Consulting for Coles in Australia
Coles is a retailer that takes the second position among the influential retailers in Australia, owning 2900 stores and above (Grimmer, 2019). This company has remained in the market since the 1930s through an efficient succession of its management by the family of the Coles, and this resulted in its survival during the Great Depression and the World Wars I and II. It has diversified its business operations across various fields such as e-commerce businesses and general merchandise operations, offering affordable products. The company’s primary strategy has been to provide products at low costs to reach low-income clients in the community. It has been the company’s strategy to provide commodities that meet its customers’ demands and hence make remain relevant across turf economic conditions like the Great Depression.
Even as the pandemic hits all businesses globally, Coles is on the forefront to boost Australia’s economic challenges. This has been through the continuous deployment of workers, participation in the corporate social responsibilities, and constant recognition of its customers.
The current operations of Coles have been supermarket and liquor businesses that it has gained a lot from. The group’s supermarket operations include online sales that have encouraged many of its customers to remain loyal to the company as delivery services have been embraced, especially during the pandemic where social interactions have been reduced. Coles also is involved in Recyclable Stikeez, which targets the children encouraging them to eat healthier foods. The subsidiary’s sales revenue has risen by 14% despite the delivery and the pick and drop costs. The operations of the liquor include spirits and wines categories whose sales revenues have rose considerably.
Coles has several opportunities and threats it faces like any other company in the field of business (Deloitte Access Economics, 2012). Some of the options that have been proven evident in the external environment of the company are:
- It is the leading company in terms of customer loyalty, and it is in a better position to adjust to the ever-changing technology compared to its immediate competitors.
- The current change in the tax policies by the Australian government towards the already established companies like Coles
- The proposed low inflation rate for business players in the industry is an opportunity for Coles as it can offer products at much lower prices.
- Some currently introduced environmental policies that make Coles more comfortable doing business at fair constraints, pulling more customers into its premises.
On the other hand, Coles has had some threats in its operations, putting it in a risky position from its competitors. These threats include:
- The continuous change in the technologies used by its competitors, which Coles is unable to trace.
- Lawsuits breeding to contingent liabilities due to the frequent change in laws and regulations that govern the standard of products to be traded.
- The currency fluctuations brought about by Coles operating in different countries with different foreign exchange rates while its local competitors are safe from this.
Coles operates under the strategy of producing efficiently, being proactive, and being innovative to satisfy its customers’ needs in a friendlier manner. Efficiency makes any company or a business organization like Coles maintain the loyalty of their customers and attract new ones from the competitors’ premises. Coles uses efficiency to remain ahead of the industry competition in Australia. Being proactive means that the company management can analyze, evaluate, and monitor the organization’s future or company and make necessary changes or re-engineer appropriately in preparation for those changes. In this case, Coles remains proactive rather than active, enabling it to stay as the leaders in the industry. On the other hand, it is an innovation that determines how unique the company will be in its operations. Coles has been in the forefront to pioneer ways of operating in the market as a strategy.
This is evident in how it turned into online services to its customers upon the realization of several regulations and health protocols that restricted people’s usual socialization (ABDAT, 2019). In this case, their customers termed Coles as the best supermarket to deliver products at customers’ comfort and relatively low costs. Furthermore, their products are more efficient and customer-designed, hence disadvantaging their competitors by winning their customers’ loyalty.
In the post-pandemic world, most of the world’s population will have turned to online shopping and resort to working from home. I could recommend that Coles invests heavily in online services. Additionally, Coles can gain a competitive advantage by diversifying online services to foreign subsidiaries in its various operations.
Secondly, Coles can gain a competitive advantage by utilizing the benefit of economies of scale to acquire raw materials or inventory at a relatively lower cost than its competitors. This will mean a decreased price for its products and at a considerably high quality. In addition to this, Coles should think of operating near the estates to catch with its customers that may not travel to the urban areas frequently due to the stay-home habit that will be carried away from the pandemic through to the post-pandemic period globally.
Among the above recommendations and considering budget sustainability, Coles should invest in online services and diversify these services to its foreign clients. Given the great technology muscles Coles has, it will be easier to earn from online services competitively. It will be able to use its innovative expertise to analyze international markets. Getting involved in the online services, Coles will have the benefits of diversification whereby, in case of domestic changes in the country’s laws that might disadvantage its services there, it will be able to recover these losses from the other countries where its services are favorable hence beating their competitors. The company will considerably increase its turnover and therefore gain from the operations optimally (Knox, 2015).
Coles has the perfect opportunity to invest in online services and reach customers in foreign countries. In addition to the current operations to the customers in Australia, it is best suited to garner its resources and become a globally recognized company and maintain its efficiency, innovatively, and proactively.
References
ABDAT, U. (2019). Digital transformation-Coles.
Deloitte Access Economics (a department within consulting firm Deloitte). (2012). Analysis of the Grocery Industry. Report to Coles Supermarkets Australia.
Grimmer, L. (2019). Coles, Woolworths and crazed consumers: Industry lacks leadership on plastic crisis: Interview with Matthew Elmas.
Knox, M. (2015). Supermarket monsters: The price of Coles and Woolworths’ dominance (Vol. 6). Black Inc.