Coles’ e-commerce arm prospers as Covid crisis continues

Ruth Hogan

17th Feb 2021

Coles’ e-commerce arm has achieved strong growth with B2C online sales increased 61 per cent for the first half of FY21.

The growth is mainly driven by the increasing demand for delivery service amid the on-going Covid-19 pandemic, especially in Victoria with Click & Collect and home delivery services. Chief executive of e-commerce at Coles, Ben Hassing, said omnichannel customers spend 2.1 times more in total with Coles than the customers that only shop online or in Coles stores.

“This is a fast-growing customer segment for us,” said Hassing. “The year-over-year growth in total spend with Coles is much higher as well. We are working to build our digital capabilities to be more integrated and customer focused.”

The first half also saw significant improvements in Coles’ “Perfect Order Rate” and customer satisfaction. The company said its perfect order rate nearly quadrupled in the last three quarters and the Coles Online NPS [net promoter score] nearly tripled.

Coles also introduced Click & Collect Rapid, which ensures groceries are delivered in under 90 minutes. The company aims to merge its content and commerce websites on Coles.com.au in the second half of this year.

“That’s going to provide a seamless experience for the customer. We’re also delivering omnichannel enterprise capabilities that give us a 360 degree view of customers, orders and more,” Hassing added.

Overall, Coles recorded comparable sales growth of 7.2 per cent in Supermarkets, 15.1 per cent in Liquor and 9.9 per cent in Express. Sales revenue across the business increased by 8.1 per cent to $20.4 billion.