2020 CEO Survey: Brad Banducci, Woolworths Group

Just as Woolworths was making good progress in meeting consumer demands, its customers upped the ante, says Brad Banducci.

What are the three enduring lessons or changes to flow from COVID-19?

This has been a profoundly challenging year for us all, but I honestly believe it has brought out the very best in Woolworths. It has shown what we can do when we move with focus and agility and empower our teams to make decisions.

COVID-19 has accelerated key customer trends we’ve been working hard to meet for the last few years and just as we were making progress, our customers upped the ante. E-commerce has been growing at 50-100 per cent this year. We’ve served more than 800,000 new online customers in 2020. Once customers try online, it becomes a key part of their shopping repertoire and they don’t tend to turn back.

During the initial demand surge in March, we were working hard to keep our customers updated on the stock situation. I think we learnt a lot about the importance of speaking directly and authentically with our customers, and I want to carry that forward. Authenticity is key in the social media world we live in.

How would you rate the shape of the Australian economy as we head into the new year?

I’m cautiously optimistic. Australia and New Zealand have both done an incredible job in keeping COVID-19 community transmission under relative control.

We feel we’re as well placed as any to manage the economic conditions of the day.

What three reforms are needed to sustainably grow the economy?

We think there is a real opportunity to streamline the industrial relations framework, and to do so in a balanced and pragmatic fashion. There is no doubt our IR system is capable of delivering much better outcomes.

We would welcome a continued focus on government initiatives to fast-track business investment, so we can create new jobs faster, including in regional areas where we have a major footprint.

A national process for the adoption of streamlined, consistent regulation would have productivity benefits. We’d really encourage governments to consider retaining changes introduced during the COVID-19 pandemic to assist with the economic recovery — such as flexibility for trading hours and curfews for deliveries.

What are the three best growth opportunities for your company in 2021?

We’ve seen strong growth in fresh seafood, along with fresh fruit and vegetables. As we come out the other side of COVID-19, we’ll be working to help our customers make some of those healthy habits stick. It’s not just good for our business, but also good for the nation’s health and the wellbeing of families more generally.

Customer demand for ever more convenient meal solutions is insatiable and the brands that best meet this need will have the strongest growth perspectives.

Big W has swung from a $31m loss to a $39m profit, off the back of strong customer driven sales momentum. It’s been an amazing turnaround and it’s not over yet.

We also know we can do a much better job of integrating the Big W and Woolworths Supermarkets offers, particularly in the digital and e-commerce space.

What impact will digital transformation have on your company?

Digital changes everything. We all talk a lot about how it changes the customer experience but we don’t talk enough about how it can help us radically improve our underlying business processes.

To put this in context: we currently have around 12 million digital customer visits a week to

The people and capital investments we’ve made in digital over the last few years stood us in good stead in a 2020. But there is a world of opportunity ahead.

How would you rate business, state and federal government performance this year?

I’ve been inspired by the way corporate Australia in partnership with governments has collectively stepped up and played its part in the response to the pandemic.

Federal and state governments deserve credit for their swift, decisive and evidence-based response to this crisis. It hasn’t been perfect, but things rarely are in life. It’s easy to lose sight of the fact we’re in a materially better position as a nation than many others.