The delivery of weekly printed catalogues to customer letterboxes has been a feature of the Australian supermarket shopping experience for decades, however customer trends both in Australia and internationally have seen households increasingly look to social media, TV cooking shows and online shopping sites to inform and inspire their shopping decisions. In response to these trends, Coles has launched coles&co, a brand new experience offering the very best specials alongside exclusive content to inspire customers with new products, tips and recipes.
From today, Thursday 13 August, Customers can access coles&co at coles.com.au, where they can also sign up to unlock new exclusive content and previews of weekly specials, including many at half price.
Coles Group CEO Steven Cain said: “With COVID-19, we’ve really seen a shift to online shopping in the last few months, as lots of our customers try our contactless home delivery and Click&Collect services for the first time. We’ve also seen an increase of more than 50% in readership for our digital catalogue since March,”
“We are living at a time of unprecedented societal change, including a surge in the diversity of consumer tastes and dietary needs. As customers add more fresh food to their diet they’re shopping more often, and their appetite for immediacy and digital information means a weekly, one-size-fits-all, catalogue in their letterbox is no longer as relevant for them as it once was.
“We’re using our digital capabilities to replace it with something more personalised. As we add new features, this could include recipes that change daily rather than weekly, as well as tailored content on food and drink trends.”
Coles aims to improve sustainability by reducing its reliance on paper.
Coles will be investing more in digital content and capability for customers and suppliers, as well as better value by lowering the cost of breakfast, lunch and dinner, and improving sustainability by reducing its reliance on paper.
coles&co features ‘shoppable’ specials, allowing customers to do their shopping right from the screen. Just tap on a product to add it to your basket, and then check out via our online shopping services – or save it as a shopping list to take with you when shopping in store.
Coles chefs and other contributors, including customer favourite Curtis Stone, will eventually provide new content every day, including tips and tricks on how to make the most of in-season fruit and veggies, and recipes for quick, simple and healthy meals to help customers eat better while saving money.
With the shift in customer preference towards digital communications, from 9 September 2020 Coleswill no longer deliver printed catalogues to letterboxes.
“Since 2000 we have delivered around 200 billion pages of weekly catalogues to letterboxes across Australia,” Cain said.
Cain said ceasing the delivery of printed catalogues would save more than 10,000 tonnes of paper every year – the equivalent of an estimated 80,000 trees.
“We’re committed to being Australia’s most sustainable supermarket, and reducing our reliance on paper by prioritising digital channels like coles&co is a significant step towards that goal,” Cain said.
A significantly reduced volume of printed weekly catalogues will continue to be available in store.
