Coles’ digital transformation has increased in the first quarter of 2021.
One significant change involved the introduction of coles&co, which launched in September. It features online specials, recipe inspiration, and replaces the printed weekly catalogues.
This reduced the number of printed catalogues by 4.6 million per week (now more than 32 million since implementation).
Coles Group CEO, Steven Cain mentions the increased digital progress.
“This is despite significant Covid-related restrictions in Victoria related to our main Store Support Centre, our distribution centres, our meat suppliers and of course, our customers – many of whom were not able to visit their regular Coles stores due to the restriction on not travelling, more than five kilometres from home or permitted workplaces.”
This can be seen through the 73% increase in online supermarket B2C sales.
Other highlights
Supermarkets sales revenue was $8.5 billion for the first quarter, an increase of 9.8% on the prior corresponding period.
Smarter Selling initiatives include the roll out of Paperless operations to digitise entry and exiting of distribution centres, as well as automating the onboarding processes of drivers, implementation of GT Nexus.
Coles continued to provide ongoing assistance to those impacted by Covid.
It also entered a 10-year agreement with state-owned clean energy generator and retailer CleanCo to source more than 90% of Queensland electricity requirements from renewable sources from July 2022.
“As we enter a new Covid normal, Coles will continue to prioritise the health and safety of our customers, and team members throughout our store network and supply chain,” says Mr Cain.
“I would like to thank our team, our suppliers, our community partners, the state and federal governments, and of course our customers for helping us to navigate our collective way through the first and second waves of Covid.”