It’s fair to say the long-anticipated and now imminent arrival of Amazon has unleashed a series of shockwaves throughout Australia’s retail sector. The promise of cheap same-day deliveries on a wide range of products – even groceries – has seen some of our biggest and most established retailers frantically rallying to step up their game.
Joining the battle for convenience
This is healthy competition at it’s very best. One brand raises the bar – others follow. Now, supermarket giant Woolworths is joining the battle for convenience starting with the rollout of in-store parcel lockers. Over the next five years, parcel lockers will be installed in 500 of its 970 stores nationwide, thanks to a partnership with Australia Post.
And here’s the latest, Woolworths has upped its defence against Amazon even further by recently announcing pick-up points for online grocery orders in all 970 supermarkets.
Responding to the pressure points of modern consumerism
Woolworths is a great case study for what we could call the “Amazon effect”. This is a traditional bricks-and-mortar retailer that’s responding to the pressure points of modern consumerism – those being convenience and the “I want it now” mentality. The rise of online retailing and cost-effective same-day delivery options plays right into the hands of today’s consumer expectations and Woolworths is finding a place of its own.
Of course, the supermarket isn’t going to bid farewell to its physical stores any time soon, but it’s pick-up service takes aim at shoppers wanting to ditch the usual trolley dash in favour of online shopping. Yes – they can already do this using Woolworths’ home delivery service offering same-day deliveries, but this isn’t the point. That’s because “wanting something now” doesn’t always mean “wanting it at home”.
“Wanting it now” doesn’t mean “wanting it at home”
Indeed, there’s still a place in everyone’s lives for the high-street, after all, it’s where we work, rest and play. In fact, most full-time workers probably spend more time in and around a high street (and near a Woolies) than we do our own homes!
Picking up your shopping from one of their 970 stores might actually be the most convenient option – and the same goes for all our same-day deliveries. In-store parcel lockers are another great reason to target their store when you just can’t be at home to receive that imminent same-day delivery (even if it is from Amazon)!