Digital Marketing Strategies For Woolworths: Current & Future Trends

Woolworths Overview

Digital marketing has become one of the most essential aspects of the modern day business. Organisations are taking use of the innovative digital marketing strategies for improving their performance in the market. There are new emerging trends in the technology which are used by various firms in their marketing process. All these trends are going to affect the major areas in various industries (Armstrong, et. al. 2014). Woolworths is one of the biggest retailers in Australia. They are taking use of various marketing strategies so as to ensure that they achieve maximum benefits from their operations. This report highlights the business and the market in which it operates. It also describes the Woolworth’s present strategies. Apart from this, it also showcases the current digital marketing strategies that are used by Woolworths in the next two years. At last the recommendation and action plan has been provided for the digital marketing of the Woolworths.

Woolworths has a business of retail in which it specialises in the selling of products such as groceries, household items, health and beauty items, stationary items, pet and baby supplies, and magazine. It is having more than 970 super market stores while others are convenience stores. Now it has also came into the business of online retail. It is operating in Australia which is a highly competitive market and hence requires effective marketing strategies for making edge over the competitors (Ryan, 2016). The major part of the market almost 80% is captured by the two companies i.e. Woolworths and Coles.

There are many types of marketing strategies used by Woolworths. Some of the strategies are as follows:

• Paid marketing: This includes various approaches to marketing like print media, TV ads. Internet marketing is another modern day form of this marketing strategy. Woolworths is focusing on service
• Cause marketing: It is another form of marketing that links the products and services of Woolworths to a social issue or cause (Tiago and Veríssimo, 2014). Woolworths is doing this marketing for the cause of the farmers as they are their primary stakeholders.
• Relationship marketing: It is strategy in which Woolworths focuses on customer building. It helps in enhancing the relationship with the consumers and enhances consumer’s loyalty. Woolworths has a huge customer base hence it is essential that they focus on this kind of marketing (Birchall and Stockwell, 2014).
• Word of mouth: Company is also reliant upon these kinds of marketing. This is the reason why Woolworths gives quality services to customers. Hence companies are ensuring that they have an effective strategy for ensuring customer loyalty.
• Internet marketing: Company promotes its brand with the help of internet mediums. There are various internet platforms that are used by the Woolworths so as to promote their product.
• Transactional marketing: Woolworths utilises this marketing as a part of their marketing strategy. Here the company provides customers with sales or discount coupons. It motivates the customers towards purchasing more products from the outlets.

There are various types of digital trends in the micro-environment of the Woolworths. Some of the activities and trends in the micro-environment are:

• Human resources: Woolworths is taking use of the digital mediums for the management of human resource. It is in terms of training, technology used in various processes etc. The recruitment and selection has also become easier with the use of technology.
• Supply chain management: The use of technology such as supply chain management system has always helped the company in the understanding the demand in the market and hence fulfilling it.
• Research: Research is very essential for the organisation (Pride, et. al. 2012). It is helpful in the operations such as research which is very essential for understanding the trends in the market which is again essential for ensuring the success of the products. This is also necessary for doing competitor’s analysis.
• Customers: There are many types of technology that is being used for handling the customers. First is the communication technology that is helpful in maintaining the relationship with customers (Bizcommunity, 2017). Second is the digital tool that helps in collecting data related to the consumers. This is necessary for the new product development.

Some of the activities in the micro-environment are:

• Digital marketing: Companies like Woolworths are one of those companies that have adopted digital marketing as their primary mode of marketing. They are using various forms of digital marketing tools for their promotional campaigns.
• Digital campaigns: In order to increase the brand image company is focusing towards the digital campaigns especially the ones that are related to the social issues (Clark, 2012). The Woolworths is focusing towards the farmers concerns as they are their favourite.
• Online sales: Company is also making its sales with the help of online websites and other e-commerce items. It is also crucial that company as it helps in making sales in the larger part of the market. Company also has an online site in the name of “Woolies”.

In the coming two years there will be severe impact of the technology in different kind of areas. Some of the areas where digital marketing technology will impact on the industry in the coming years are:

• Online sales: In the coming two years brick and mortar kind of retail stores are going to decrease. More focus of the industry will be on selling of the products through the digital mediums (Cameron, 2015). It is essential that company understands this fact and would focus on developing supplier chains so that more fresh groceries could be delivered at home through the online trading.
• Social media marketing: With the personalised marketing techniques, it is expected that in the coming years companies will move towards the technologies that are helpful in doing social media marketing.
• Pay per click or SEO: It is also expected that there would be tussle among the competitors for staying on the top of the webpage search (Cliquet, 2013). This is because the Woolworths will try to become the first priority among the companies that are operational in the industry. The SEO marketing is going to affect the business of the firms.
• Use of Artificial Intelligence: With the developments in the AI technology, it is seen that company’s operations is going to get affected by this technology. Marketing will be going to get effected by this as more automation can be promoted through artificial intelligence. This will help in predicting the future trends and requirements of the firm.
• Geo targeting: Companies like Woolworths is storing a huge amount data that they have gathered through various sources (Witepski, 2011). It is seen that company will be targeting the customers based on their location. This will help the company in marking the individuals that are living in the local area. This would help the firms in targeting the people that are in the nearby areas.
• App based marketing: Company is using their apps for making their marketing more successful. It is helping the firms to reach to each and every potential customer (Luiz, Bowen and Beswick, 2011). With the expansion of the mobile technology, it has become easier for the organisations to understand the preferences of the customers and hence it helps in improving the personalised marketing.

