Woolworths helps the community during COVID-19 pandemic

By Allen Jack

In a move to provide support to the Australians most in need, Woolworths announced that it would be giving priority to home deliveries in the wake of COVID-19.

Restricting the opening hours of 41 brick and mortar stores (now 11am to 6pm), the company hopes to be able to refocus its time and resources on delivering food to those who are self-isolating or otherwise unable to leave their homes. 

Although a small amount of the over 1,000 stores Woolworths has nationwide, these new ‘priority delivery hubs’ could make a significant difference in ensuring that vulnerable Australians are not left without supplies as the coronavirus pandemic continues. 

Reshaping priorities

This is the latest decision amongst several that Woolworths has implemented as it tries to reconfigure its priorities with those of its diverse customer base. 

Other measures introduced include giving exclusive early morning shopping hours to the elderly and disabled, pledging support to charities such as OzHarvest and Foodbank, and distributing toilet rolls as part of the Meals on Wheels service.

“To help support getting basic food and essentials to those that need it most, our teams have been doing everything they can to scale up online and home deliveries to the elderly, people with disabilities or those in mandatory self-isolation,” said Brad Banducci, CEO.

SEE ALSO:

“At Woolworths we are focused on supporting the most vulnerable in the community during these challenging times. We hope our additional long term support will help them with any gaps they are facing as they continue to help those most in need in the community.” 

Putting customer welfare first

In addition to helping its customer outside of its stores, Woolworths has also brought in safety measures inside its premises too. 

These include recommendations for customers to remain one trolley-length from each other and installing protective plexiglass screens at checkouts to shield staff.

“We know it’s not always easy to maintain social distancing at our checkouts, so we’ve started installing plexiglass screens as an additional safeguard for our team members and customers,” said Claire Peters, MD.

“As our team members continue providing for the community, we will do everything necessary to uphold public health and safety in our stores.”

For more information on business topics in ANZ, please take a look at the latest edition of Business Chief ANZ.

Follow Business Chief on LinkedIn and Twitter

Share

Featured Videos

View all
Featured

Schneider Electric - Global Specialist in Energy Management

Digital Strategy

Allianz Malaysia: Closer to customers through digital