eBay Plus adds Coles discount and delivery window to paid member program

Coles has boosted its offering on eBay Plus, the online marketplace's paid member program, with a permanent discount on supermarket purchases and other shopping deals available through the platform.

Coles on eBay makes available the supermarket’s thousands of items as well as a range of fresh and frozen food, all with a 5 per cent discount when buying through the platform. Customers can also choose a delivery timeframe for purchases made on eBay.

“We’re seeing shopping needs change as Australians look for greater convenience. The addition of fresh and frozen food including everything from milk to bread, means customers can now do their full grocery shop on eBay from the comfort of their own couch,” said eBay Australia and New Zealand senior director, B2C and advertising, Kristian Haigh.

eBay Plus has an annual fee of $49 and provides members with free delivery and return on eBay Plus items, double flybuys points and other deals. Coles on eBay is available to in metropolitan Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth with products at the same national in-store prices including Coles weekly half price deals.

“By enhancing our partnership with eBay, we are enabling anytime, anywhere shopping, providing our customers another convenient way to access our products and have them delivered straight to their door at a time that works for them,” said Coles Online chief executive, Alister Jordan.

eBay launched its Plus member program in 2018 in Australia in a bid to address one of the main bugbears of online shopping: delivery charges. At the time, eBay cited research which found 36 per cent of Australia’s 13.6 million online shoppers spend over $71 on delivery each year.

“We know our customers love the value and convenience of online shopping, but our research shows the cost of delivery can stack up over time,” eBay Australia and New Zealand managing director, Tim MacKinnon, said at the launch.

It comes at a time of renewed focus on loyalty programs, with many brands overhauling their member offerings in the face of research showing member participation in programs is waning.

Amazon Prime dominates the member program landscape for consumers and is seen by many brands as the gold standard. However, as many brands revive their programs in a bid not to be outdone by the shopping behemoth, the biggest hurdle they face in locking down customer loyalty is due to one central reason: Consumer choice of retail offerings in the online space.

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