Technological Advancements of Countdown and PAK’nSAVE Supermarkets
The report focuses on the identification of the technological advancements which are being utilized by the two major supermarkets namely Countdown and PAK’nSAVE. Furthermore, the usage of the digital marketing technologies will be identified as to analyze whether the companies are making the correct utilization of the same or not.
As hypothesized by Balusamy et al., (2017), in the era of globalization, the significant assets of the organization are the different customers as they are the ones who help in deciding the failure or success of the company. To maintain the competitive advantage in the market, it is essential for them to reassess the different strategies related to marketing which have been implemented by them. There has been the inclusion of the social media tools such as Facebook and Twitter wherein they can have their presence as this assists in attaining the maximum benefit.
The countdown is one of the greatest supermarket chains which are the subsidiary of Woolworths New Zealand, and the respective store is significant in comparison to the general markets present in NZ. The company opened their first shop in 1981, and 184 locations are being served by the company, and the number of employees who are working in the company is more than 18000 (Countdown.co.nz, 2019). The rival named Four Square Chain is more potent in comparison to Countdown as they have a massive presence in the different other rural areas.
It is one of the discount warehouses of food that is being owned and operated by the Foodstuffs Cooperative. The company commenced their operations from 1985, and it has been headquartered in Wellington which is situated in New Zealand (Paknsave.co.nz, 2019). There are more than 57 areas served by the company, and as per September 2017, the primary policy of the company is to help the customers with various groceries along with the food items at the lowest prices. The company is situated in a no-frills environment; however, the customers are charged for the plastic polythenes in different stores of the company.
As hypothesized by News.com.au (2019), due to globalization along with the perfect market competition, it can be seen that the communication in digital marketing aspects plays a significant role in gaining the trust among the customers in the competitive business environment. As commented by News.com.au (2019), there is a thin line which is being maintained as to improve the overall image of the brand.
Digital Marketing Strategies of Countdown and PAK’nSAVE Supermarkets
In Countdown, the scan and check out aspect has been introduced by the organization to attract the attention among the customers. However, the presence of social media is less in contrast to the PAK’nSAVE Supermarket.
Furthermore, there is a launch of new supermarket shopping application named Click and Collect App which helps in alerting the users which will let them know when their order is ready to be picked up along with the store when the customers is on their way (Nzherald.co.nz, 2019). These are the methods which have been proved efficient as it helps in engaging more customers through the website of the company.
Furthermore, there is inclusion of One Card Facilities which is treated as loyalty program wherein the customers will be receiving various discounts and offers by providing the card and it is valid for six months. However, there are few terms and conditions which are required to be followed by customers as to avail the discounts (Countdown.co.nz, 2019).
Social Media Platform and Tools
Facebook and YouTube are the major social media platform which mainly focuses on communicating with customers related to different products and food items.
After the analysis of the technological advancement, it can be critically analyzed by Domazet andNeogradi (2019), the theory of Assimilation posits that various customers have different expectations relating to the items and it includes the overall performance perceived by the products. As commented by Crosby (2016), the dominant kind of aspect is entirely based on the whole sort of satisfaction which can be experienced by the customers who are being invented by the organization.
As hypothesisedby Sinha et al. (2018), digital marketing plays a vital role in reaching different customers in a competitive business environment.
The sticky Club Rewards Card Program has been introduced by the company to motivate the employees, and it will encourage the customers to pay and receive gifts as per the amount of the purchase. Furthermore, the presence in the social media channels is high which has assisted the company in improving the brand image of the company, and it increased the loyalty among the customers.
There is inclusion of social media platforms which are being used by the PAK’nSAVE which helps in managing the overall sales of the organization appropriately. Through Facebook page, they try to make the customers aware about the different kinds of offers and discounts which are provided by them to customers.
As commented by Gibson and Hanson (2018), relationship marketing is one of the major aspects which has been introduced by the organization which will increase the loyalty among the customers. Furthermore, as per the reports of Paknsave (2019), it has been opined that personalized kind of communication in the digital marketing can have contact with the customers in a usual manner and satisfy the different requirements of the customers. For example-The reward cards have introduced by the company has helped in improving the loyalty of the customers towards the brand. The official application of PAK’nSAVE is the other significant advantage as the customers can gain a competitive advantage as there are more than 55% of the customers who prefer online websites due to the work schedules.
Comparison of Technological Advancements and Digital Marketing Strategies Between Countdown and PAK’nSAVE Supermarkets
In according to Countdown, the different consumers in the market are satisfied with the self to check out the system as they feel that the customers are enjoying the service in comparison to the usage of the cashier lane (Dodson, 2016). Through conducting surveys, it has been noticed that many customers do not prefer talking face to face with other individuals when they are performing shopping.
Due to the inclusion of the language section option in the self-check out the system, it has improved the overall satisfaction among the customers. The effectiveness of the speed of the person check out system has proved to be advantageous for the customers and the company to become more competitive in comparison to the other competitors in the business environment. It has minimized the overall stress among the employees in a positive manner which has increased brand loyalty.