In the age of digital business, it is essential for the firms to ensure that they have an effective strategy for doing the marketing. Woolworths must focus on the digital marketing strategies that can reach to large numbers of customers at a single go. The first thing on which company must focus in its digital marketing strategies is the data management strategies. This is very essential for the designing of the strategies (HOTEL, 2016). The use of tools such as predictive analytics is very crucial. Since the future is becoming very much uncertain hence companies will have to be ready with their digital marketing strategies to stay ahead of their competitors. Along with this, the use of Artificial intelligence is very crucial. This will help in removing the challenges that is company is facing in its digital marketing due to human errors. Social media marketing where the news spreads like fire sometimes also results in negative marketing hence companies must have an efficient social media marketing campaign that helps in building the image of the company. The cause and the social media marketing strategies can be used together so as to strengthen the marketing campaign for the Woolworths. Company needs to increase the number of digital marketing tools that is used by the firm so as to improve the organisational performance (Tiago and Veríssimo, 2014).

Marketing Strategies

They must think about utilising geo marketing as the part of their digital marketing strategies. The focus on such type of marketing can be help in attracting customers towards their local stores. Company’s plans for the local customers can only be promoted with this kind of marketing. Adding to this Woolworths must also tag people that had great experience while taking services from their stores. More aggressive app based marketing must be used by the organisation so as to increase the engagement with the customers so as to improve the personalised marketing. At the same time they must also give interests towards increasing the capabilities of the firm for getting feedbacks and grievances through online mediums (Leeflang, et. al. 2014). This acts as a tool to make changes in the business operations that might help in attracting more customers towards the stores. Since Woolworths deals in the business of several things hence targeting needs to be done specifically citing each customer’s choice and the things that they want. In all this process Woolworths must also check that they do not violate the privacy of the consumers. At the same time they also need to safeguard their digital marketing data and plans form the attacks of hackers.

For making the marketing process successful, it is essential that company makes a detailed action plan. This is also necessary for making the plan more effective and hence it affects the performance of the marketing team and also avoids the chaos that occurs at the last moment (Ryan, 2014).

This action plan states that first it is necessary that new marketing mission and objectives is made. Board members and top management must be involved in this. These board members should discuss on various marketing missions and objectives. After this only there must be development of new ideas and opinions for decision making (Williams, 2016). After this best digital marketing strategies must be selected like the use of AI, aggressive social media marketing etc. At the last there must be implementation of marketing strategies and plans. All this process must be completed in ten months.

Conclusion

From the above based report, it can be concluded that Woolworths is one of the largest super markets chain in Australia. Paid marketing, Cause marketing, Relationship marketing, Word of mouth, Internet marketing and Transactional marketing are some of the marketing strategies that is used by Woolworths. Human resources, Supply chain management, Research and Customers are some of the micro-environmental factors that are getting affected by the digital marketing strategies. Digital marketing, Digital campaigns and online sales are the activities that are widely followed in the modern day business. Online sales, Social media marketing, Pay per click or SEO, Use of Artificial Intelligence, Geo targeting and App based marketing are some of the digital marketing strategies that is going to get effected in the coming two years. It is also necessary that for achieving the digital marketing strategies, the action plan for implementation is very much necessary.

References

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Birchall, A. and Stockwell, G., 2014. Bright future for young stars. Management Today, (Jan/Feb 2014), p.14.

Bizcommunity, (2017) Woolworths forges ahead with digital strategy. Online. Available at: https://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/182/170146.html. [Accessed on 11^th Oct 2018].

Cameron, N. (2015) Woolworths details 3-year strategy to become customer centric. Online. Available at: https://www.cmo.com.au/article/574302/woolworths-details-3-year-strategy-become-customer-centric/ . [Accessed on 11^th Oct 2018].

Clark, V., 2012. An eye on the future: company focus. South African Food Review, 39(9), pp.59-62.

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Luiz, J., Bowen, A. and Beswick, C., 2011. Woolworths South Africa: making sustainability sustainable. Emerald Emerging Markets Case Studies, 1(1), pp.1-21.

Pride, W.M., Ferrell, O.C., Lukas, B.A., Schembri, S. and Niininen, O., 2012. Marketing principles. Cengage Learning.

Ryan, D., 2014. The best digital marketing campaigns in the World II. Kogan Page Publishers.

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Tiago, M.T.P.M.B. and Veríssimo, J.M.C., 2014. Digital marketing and social media: Why bother?. Business Horizons, 57(6), pp.703-708.

Tiago, M.T.P.M.B. and Veríssimo, J.M.C., 2014. Digital marketing and social media: Why bother?. Business Horizons, 57(6), pp.703-708.

Williams, A. 2016. How Woolworths reinvented its B2C model to meet the B2B market. Online. Available at: https://www.cmo.com.au/article/595918/how-woolworths-reinvented-its-b2c-model-meet-b2b-market/. [Accessed on 11^th Oct 2018]

Witepski, L., 2011. The new. Journal of Marketing, 2011(Dec/Jan 2011), pp.16-17.

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