Markets/Australasia/News

Australasia news & analysis

09 July 2020
Following a spike in new cases and the renewed lockdown of parts of Australia's second largest city, how have retailers responded and what can other businesses and markets learn? 1. Short term buying restrictions As reports of new COVID-19 cases in Melbourne were revealed, Coles and Woolworths were both quick to respond to reinstigating buying restrictions on certain products in response to...
08 July 2020
Woolworths has announced that it is testing cashless stores, as well as plans to launch a dedicated B2B online platform. Metro stores switch to cashless payment Woolworths has revealed that 11 Metro stores across Sydney and Melbourne have been converted to accept cashless payments only. The move is designed to make shopping even more convenient and seamless, particularly for stores in trans...
02 July 2020
Woolworths has responded by rolling out increased online capacity in the state of Victoria, after a spike in demand of 40% over the past week. Thousands of new online slots for Victoria The surge in demand followed the news that Coronavirus cases in Victoria continued to grow. In response, Woolworths said that it was rolling out dozens of new delivery vehicles and making thousands of more s...
02 July 2020
Coles and Woolworths in Australia have decided to reinstate buying limits on toilet roll and paper towels after a surge in demand. Reacting quickly is vital to manage stock flow Coles was the first of the two major retailers to lift all of its buying restrictions a few weeks ago, followed by Woolworths shortly afterwards. However, the recent demand has led Coles to restrict buying to one pa...
29 June 2020
Metcash has released results for its financial year ending 30 April 2020, with sales, including charge through, up 2.0% to AU$14.9bn and total EBIT up 1.5% to AU$334.9m. Food sales including charge through up 3.5% to AU$9,104m Sales were impacted by the loss of the Drakes account in South Australia, which terminated at the end of September. Despite this, Supermarket sales increased 3.8% to ...
22 June 2020
Woolworths has restructured the leadership of its commercial team, creating two roles that will allow it to capitalise on future growth opportunities. One buying director for Supermarkets business Woolworths currently has two buying directors; Peter McNamara who heads up packaged goods and Paul Harker who leads the fresh food team. Under the new structure, Harker will be the retailer's prim...
15 June 2020
Woolworths Australia is making some significant changes to how it uses plastics in its produce department. New and reduced packaging across multiple products The retailer is looking to reduce the amount of plastic trays and plastic packaging that it uses across its fruit and vegetables category. Some of the initiatives include using adhesive tape on bunches of products such as bananas, repl...
15 June 2020
Coles has launched a new range of ready meals called 'Coles Kitchen'. Bolstering its convenience offer The new range sees 34 new products added to the retailer's ready meal category and includes products covering Italian, Indian, Asian and Australian cuisines. They join the growing range of convenient food-to-go and food-for-later meal solutions that Coles is looking to develop across its s...
10 June 2020
Amazon in Australia has launched a new beers, wines and spirits shop on its website. Moving towards a more credible 'Pantry' offer Since launching in Australia in 2017, Amazon has steadily increased its services in the market, as well as expanding its range of food and consumer goods products. In its latest development, Amazon has collaborated with both local and international alcohol manuf...
04 June 2020
Metcash's chain of independant supermarkets IGA has launched a new grocery online service. New service not on radar before COVID-19 The new service called IGA Shop Online has spun off from activity during the Coronavirus pandemic, which saw IGA offer a new Priority Shop home delivery service, offering four pack options of essential items. While some IGA stores already provide either an on...