Retail Formats
Part of Retail investment and business change
Tracking a new retail format after launch
Follow a retail format from pilot to rollout using store cohorts, customer use, costs and bounded results.
Track a new retail format through the stores that adopted it, the customer task it was meant to serve and the cost of delivering that task. A launch count shows reach. It does not show additional purchases or a return that supports wider rollout.
Define what changed
Record the floorplan, range, service, pricing, brand, size or fulfilment role that distinguishes the format. Keep conversions separate from openings: changing a banner does not necessarily add a physical location.
Coles' Liquorland programme illustrates the point. A 2025 Coles Group media release announced the start of a nationwide Liquorland transformation, and the group has since published full-year results for 2025 and 2026. The supplied excerpts from those sources are titles only and do not include the store-level detail a cohort test requires. Selected trial sites or early customer measures would not on their own establish a network-wide financial result.
Follow stores changed at the same time
Group stores by conversion period. Record their former banner, location, conversion date, trading weeks and any closure or refurbishment. Compare suitable periods before and after the change and, where possible, similar stores that have not yet changed. Keep seasonality, local competition, promotions and stock availability visible.
Question after launch / Evidence to seek
- Did the offer change as intended?
- Actual range, layout, service and opening dates
- Did customers use it?
- Transactions, repeat visits and relevant feedback
- Did it add sales?
- Converted-store sales and effects at nearby network stores
- Did it earn its keep?
- Gross profit, staffing, occupancy and conversion costs
- Can it scale?
- Results across later cohorts and different locations
Coles Liquorland Transformation Rollout Timeline
- 2025 Media Release AnnouncedStart of nationwide Liquorland transformation
- 2025 Full-Year Results PublishedAggregate results released – no store-level data available
- 2026 Full-Year Results PublishedAggregate results released – no store-level breakdown provided
Read later results at their reported level
Coles Group has published full-year results releases for 2025 and 2026. The supplied excerpts for those releases are titles only, so no segment or store-level breakdown is available here. A later result at an aggregate level cannot be assigned wholly to converted stores.
Track trial stores, later conversions and the wider business separately. If only aggregate results are available, report the rollout and the aggregate outcome as separate observations rather than as cause and effect.
Coles Group Financial Results (Aggregate, No Store-Level Data)
- 2025 Full-Year ResultsPublished – no segment or store-level detail
- 2026 Full-Year ResultsPublished – no store-level breakdown available
Decide what is established
What is documented in the supplied sources for the Liquorland programme is the announcement of a nationwide transformation and the titles of Coles Group's 2025 and 2026 full year results releases. The supplied excerpts do not include store-level evidence: conversion dates, trading weeks, customer measures or incremental sales. A stronger success claim would need comparable evidence of customer use, incremental network sales and contribution after conversion and ongoing costs.
