Online shopping made the difference in a year of crises

BCA’s Biggies Awards finalist: Woolworths stepped up during the COVID-19 pandemic to manage people’s changing shopping needs.

Supermarket giant Woolworths stepped up to manage the onslaught of people when panic buying made it unsafe for vulnerable Australians. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Paul Jeffers

The Business Council of Australia’s Biggies Awards finalist: Woolworths

-

When the coronavirus pandemic struck just over a year ago, there was chaos in supermarkets across the country as people rushed to stockpile food.

Some commentators worried the mayhem would damage the country’s social fabric as Australians stripped tins of tomatoes and packets of spaghetti from shelves, and videos emerged on social media of shoppers fighting over packets of toilet rolls. Panic buying made supermarkets unsafe for some vulnerable Australians. People feared they would not have access to food and everyday needs.

Supermarket giant Woolworths stepped up to manage the onslaught of people along with health and safety requirements. It launched a dedicated “Community Shopping Hour” to allow senior citizens and people with disabilities to shop more safely and ramped up its online delivery services. The latter helped thousands of elderly Australians, who were unable to leave their homes for fear of the virus, to shop for essentials.

It was the first time that many people had shopped digitally, and Woolworths set up a dedicated support team to help.

It was a big success: the call rates to the Woolworths helpline more than doubled from 60,000 calls each week to 140,000.

By the end of 2020, Woolworths had served more than 800,000 new online customers.

As the pandemic dragged on and businesses such as Qantas were forced to dismiss thousands of staff, Woolworths launched a program offering priority employment to Qantas employees.

Within four weeks, 2200 former Qantas workers joined Woolies in stores, distribution centres and its corporate office.

Qantas executive Andrew Parker says that throughout the pandemic, Woolworths had shown how to be a good corporate citizen.

“The generosity that Woolworths continues to show our people has been extraordinary, with every member of the Woolworths team going above and beyond to make the transition as seamless as possible and provide our people with training, development and support,” Parker says.

Woolworths CEO Brad Banducci says he is exceptionally proud of all of his employees, calling them “quiet Australian heroes”.

“What we did in the first few months at the outset of the pandemic would have taken us more than 18 months in the normal course of business,” Banducci says.

“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.”

Banducci says the open communication between customers and the Woolworths team that emerged from the COVID-19 pandemic is something he wants to uphold in the future.

“I’ve really enjoyed communicating more directly with our customers this year,” he says.

“We also decided to be as open, honest and transparent as we could in these communications. I got a lot of direct feedback from customers who were pleased we weren’t gilding the lily and were just telling it to them straight.

“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 world we live in.”

The digital transformation encouraged by the COVID-19 disruption has changed Woolworths permanently. Its stores remain central to the business but it has recognised that “convenience is king” and plans to implement more changes to its digital business.