Woolworths’ regulars will soon be able to get their groceries delivered to them with the snap of a finger, or rather, with a tap of their phone screens as the grocery giant launches an app that will see customers receive their groceries delivered to their doors within an hour.
This new service, called Metro 60, works similar to that of the online grocery click-and-collect system. Simply purchase your groceries via the app, and then a staff member packs up your order from the shelves before it’s then dropped off at your door via a delivery partner Uber.
The delivery fee costs an extra $5 and will require customers to have a minimum spend of $20.
Users of the app will be able to purchase over 4000 items stocked in smaller Metro stores including fresh sushi, hot chickens, fruit and vegetables as well as pantry staples.
“It’s a store for ultra convenience, it’s about being easy, fresh and local for the neighbourhood that it serves,” Woolworths Chief Transformation Officer Von Ingram said.
The app was successfully trialled last month in Sydney and is now officially being rolled out from seven Metro stores across the city from Vaucluse in the east to Malabar in the south.
“One of the things that we’re seeing is that customers are repeatedly using the service,” Ingram said. “So they’re not just one and done, they’re actually coming back. So that gives us a little bit of confidence that we’re on to … the right things.”
While the app is currently available in NSW, Ingram has assured customers that they intend to make the app available nationwide, with plans to launch the service in Victoria next.
“We want to make sure that we get the economics right,” Ingram said. “Victoria is absolutely, absolutely next, but we take this quarter by quarter.”
Coles has currently made no comment on Woolworths’ newest offering, but a spokesperson told The Sydney Morning Herald that the business has seen a growing demand for online grocery shopping, which they themselves are addressing via a pilot of drone deliveries in Canberra, same-day home delivery, 90-minute pickups and a membership program.
The launch of the app comes as both Coles and Woolies customers are seeing surging prices in the cost of their groceries.
But they aren’t the only ones affected by the rapid increase in the cost of living in Australia On Wednesday, July 13, Bunnings announced their iconic sausage sizzle would see a $1 price hike, while Aldi and IGA are due to hike prices for hundreds of their goods starting from August 1.
The cost of living crisis looks set to worsen in coming months with petrol prices set to increase in September when the temporary fuel excise ends.