On the contrary, it has been noticed that as per PAK’nSAVE customers, the rewards scheme cards which have been introduced which has increased the loyalty of the customers. It has been beneficial in motivating the customers as the trust has grown and more than 43% of the different shoppers both male and female have been tried to influence their decision making aspects while shopping from PAK’nSAVE.
Both technological advancements play a vital role in managing the various requirements of the customers, and it has been useful for the overall success of the company. As per Self-checkout system, the implementation has been done for the office goers as they are busy with their schedules and they do not have time for standing in the queues (Stephen, 2016). Due to the introduction of Kiosks, the store managers can keep a proper track on the transactions which have been done by the customers in minimal space.
In the case of PAK’nSAVE, the overall satisfaction among the different customers have improved as the rewards card scheme which has improved the morale of the employees along with the improvement of the purchasing power of the staffs. The customers are conscious regarding the brand that has been improved, and the customers try to accumulate the various benefits on the purchase, and they try to receive different discounts, and there are different offers and prizes on every purchase from various outlets of the organization in the worldwide (Todor, 2016).
In the case of Countdown, there was an incident of theft as all the systems are not secured with anti-theft shoplifting technologies. To solve the same, there can be an introduction of the different anti-theft shoplifting technologies which will be improving the situation. There has been a lack of personal touch among customers and employees as there are customers who prefer chatting with the employee while purchasing and it has affected the image of the brand.
Improvement Strategies for Countdown and PAK’nSAVE Supermarkets
On the other hand, in case of PAK’nSAVE, it has been difficult for them in matching the bottom line wherein there is a financial loss as there are huge discounts which have been provided to the different customers. In such situations, the organization can introduce the various schemes for loyal customers as this will improve their stability and gain the overall competitive advantage.
Therefore, from the above analysis, it can be analyzed that there are different aspects which are required to be considered by the companies to improve the overall competitiveness.
Coaching is required provided to employees is one of the aspects which can be adopted by the companies which will be appropriate for handling the different grievances of the employees. It has been noticed that different employees have no such knowledge on the self-check out the system that has affected the brand image of the organization.
The customization is necessary which will satisfy the needs of customers and not standardization by creating different kinds of experiences and engaging the customers. The survey related to the satisfaction among customers can be appropriate for analyzing the overall behavior in managing the aspects and become more oriented towards providing services.
References
Balusamy, B., Jha, P., Arasi, T., &Velu, M. (2017). Predictive Analysis of Digital Marketing Using Big Data: Big Data for Predictive Analysis. In Handbook of Research on Advanced Data Mining Techniques and Applications for Business Intelligence (pp. 259-283). IGI Global.
Countdown.co.nz (2019) New Zealand’s Leading Supermarket Brand (online) Retrieved from https://www.countdown.co.nz/ [Accessed on 2 February 2019]
Crosby, L. (2017). How effective is social media marketing at driving brand loyalty. American Marketing Association, Chicago, 4.
Dodson, I. (2016). The Art of Digital Marketing: The Definitive Guide to Creating Strategic, Targeted, and Measurable Online Campaigns. John Wiley & Sons.
Domazet, I. S., &Neogradi, S. (2019). Digital Marketing and Service Industry: Digital Marketing in the Banking Industry. In Managing Diversity, Innovation, and Infrastructure in Digital Business (pp. 20-40). IGI Global.
Gibson, R., & Hanson, G. (2018). Higher engagement and higher returns: The benefits of trust in e-mail marketing. Journal of Digital & Social Media Marketing, 6(3), 211-220.
News.com.au (2019) Woolworths to trial ‘scan and go’ technology that could do away with the checkout (online) Retrieved from https://www.news.com.au/finance/business/retail/woolworths-to-trial-scan-and-go-technology-that-could-do-away-with-the-checkout/news-story/81a41a356f5402c4501a934e2df96dce [Accessed on 2 February 2019]
Paknsave (2019) Home (online) Retrieved from https://www.paknsave.co.nz/ [Accessed on 2 February 2019]
Paknsave.co.nz (2019) PAK’nSAVE launches Sticky Club rewards programme (online) Retrieved from https://www.paknsave.co.nz/news-and-events/paknsave-launches-sticky-club-rewards-programme/ [Accessed on 2 February 2019]
Sinha, M., Singh, H., Gaudrat, V. F., & Ferdinand, P. (2018). U.S. Patent Application No. 15/216,360.
Stephen, A. T. (2016). The role of digital and social media marketing in consumer behavior. Current Opinion in Psychology, 10, 17-21.
Todor, R. D. (2016). Blending traditional and digital marketing. Bulletin of the Transilvania University of Brasov. Economic Sciences. Series V, 9(1), 51.
Nzherald.co.nz (2019) Supermarket chain Countdown launches new online shopping app (online) Retrieved from https://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=1194092 [Accessed on 7 February 2019]
Countdown.co.nz (2019) Onecard Policies and Procedures (online) Retrieved from https://www.countdown.co.nz/onecard/onecard-terms-and-conditions [Accessed on 7 February 2019]
Countdown.co.nz (2019) Media Hub (online) Retrieved from https://www.countdown.co.nz/about-us/countdown-media-hub [Accessed on 7 February 2019]
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