Woolworths Overview

Question:

Discuss About The Conceptual And Methodological Foundations?

In the present business scenario, marketing strategy being implemented by the contemporary business organizations to not only sell their products, but also determining the market requirement effectively. In the current business state of affairs, business organizations have to operate in intensely competitive market and thus, it is important for them to effectively design their marketing activities in order to target their customers (Baker 2014). Retail market sector is one of the most intensely competitive markets in Australia with having several established players in the market (Chutani and Sethi 2012). Thus, organizations operating in this sector are initiating various marketing concepts in order to stay ahead in the competition. Woolworths is one of the prominent players in the market with having diverse product portfolio and deep market penetration. They are also known for their distinctive marketing strategies being implemented.

This report will discuss about the marketing strategy being implemented by Woolworths for promoting HOMEBRAND ORANGE FRUIT DRINK in the Australian market. Their target market and their process of segmenting and positioning their customers will be discussed. Accordingly, recommendations will be provided to enhance the effectiveness of their marketing activities.

Woolworth is a chain of supermarkets across Australia with having the market leadership status in the retail market. It was founded in 1924 and currently they are having more than 1000 stores across Australia. They mostly specialize in selling grocery items to their customers. However, gradually they have entered other market sectors also (Woolworths.com.au 2017). Currently they are offering grocery items along with stationary items, music items and household products. Being a supermarket, they are having huge diversity in their product portfolio along with several product lines. Due to their diversified product portfolio, they are catering to broader audiences.

Currently, the target market of Woolworths is consists of high-income customers due to their offering of higher end and slightly expensive products (Wedel and Kamakura 2012). However, in the recent time, they are trying to target the middle-income customers also to expand their market area and presence. Due to this reason, they have initiated the promotional activities of HOMEBRAND ORANGE FRUIT DRINK. This brand is being targeted offer highest quality at the lowest price available. To initiate the target strategy for the new set of customers, they have initiated various marketing strategies. Segmentation, targeting and positioning model will be used to determine the target strategy of Woolworths for HOMEBRAND ORANGE FRUIT DRINK. According to this model, the first step is to segmentation. The customer segment of operation for Woolworths is the higher income customers. However, in the case of HOMEBRAND ORANGE FRUIT DRINK, they have targeted the mass market of consumer goods. Geographical segmentation of them is quite broad due to their presence across the Australia (Cross, Belich and Rudelius 2015). Woolworths is having their presence in every state in Australia and thus, the geographical segmentation for them is effective.

Marketing Strategy of Woolworths

The next stage in this model is targeting. It refers to the initiation of strategies to effectively reach out to the target segments (Riefler, Diamantopoulos and Siguaw 2012). The recent marketing strategies being initiated by Woolworths are mostly oriented towards the grocery and consumer goods. This is due to the reason that, they have targeted the middle-income customers by offering affordable consumer goods at an affordable price range. According to their marketing strategies, consumer goods are being referred as necessity items and thus are will be easy for them to target the new customer segments effectively. In addition, they are involving more extensive marketing strategies in order to target the mass market. They are covering every marketing medium ranging from print media to television commercials (Rosenbloom 2012). These strategies are helping them in reaching out effectively to the mass market. They are also shifting their business orientation towards the concept of everyday low value pricing from their existing higher pricing model. Thus, it will also help them to cater to more number of customers.

The last stage of this model is the positioning strategy. It refers to the positing of the particular brand in the mind of the target customers (Hassan and Craft 2012). Woolworths positioned their offerings as premium and top quality products in the market. Quality is the key criterion being followed by them in delivering their products to the customers. Another strategy being taken by them is the pricing policy. They design their pricing policy in such way that it will not offer low price to the customers. This is due to the reason that, offering much lower price will affect the customer impression (Lioze et al. 2012). The advertisement of them is being designed according to their brand positioning status. The promotional activities of Woolworth convey the competitive advantages that they possess in the market over their competitors. These strategies are helping them in creating an image of premium and quality products offerings of Woolworths.

However, in the case of promoting HOMEBRAND ORANGE FRUIT DRINK, they have positioned their product portfolio as premium offerings for the mass markets. The pricing has also been done accordingly to target the mass market without compromising on quality or their brand value.

To cater to more number of customers, Woolworths have implemented and designed their marketing strategies effectively. They have initiated the marketing mix in their business activities accounting to the requirements of the customers. Seven Ps of marketing mix will be used in determining the effectiveness of the marketing strategies being implemented by them.

Segmentation, Targeting, and Positioning for HOMEBRAND ORANGE FRUIT DRINK

The product is the first aspect of the marketing mix. It refers to the offerings by the organization in the market. Due to the reason that they operates in the retail sector, thus, they resell the finished products to the customers (Mital et al. 2014). It helps them in catering to more number of customers and meeting their diversified requirements. HOMEBRAND ORANGE FRUIT DRINK is their private label brand. In the case of the private label brand they are producing and selling the products by own. Thus, they have in the direct competition with the other fruit drink producers. In addition, the private label brand of them is offering diversified products. Thus, the product assortment is more in the case of HOMEBRAND ORANGE FRUIT DRINK.

