Fun and cash games like Coles toys with his rival

It would appear that part of the reason is that Coles stopped shooting himself in the foot

] When Woolworths began its revival a few years ago by reducing food and grocery store prices, Coles responded competitively by lowering prices further.

The second step of Coles was to reduce costs. and reduce the product range. But the plan did not work particularly well and allowed Woolworths to increase its sales growth lead.

Woolworths seems to be humming, but the big growth rate of equal area sales he's experienced in the fourth quarter of last year. 6.4 percent will be an almost impossible match in the fourth quarter of 2018.

In the third quarter of 2018, Woolworths posted a sales gain of 4.5 percent, but it is expected that this rate slows down between 2 and 3.5 percent. in the fourth quarter. Raymond expects Coles to announce sales growth of 1.7% in the fourth quarter and Woolworths of 3.3%

Chargement en cours ]

In the sales race in supermarkets, Coles can do better than not to automutileand actively use promotions to remove some customers from Woolworths.

Raymond highlights Coles' launch of a Little Shop campaign in the first quarter of 2019. It's all about giving small gifts (like toys) to buyers who spend a certain amount. Woolworths did it last year with great success

It relies on the power of the plague-stricken children who push parents to shop at the store with loot

"Little Shop is a Collecting campaign that has been successful in several countries, including the Netherlands in 2012, New Zealand 2013 and 2014 and South Africa in 2016 and 2017.

"From the middle July to the end of August, Coles will distribute a miniature product for
every $ 30 spent. Vendors have financed much of this program, with a minimal incremental investment of [Colescarlefinancementestrédistributedfromothersources
"Raymond told investors

" Little Shop could boost the 1T19e 50-100 basis points,
narrowing the gap to Woolworths further. "

But if that provides long-term market share benefits to Coles depends on the execution of the strategy." Coles can not afford to disappoint the buyers it attracts with poor service or lack of products on shelves.

However, the overall situation of the sector is rather positive, with the prices of Woolworths and Wesfarmers Coles-parents shares having risen sharply in the last three months, although shares were slightly weaker Friday

The consensus seems to be that rational grocery prices will be in the short and medium term – especially in the run-up to the Coles split as a separately listed company. 659019] Elizabeth Knight comments on businesses, markets and the economy