Woolworths targets more online shoppers
Listed food and clothing retailer, Woolworths has revamped its website as it looks to increase its traction in the online shopping space, having already seen growth double over the past year.
Although online sales have accounted for a relatively small percentage of its business to date, Woolworths believes that South Africans will become more enthusiastic online shoppers as bandwidth connections become cheaper and faster, and customers become more comfortable with online and mobile shopping.
The group reports that its number of online shoppers have doubled year on year. Traffic from smartphones increased by 38%, while 8% of traffic came from tablets.
The new-look online shopping site now offers the full range of Woolworths products. “It features almost everything our customers would find in-store,” said Nikki Cockcroft, head of online at Woolworths.
“From groceries to clothing, home, beauty and financial services, we’ve integrated all our services into one easy-to-navigate destination.”
“We’ve listened to thousands of Woolworths customers who wanted a simpler, more seamless integration between online and in-store shopping, with the added convenience of being able to access all their Woolies favourites no matter the time, place or device,” Cockcroft added.
“By using responsive design, their shopping experience remains exactly the same regardless of their device of choice – whether it’s a desktop computer, tablet or smartphone.”
The group said that the majority of its online purchases are for food and household goods, and nearly half of online shoppers shop more than once a month.
Although the majority of Woolworths online shoppers are women, the company says it is seeing more men joining the online shopping world, especially for special occasion gift buying.
Most of its online shoppers are based in the major metropolitan areas, with Johannesburg, Cape Town and then Durban leading the charge.
Research conducted by World Wide Worx in May 2012, found that, in 2011, online retail sales figures in South Africa were recorded at R2.636 billion and it is expected that the contribution of eCommerce to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) will increase to 2.5% by 2016.
“Digital innovation and integration remains a strong focus for Woolworths and is an integral part of our strategy to meet customers’ expectations for convenient shopping. With all the digital advances our online offering will be an ongoing process of looking at how we conduct business online and ensuring an enriched, seamless customer experience,” said Cockcroft.
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