Supermarket giant Woolworths is opening up a marketplace option in response to the jump in people ordering their groceries online during the pandemic.
The Everyday Market platform, announced on Tuesday, will allow customers to order thousands of items, from household appliances to toys, pet care and health and beauty products, alongside their regular grocery order.
As well as being able to order everything in one convenient place, the system will allow customers to earn reward points on all purchases and get everything delivered for a $10 flat fee.
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Some of the brands available on the Everyday Market platform will be Russell Hobbs, Nutribullet, Dyson and Vetalogica, and customers will be able to access products from Woolworths aligned partners such as Big W, Healthylife, PetCulture and Joonya.
“We want to help our customers get more of their everyday needs in the one seamless and convenient online shop,” said Woolworths marketplace general manager Lance Eerhard.
“We’re starting with a small group of partners and it really is just the beginning. We have ambitions to more than double our online range and offer tens of thousands of new products to our customers over time.”
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Woolworths has been trialling the Everyday Market in select areas since July 2021.
“The response from customers during the pilot was really encouraging, with strong demand for cookware, kitchen appliances and toys,” Mr Eerhard said.
“Our customers liked being able to get lots of different needs in one place – whether it be a kids’ toy for a birthday, an air fryer to perfect a new recipe, or a set of clippers for a lockdown haircut.”
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Some of the top selling items from the pilot program were:
- Contempo Stainless Steel Glass Blender
- Brilliant Basics Compact Microwave
- Black & Decker Extreme Stick Vacuum
- VS For Men Commander Clipper
- House & Home Kitchen Scissors Silver
- Nutribullet 5 Piece Blender Set 600W
- Contempo Medium Digital Microwave Oven
- Nutribullet 8 Piece Blender Set
- Contempo Personal Blender
- Prinetti Digital 8L Airfryer
Retail analyst Brian Walker told The New Daily that the Woolworths move positioned the supermarket giant to tackle retail superpower Amazon’s Australian operation.
“Woolworths is building up this ecommerce technology, media and data play – this is where retail is going,” Mr Walker said.
“Retail is moving towards a marriage of retail, technology and media.
“Marketplaces are 60 per cent of online transactions.
“Woolworths want to build up data and multiple subscription offerings.”
Woolworths already has a subscription service for free delivery on grocery orders, similar to Amazon’s Prime model, and Mr Walker believes that Woolworths will be looking to expand this part of its business in future.
Would you be interested in buying products from the Woolworths Everyday Market platform? What products would you like to see added to the list? Are you already subscribed to Woolworths for free grocery deliveries? How do you find the service? Why not share your thoughts in the comments section below?
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