Coles’ new chief customer officer on the tougher economic times and how shoppers are responding

The pressure on shoppers’ budgets is increasingly obvious at the checkout, says Coles’ newly appointed customer-focused executive.

The newly appointed chief customer officer for Coles believes the Australian consumer is facing an increasingly tougher economic climate, where budgeting the weekly grocery shop is seeing many shoppers counting the dollars and cents as they walk the supermarket aisle.

Amanda McVay, who joined Coles in May from the US where she was a senior executive at grocery chain Meijer, told The Australian on Tuesday that shoppers were feeling the pressure on household budgets as cost of living pressures intensified.

“It is tough out there for customers and the cost of living right now,” she said as she helped launch the latest Coles collectables program – a joint venture of film studio Warner Brothers and DC which involves popular superheroes such as Batman, Superman and Wonder Woman.

“And so this offering is something in addition to what we offer every day with groceries to really bring value, and in this example, bring value to entertain the family … and we can bring that to our customers within heir weekly grocery shop.

“It is tough right now and customers are really looking for that total value, meaning quality of what they purchase with that affordability, across their whole life so in addition to what they see their family, but also the entertain and educate as well.”

Last week, The Australian revealed leaked Coles’ sales data that showed consumers were cutting back on weekly essentials like kitchen cleaners, body wash, sponges, wipes and bathroom disinfectants just to cope with spiralling bills amid rising inflation and interest rates.

The Coles sales data showed that in some categories such as bath soap and body wash, Coles’ sales had plummeted by 33.3 per cent for the 12 months to May with volumes down even further, down 38.5 per cent, with sliding sales also recorded in normally dependable growth categories like scourers and sponges, multipurpose cleaning sprays and carpet cleaners.

Ms McVay said customers were focusing more on balancing household needs with budgets to get through the tougher economic times as cost of living expenses drains spending power.

“I think in the (supermarket) aisle, I think in their weekly planning, absolutely trying to best allocate what they want for their family.”

Shoppers are feeling the pressure. Picture: Getty Images

It comes as Coles launched its latest collectables program, with the supermarket giant long ago jettisoning its highly popular little shop’ toys offer – plastic toy miniatures – to focus more on environmentally sustainable giveaways.

The deal with Warner and DC marks Australia’s first DC supermarket collectable campaign and takes in DC characters such as Batman, Wonder Woman and Superman, along with supervillains The Joker, Catwoman and Poison Ivy, with all collectables made from 100 per cent certified cardboard sourced from responsibly managed forests.

The stars of the challenge are linked with fresh fruit and vegetables, for instance, energy rich bananas for adventurers like Batman, fibre-rich apples worthy of Amazonian warriors like Wonder Woman and juicy sweet corn for strength like Superman.

Ms McVay has also recently joined the board of Loyalty Pacific, the company that owns Flybuys and which is jointly owned by Coles’ former parent, Perth-based conglomerate Wesfarmers.

She said Flybuys would become increasingly important in attracting customers, rewarding loyalty but also helping shoppers to pay for goods by using their Flybuys points, with the usage of points lifting recently as consumers use them to help cover bills.

“Another way in which customers can unlock value is through the Flybuys loyalty program, and so customers are getting a lot more sophisticated to understand how to really bridge that value equation with affordability and loyalty programs and Flybuys specifically can bring more value to customers.”

In February, outgoing Coles boss Steven Cain noted that customers were relying more on Flybuys to help pay for grocery bills to alleviate the pressures from growing cost of living pressures.

“There’s still plenty of people buying premium food, but there’s also an increased number of people who are clearly on budget and looking for promotions … looking for own-brand (private label), using their Flybuys cards more,” Mr Cain said.