Assignment 1

'Cold Storage', established in 1903, is an icon in Singapore's supermarkets industry.  In the early days, Cold Storage's emphasis was on profit making of its imported meats and range of products. Subsequently, the Company shifted from counter-service to self-service, introducing the supermarket into Singapore. From then, they always strategies to bring Cold Storage to where the consumers are.

 

Purpose

In 1997, Cold Storage was the first supermarket to offer their products in the cyberspace. The objective of coldstorage.com.sg is to be as convenient and as hassle-free as possible to its customers. Therefore, this online supermarket retailer carries a huge variety of merchandise, such as frozen, non-food, party needs etc to satisfy customers' needs and offers to deliver your shopping cart right at your doorstep. 

 

Business Model

Being such a renowned supermarket retailer, with its over 100 years of history, Cold Storage, the market leader of the island is constantly introducing new store concepts with clear industry standards. Also, considering the fact that Singapore is a multi-racial country, Cold Storage was the first in history to be the first supermarket retailer to bring assurance to the Muslims community of their Halal purchases.

 

Under The Cold Storage Group of Stores, it diversifies its supermarkets into 3 different concepts, namely, Cold Storage, Market Place and Shop N Save. In details,

 

•  Cold Storage, The Fresh Food People has 32 stores strategically located across the island in city center, affluent suburbs and housing estates. It's pledged to delivering value; variety based n ethnic mix, freshness, innovative food ideas, superior customer service and a pleasant shopping environment that enhances the consumer's lifestyle.
  

• Market Place is sub-divided into Jasons The Gourmet Grocer, Tanglin Market Place, Paragon Market Place and Jasons Market Place and an organic and wellness-focused store - naturally marketplace by cold storage. These stores are marketed as higher profile supermarkets, dedicated to offer the widest range of quality, good value and international merchandise to satisfy the daily needs of its target customers.
  

• Shop N Save operates 50 branches islandwide, being a leading discount supermarket chain in Singapore. Shop N Save demostrates simplicity and efficiencies, committed to provide convenience and offer a broad range of quality products and fresh food at the most competitive prices to its consumers.
  

 

Despite supplying an extensive range of leading brands in stores, Cold Storage has established their premier in-house brand - First Choice, offering an additional choice for their customers. Standing by the objective - 'First Choice, A Name You Can Trust for Quality and Value', the company gave the consumers the opportunity to enjoy the difference and quality that is equal to or better than the market leading brands, but at a lower price. To date, 1,500 products have been developed ranging from fresh food to beverage, grocery to household products. Cold Storage is thoughtful to create a range to cover everything from day-to-day essentials and traditional favorites at attractive prices.

 

Payment Scheme

Most e-commerce websites accept credit card as the only mode of payment. Here in Cold Storage, it accepts not only credit card - VISA & MASTER, it also acknowledges The Choice Card (a credit card partnering Cold Storage and HSBC), Cash on Delivery and Cheque on Delivery. Comparing the Company to other local e-supermarkets, Cold Storage is considered one of the few who offers more modes of payment so as to achieve their objective of as hassle-free as possible.

 

Key Characteristics

 

 

 

From above, we can see that the homepage of the site is the up-to-date 'Best Buys'. This is an ideal marketing strategy to attract customers and works for consumers who are looking for cheaper alternatives too, best of both worlds.

     

The navigation bar on the left is extremely useful for customers. They are able to go directly to the category they are interested in. Plus, we can see that there is a ' Log In' option. The Company requires customers to register with them before transacting. This is thoughtful of them as the system is able to store individual's personal details, like delivery address. Consumers just need to log in to shop without the hassle of inserting all details each time.

ColdStorage.com.sg also goes to the extra mile of providing a vast selection of recipes under the 'Let's Cook' option. There are also the Food Safety and Wellness 4 Life to enhance consumers' health knowledge.

There are store details for customers who prefer to shop in the brick and mortar environment. Opening hours, contact number and 'how to get there' information are easily obtainable in this site.

 

Strength

e-Cold Storage provides grocery shopping at a click away. This is especially important for a fast-paced society like Singapore.  Not only do they provide a number of payment methods, they have several deliver times to accommodate each needs.

      

Orders Received	Earliest Delivery will be
Before 1pm	Next working day* between 9:30 am and 1:00 pm
From 1pm to 5pm	Next working day* between 2:00 pm and 5:30 pm or 6:30 pm and 9:30 pm
After 5pm	The 2nd working day* between 9:30 am and 1:00 pm

ColdStorage.com.sg not only focuses on providing service for their customers. Any one at any time and anywhere is able to access their site to obtain extra details like health knowledge and recipes. Employment vacancies, company's information and activities are also easily available for public's viewing.

 

Weakness

Though Cold Storage is the first to bring its supermarket into the cyber world, there are now many major supermarkets doing e-grocery shopping now too.

As compared to Meidi-ya, cold storage's shopping layout is not as thorough. Meidi-ya choice of products comes with a picture attached. This is beneficial for those who has a pictorial memory. As a saying goes, ' a picture speaks a thousand words'.  Therefore, it is easier to capture consumer's attention and having photos creates a more pleasurable experience.

 

Conclusion

Needless to say, ColdStorage.com.sg have not reached a perfect platform yet. There will be room for improvement to allow itself stand out among its competitors. However, it is definitely decent enough to make online grocery shopping at ColdStorage.com.sg a pleasant and breezy one.