2015 store design
 Launch Woolworths online - operating
in all states and territories
 Development of next replenishment
solution - improve efficiency
41% INCREASE ONLINE SALES
$34.675 million SALES
 Roll out of 2015 store formats –
focusing on presentation of produce,
bakery and meat departments
 New online platform– incorporating
favourite and have you forgotten lists
 Integrating social media in offers–
e.g. Daily Deals
 Click and collect available online
 Customer segmentation through EDR
 Price knockdown campaign launched
 100% of meat and 97% of produce
Australia sourced and grown
1.1 Million APP DOWNLOADS
$36.176 million SALES
 Launch of Australia’s Fresh Food Peo-
ple rebranding
 Brand innovation - creation of “ready
to” products
 Ipad app launched
 Implementation of sushi bars
 Launch of extra special, extra simple
 19.5 million customers a week
 40% growth in Marco wholefoods
and 20% growth in Select sales
 Savings of 4% in everyday prices
LAUNCH of MEAT STANDARD AUS
$37.549 million SALES
 Introduced new products
 Opened 11 meat serveries
 Trialling new deli counters and
cheese counters
 EDR is Australia’s leading retail loyalty
program by 11%
 Launch “food to go” - range of sand-
wiches and salads
 Implementation of pizza bars & coffee
 Reduced average prices by 2.9%
 Online delivery available to 90% of
Australian households
NEW SAVING CAMPAIGN
$40.031 million SALES
43% 37% 3%15%
Australia’s Grocery MARKET SHARESource: (Stuart Alexander, 2011)
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www.stuartalexander.com.au/aust_grocery_market_woolworths_coles_wholesale.php.
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location, price or product range. Retrieved 2014, from: http://roymorgan.com/findings/5247-
important-factors-when-choosing-a-supermarket-june-2013-201310180007
Madeline Ross. (2012). Coles vs Woolworths: Who’s Winning? Retrieved 2014, from: http://
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Roy Morgan. (2014). Market share narrows between Coles and Woolworths, while Aldi makes
important gains. Retrieved 2014, from: http://www.roymorgan.com/findings/5427-market-
share-narrows-between-coles-woolworths-while-aldi-makes-gains-201402120013
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