As discussed earlier, the pricing strategy of Woolworths is being designed according to the requirement of their target customers. The price of the products in HOMEBRAND ORANGE FRUIT DRINK is not much lower due to the reason that, it will adversely affect their positioning strategy in the market. Woolworths has positioned HOMEBRAND ORANGE FRUIT DRINK as a premium and high quality item. Thus, offering products in lower prices will have negative impact on the target customers. Moreover, they offer various product assortments in a single product line. It helps them in offering the same products in different sizes and prices (Chernev 2012). Thus, eventually the single product is being offered in various price segments. They have priced their private label brands accordingly. Thus, with help of HOMEBRAND ORANGE FRUIT DRINK, they are targeting different customer segments.  

Products of HOMEBRAND ORANGE FRUIT DRINK are being available from all the stores of Woolworths. Woolworths is having their supermarkets across every state in Australia. In addition, they have more than 19 conventional stores in Australia. Thus, customers have their convenience in having the access to their stores. Moreover, Woolworths have initiated online marketing for their products. Customers have the access of their official websites through which they can shop online (Yoganarasimhan 2013). Thus, the customer convenience will be more in this case. With higher penetration in the market along with effective market presence, customers will find it easy to locate the Woolworths store within their convenience. Hence, the products under HOMEBRAND ORANGE FRUIT DRINK are being available at every possible selling point.

The promotional activities initiated by Woolworths cover various marketing mediums and reach to wider audiences. They are initiating innovations in enhancing their marketing activities. One of the key effective marketing strategies implemented by them in the recent years is the social media marketing. Initiation of the social media marketing enables them to effectively determine the requirement of the customers and the current market trend. Accordingly, they are offering their products through their stores. Another key advantage that they have garnered from their social media marketing is generation of the feedback from the customers regarding their existing products (Tuten and Solomon 2014). It helps them to determine their weaknesses compared to their competitors.

The 7 Ps of Marketing Mix in Woolworths Marketing Strategy

Another promotional strategy implemented by them is the customer loyalty program. It was first introduced in their stores in Tasmania. It helps them to provide loyalty services to their regular customers, which in turn enhance the customer loyalty as well as the customer satisfaction of them. Another promotional strategy being initiated by them is the everyday rewards. According to this scheme, Woolworths can record and determine the purchasing pattern of their regular customers and accordingly they will offer products and rewards to them. Thus, these types of promotional activities are helping them in targeting more number of customers.

Employees and customers of Woolworths are also being involved in the marketing activities of them. According to them, employees will be the key source of enhancing the satisfaction level of the customers and thus it is important to have proper training and development of the employees (Ji et al. 2012). In addition, effective determination of the requirement of the customers is also important to implement the marketing activities. Woolworths involve various activities to train and equip their employees in order to enable them to provide effective customer service. Moreover, they to determine the market trend are doing market research.

Process involves the effective service delivery to the customers. In the case of Woolworths, they are installing automated checkout counters in order to reduce the queue in the checkout counter. Moreover, barcode is being attached with all of their products, which enables in swift checking out the case counters (Orel and Kara 2014). Moreover, with initiation of the online shopping portal, customers now have the convenience of shopping their products at anytime and anywhere. Thus, the process of service delivery of Woolworths is effective.

Physical evidence refers to the tangible value being provided to the customers by the organizations. In the case of Woolworths, they offer retail consumer goods. Thus, their entire product portfolio is having physical value. It helps the customers to determine the quality and other criterions of them before buying the products. On the other hand, it is easy for the organization to present their quality and other competitive advantages to the customers more effectively.

• Woolworth is mainly operating mainly in the Australian region. However, they are recently opting to enter in some other countries to expand their business area. Thus, it is being recommended that the target market in the international business for them should be the developing countries (Dunning 2013). This is due to the reason that, the retail sector in the developed countries is already being saturated with very less chance for the new entrants to gain market share. On the other hand, the developing economies such as India and China are rapidly growing and thus it will be a huge opportunity for Woolworths to tap the growing market with their products under HOMEBRAND ORANGE FRUIT DRINK. Moreover, these nations are having huge populations with a large chunk of middle class. Thus, the market opportunities for them will be more than that in the developed countries.
• Diversification strategy will also be beneficial for Woolworths due to the reason that, there are huge opportunities of diversification in the retail sector. Moreover, the brand value and identity that they carry with them will be added advantage to push the new products in the market. Under the HOMEBRAND ORANGE FRUIT DRINK, they can diversify in to various product categories such as initiation of different flavors to meet the various customer requirements.
• It will be beneficial for Woolworths if they can introduce premium offerings under HOMEBRAND ORANGE FRUIT DRINK. This is due to the reason that, the products under HOMEBRAND ORANGE FRUIT DRINK are mainly targeted towards the mass market. Thus, offering premium products will not only extend the market area, but also create positive image among the mass-market customers.

Conclusion

It is can be concluded that, the existing marketing strategy of Woolworths for HOMEBRAND ORANGE FRUIT DRINK is effective enough to cater to the existing customers in the Australian market. However, they need to gain more competitive edge in order to cater to the global customers. It is of urgent requirement for them to follow the recommended steps given in this report to enhance their competitive advantages to compete in the global market of consumer products.

Reference

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