“Every man, woman and child needs a handy place where good things are cheap”, with that motto Australia’s favorite retail store, ‘Woolworths’ was started in 1924. This billion dollar enterprise today is popular among Australians as ‘The fresh food people’ and these ten things about them will let you know why –
10 Key Things about Woolworths
1. Woolworths is a quintessential Australian company and serves more than 28 million customers through its 3,000 stores spanning across Australia and New Zealand. It serves customers across its different brands – Woolworths supermarkets and Woolworths Petrol, Woolworths Liquor Group, Big W, Masters Home Improvement, ALH Hotels group, EziBuy and Woolworths Rewards.
2. It has been making strides in sales across the group netting over $60,679.1m in FY15 an increase of 12% over the last five years when its sales were over $54,142.9m in FY11. This is despite offering incredible prices to its customers in line with its brand promise of ‘Low Price, ALWAYS’.
3. Sustainability is a major factor affecting agriculture and in turn food sector, with the affects of climate change fast catching up every stakeholder in the food economy is pulling up its might. Woolworths was recognized as the global leader of the food and staples retailing sector in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices (DJSI), becoming the first Australian retailer to do so. It has brought about a 40% reduction in carbon emissions on projected growth levels by 2015, bringing emissions back to 2006 levels.
4. World over fresh food has become a priority as eating clean and healthy living is being promoted. Woolworths takes this seriously as ‘Fresh food people’ and have several policies in place like speeding up delivery of food from producer to customer and giving a fresh or free guarantee. They have also roped in celebrity chef Jamie Oliver to create new and exciting recipes with ingredients from the stores. They have also included the ‘Healthy Start Rating’ on their products which gives the nutritional information to make healthy eating choices easier.
5. Woolworths is one of Australia’s top brands and was ranked No.2 in 2016. It has an array of rewards and loyalty programs that makes its customers happy and repeat buyers at its stores. Woolworths has become synonymous with supermarkets in Australia with its 92 yr old legacy.
6. Online shopping has changed the way customers buy their goods and it has been a threat to traditional retail stores. However, Woolworths is taking the challenge head on and has tied up with Ebay to allow customers to pick up purchases from their stores after shopping online. They also their own dedicated online shopping site. User can buy from 40,000 items and pick up their purchases from over 90 stores.
7. Apart from online shopping through websites, customers also have the option of shopping through Apps. Till date there have been more than 3.7 million downloads of the Woolworths apps including the Big W and Woolworths. This means that more customers are able to access and use their services and it has seamlessly allowed the way for a futuristic shopping.
8. Retail is a preferred work sector and Woolworths takes special care to be a great place to work for its employees. There are more than 198,300 employees who work across its stores. It has developed a diverse workplace which is inclusive and safe, irrespective of gender, ethnicity and race. It also gets involved in employees growth and has a Jack Shewmaker Scholarship in place for employees who wish to study further.
9. Corporate social responsibility is a big deal with Woolworths which takes pride in being Australian and a part of the community. It has contributed till date more than $47.6 m in donations through cash donations, donations by staff, in kind and through staff and management time. They have the Fresh Food rescue where they have provided more than 1.8 million meals for those in need. Providing relief during natural disasters like the NSW bushfires in 2013 is something that Woolworths does.
10. Woolworth’s takes pride in young Australians as it had declared in its previous campaigns that ‘Everyday 87 people start their careers at Woolworths!’ Apart from that it has also supported the Australian Olympic Team for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. And now the National Australian Day council has announced that Woolworths will sponsor the Young Australian of the Year award.
