Impact on Society
Consumers in Australia do not produce their own food and rely on the retail sector to provide necessary food items. Supermarket chains, including Woolworths, have the ability to control and dominate the food displayed and consumed to the public. The design layout of Woolworths impacts on consumer’s shopping experience, what they purchase and how much they purchase. The entrance of Woolworths stores offer a range of flowers to purchase. The flowers enhance the
image of the store and builds upon the notion of ‘fresh’. The entrance also consists of cash registers that allow consumers to take cash out of credit cards and a result have more money to spend on food
items. The use of cooking demonstrations, free samples and displays in stores expose customers to new products and therefore consumers are more tempted to buy unnecessary food products that were not originally on the shopping list. The layout of Woolworths consists on fresh and perishable food on the circumference and packaged food placed in the centre of stores. In order to purchase fresh food such as milk and meat, customers must walk to the back of Woolworths stores to retrieve the items. During this time, the customer passes many aisles of packaged food and is highly likely to stop and purchase a non-perishable food item. The placement of food items on shelves also impacts on customer purchases. The top and bottom of shelves are reserved for home brands and non-expensive food items. Consumers are less likely to purchase these items are that not centred or
promoted. The middle of the shelves is for expensive, popular, leading and best seller brands.
These items are highly likely to be purchased as they are placed at eye-level. Customers are
automatically attracted to these items. Food items for children are placed at a child’s eye level as they are likely to reach out for a product and demand it to be purchased from parents. At cash registers, magazines, chocolates and soft drinks are displayed. Whilst waiting in queues, customers are surrounded by these miscellaneous food items and are urged to purchase these products.
The longer trading hours of Woolworths also provide the convenience for consumers to purchase food any day during any time. The trading hours of majority of Woolworths stores is:
· Monday to Friday: 7am – 12pm
· Saturday: 7am – 10pm
· Sunday: 8am – 10pm
Market research conducted by IBISWorld forecasts the share of private-label products, such as Woolworths Select, will account for over 30% of Australian supermarket sales by 2017 – 2018.
Australians are expected to spend $85.9 billion on groceries in 2012 – 2013 and $21.6 billion of this will be spent on private-label products. This has increased from $19.7 billion in 2011– 2012 and $9.96 billion in 2007. The increased popularity on private-label products is due to consumers
spending less and reducing expenses. As a result, consumers are shifting to home brands.
As Woolworths have their own private-labelled brand, Select, it is easy for these products to be highly promoted through layout strategies.
The dominance and monopolistic nature of Woolworths and its competitor, Coles, has impacted on consumer’s choices, controlling what is produced, how it is produced and when it is produced. Consumer Affairs Minister Craig Emerson is hopeful the proliferation of Costco and Aldi supermarkets will change the retail sector. A survey conducted in 2009 by Heartbeat Trend indicated that consumers have a concern that Woolworths and Coles have too much power and showed greater support for local markets and Aldi.
In 2011, Woolworths committed to assist customers to make informed healthy food purchasing decisions through labelling 100% of private-label products with the Daily Intake Guide (DIG). The initiative aims to offer customers variety, value and ability to choose healthier pre-packaged food. The DIG was developed to provide customers with a simple graphic showing Energy, Fat,
Saturated Fat, Sugar and Sodium content as a proportion of the recommended daily intake amount.
Consumers in Australia do not produce their own food and rely on the retail sector to provide necessary food items. Supermarket chains, including Woolworths, have the ability to control and dominate the food displayed and consumed to the public. The design layout of Woolworths impacts on consumer’s shopping experience, what they purchase and how much they purchase. The entrance of Woolworths stores offer a range of flowers to purchase. The flowers enhance the
image of the store and builds upon the notion of ‘fresh’. The entrance also consists of cash registers that allow consumers to take cash out of credit cards and a result have more money to spend on food
items. The use of cooking demonstrations, free samples and displays in stores expose customers to new products and therefore consumers are more tempted to buy unnecessary food products that were not originally on the shopping list. The layout of Woolworths consists on fresh and perishable food on the circumference and packaged food placed in the centre of stores. In order to purchase fresh food such as milk and meat, customers must walk to the back of Woolworths stores to retrieve the items. During this time, the customer passes many aisles of packaged food and is highly likely to stop and purchase a non-perishable food item. The placement of food items on shelves also impacts on customer purchases. The top and bottom of shelves are reserved for home brands and non-expensive food items. Consumers are less likely to purchase these items are that not centred or
promoted. The middle of the shelves is for expensive, popular, leading and best seller brands.
These items are highly likely to be purchased as they are placed at eye-level. Customers are
automatically attracted to these items. Food items for children are placed at a child’s eye level as they are likely to reach out for a product and demand it to be purchased from parents. At cash registers, magazines, chocolates and soft drinks are displayed. Whilst waiting in queues, customers are surrounded by these miscellaneous food items and are urged to purchase these products.
The longer trading hours of Woolworths also provide the convenience for consumers to purchase food any day during any time. The trading hours of majority of Woolworths stores is:
· Monday to Friday: 7am – 12pm
· Saturday: 7am – 10pm
· Sunday: 8am – 10pm
Market research conducted by IBISWorld forecasts the share of private-label products, such as Woolworths Select, will account for over 30% of Australian supermarket sales by 2017 – 2018.
Australians are expected to spend $85.9 billion on groceries in 2012 – 2013 and $21.6 billion of this will be spent on private-label products. This has increased from $19.7 billion in 2011– 2012 and $9.96 billion in 2007. The increased popularity on private-label products is due to consumers
spending less and reducing expenses. As a result, consumers are shifting to home brands.
As Woolworths have their own private-labelled brand, Select, it is easy for these products to be highly promoted through layout strategies.
The dominance and monopolistic nature of Woolworths and its competitor, Coles, has impacted on consumer’s choices, controlling what is produced, how it is produced and when it is produced. Consumer Affairs Minister Craig Emerson is hopeful the proliferation of Costco and Aldi supermarkets will change the retail sector. A survey conducted in 2009 by Heartbeat Trend indicated that consumers have a concern that Woolworths and Coles have too much power and showed greater support for local markets and Aldi.
In 2011, Woolworths committed to assist customers to make informed healthy food purchasing decisions through labelling 100% of private-label products with the Daily Intake Guide (DIG). The initiative aims to offer customers variety, value and ability to choose healthier pre-packaged food. The DIG was developed to provide customers with a simple graphic showing Energy, Fat,
Saturated Fat, Sugar and Sodium content as a proportion of the recommended daily intake amount.