The direct competitor of Woolworths is Franline, this supermarket is also located on level 3, and it’s near the parking place, So it’s more convenient for customer who drive a car for shopping.
Indirect competition
Opposite the White milk fridge is the flavored milk aisle, juice and tea aisle, etc. shoppers have multiple choices when they feel thirsty.
There is a food court on level 3, and more than 15 café shops are located in this shopping center, since some customers of the shopping center are students and staff of nearby office towers, when they find some drinks, they can choose many items besides milk.
Desired state
Location
It’s a 4 level shopping center with its entrance on level 4, and Woolworths located at level 3. That means people who don’t drive a car to the shopping center can have a quick access to the Woolworths. And after shopping, it’s easier for consumers carrying lots of things to get out of the shopping center, a 2lt milk is about 2 kilo, as 3lt milk, it’s even about 3 kilo, if the supermarket is not located near the entrance, the consumer might not purchase the heavy products when they are shopping.
Certainly, Woolworths also provide car-parking place for their customers who drive a car to go shopping, and I found that customers could have a quick access to the Woolworths from parking place.
In conclusion, the location of the Woolworths is very convenient for their customers.
Produce Section
No one likes their bananas bruised or their strawberries smashed, so it makes sense to buy produce at the end of a shopping trip. However, because produce is perishable, supermarkets want to get rid of it quickly. And since consumers tend to spend more money at the beginning of their shopping trip than at the end, produce sales are markedly higher when it is placed at the beginning of the store 1. Therefore, fresh fruits and vegetables are usually located in the first aisle. So as milk, since it’s dairy product, supermarket want to sale it as soon as possible, so the staples like bread, milk, meat, and produce are usually spread throughout the store and generally on the outside walls. This means that there are lots of items between the things you really need and more opportunities for impulse buying.
Consumers tend to shop more quickly as they approach the shelf, which contain the products they want. So during the 2 hours research, I found that most shoppers open the left fridge to get the Home Brand Milk just because it’s the nearest one when they turn right to get to the next aisle.
Product Placement
The location of items that are attractive to shoppers are usually on the shelves at our eye level, Some of your best buys are up high or down low on the shelves. For examples, I notice that products of the same catalogue are displaced on the shelves according to the price. In other words, the more expensive ones are displaced at the eye level, while the cheaper ones are higher or lower on the shelves. And in cereal aisle I found that some snack for children are on the bottom of the shelf, I think it’s used to catch children’ eyes. And items at the end of the aisle are also designed to catch consumers’ eyes.
Products placed at eye level tend to sell better than similar products at different heights. Most people don’t even look at a product that is 40 cm (16 in.) or less from the floor 2. Woolworths put the white milk on the left of the frozen area――the place face to the entrance to catch shoppers’ eyes, because the milk is dairy products, they want to sale them quickly. Although Dairy Farmers put their milk at adults’ eye level, they put them on the right fridge that is not very obvious for customers.
Strategy
As a manager, I think we should do something to attract consumer’s attention for our products:
(1). Customers get into the supermarket to find the range of products that cater to their needs, that means a range of pack sizes for regular milks and a range of specialty milks. So some consumers are still confused by specialty milks. May be we should consider a new approach to grouping products in the fridge to help the shoppers decide which is the milk for them. For example, we can clearly differentiate milks in the fridge by customer type rather than milk type; maybe have a section for families, a section for young males, and a section for organic and biodynamic milks.
(2). We should try to provide 3lt size milk to encounter the competition of Home Brand and Pura Milk.
(3). We could put some milk in small pack size in the fridge near the checkouts, because I found that Woolworths just put coca and juice in the fridge. So while customers are waiting in the queue for payment, they can get milk instead of coca or juice when they feel thirsty.
Reference
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Dairy Farmers: our product. Retrieved August 20, 2005, From:
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Larson, Jeffrey S., Bradlow, Eric and Fader, Peter, "An Exploratory Look at Supermarket Shopping Paths". International Journal of Research in Marketing, 2005
- Stella Lee, Caroline Liffman, and Cindy McCulligh 2002, The Supermarket Tour, OPIRG McMaster, Canada
- Steve Brearton, “Grocery-store Confidential,” Toronto Life Magazine, September 15, 1997
- Robert Matas 1987, “Stocking Shelves Has a Hidden Cost,” Globe and Mail
- Tom Eklof, “Triggering More Sales Through POP, Progressive Grocer 67, vol.9, no.19.
