Supermarket chain is now Australia's largest Internet retailer
Woolworths’ 50 per cent stake in analytics firm, Quantium, is helping the supermarket giant tailor the shopping experience to the needs of customers, its CEO said during a financial results announcement.
Woolworths paid $20 million in May 2013 for a non-controlling stake in Quantium, and is using the company’s tools to improve its customer analytics capabilities, Grant O’Brien said. Key areas of focus are pricing and promotion, ranging and store layout.
“We continue to put in place the enablers for a new era of growth,” the CEO said as he revealed Woolworths’ full-year results. “[Our stake in Quantium] is allowing us to use data to better tailor the shopping experience to the needs of our customers.”
Related: Bad data has big consequences, says Quantium executive
The A/NZ Woolworths Group reported $60.8bn in total sales and a net profit after tax of $2.4 billion, up 6.1 per cent on the previous year. The company is also Australia’s largest Internet retailer, completing $1.2 billion in online sales in the 12 months ending 29 June. That represents a 50 per cent year-on-year increase.
Online was flagged in the financial report as a key growth area and Web-based offers in food, liquor and apparel exceeded expectations in the past year at 3 million items delivered each week.
Woolworths recently opened a dedicated online fulfilment grocery store and implemented ‘Track My Order’ GPS functionality, allowing customers to track their online purchases. They can also share shopping lists or locate any product in store.
The retailer also expanded its Click & Collect network to 202 stores during the year and relaunched BigW Online.
Meanwhile, Woolworths said the integration of homeware and apparel catalogue provider, EziBuy, which operates online – is progressing well with its distribution capabilities being used to enhance the retailer’s online offers.
Woolworths also said it will improve its online presence with mobile-enabled venue websites, special online offers, an online booking service for accommodation, and integrating advertising into social media platforms.
Woolworths also flagged a 10 per cent increase in membership across its Everyday Rewards customer loyalty program to 7.9 million. Onecard members were also up to 1.9m over the same period.
Follow CMO on Twitter: @CMOAustralia, take part in the CMO Australia conversation on LinkedIn: CMO Australia, join us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CMOAustralia, or check us out on Google+: google.com/+CmoAu
While approaching a customer in a shop and asking what you can help them with is Retail 101, how many of us actually enjoy being approached? Generally, you have to give the forced, fake smile and say, “Just browsing, thanks,” while screaming on the inside, “just leave me alone!” Maybe it’s just me?
Not a day passes by in the life of business executives where digital innovation or the prospect of disruption is not front of mind. This in turn, drives an unrelenting flow of questioning, discussion and strategy papers.
Unless you’ve been marketing under a rock, you’ll probably have questioned whether your media agencies are offering you transparency.
In Episode 11 of this new podcast series, BrandHook MD, Pip Stocks, talks with Australia Post chief innovation officer and former CMO, Greg Sutherland, about how brand reputation today is built on what customers say, why that’s reflective of experience, and what AusPost is doing to tackle that.
Nice post Brad! very useful information. The retail stores are really mean for every brand I am agree with you. Now Online Service Market...
Srialto
The rise of online retail marketplaces and what they mean for brands
Minor correct Nadia, just wanted to clarify that the "Marketo consultants" that did this work, were actually Hoosh consultants
Fab Capodicasa
What it's taking for Edible Blooms to grow a stronger personalisation strategy
Im not surprise though, been in the industry for couple of years and I feel and see it with my tow eyes how eCommerce platforms innovated...
Jason Smith
Australia Post earmarks $20m for Australian ecommerce innovation investment
For marketers that are "going Agile" I recommend using Ravetree. It's a really powerful suite of tools for Agile project management, reso...
Janice Morgan
7 ways to run your marketing department like a software startup
Over the years very part of our lives has become technological. That’s why I am not surprised to see that Australian home loans are going...
GreatDayTo
Why Aussie Home Loans is embracing digital transformation