Coles announces it will stop sending printed catalogues to letterboxes – breaking a 20-year tradition as it shifts its focus to online shopping
- Coles will scrap its home-delivered print catalogue as customers shift online
- In response, the supermarket giant will launch a new digital channel on Thursday
- coles&co will offer specials, exclusive content on new products, tips and recipes
Coles will scrap its home-delivered print catalogue (picutred) as it switches to digital marketing platforms
Coles has announced it will scrap its 20-year-long practice of sending print catalogues to letterboxes as customers shift online.
The supermarket giant said the axing of the home-delivered catalogue comes after its digital version surged in popularity amid the coronavirus pandemic.
‘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,’ said Coles Group CEO Steven Cain.
‘We’ve also seen an increase of more than 50 per cent in readership for our digital catalogue since March.’
Printed catalogues will stop being delivered to homes from September 9 but will still be able available in store.
In response to changing consumer trends, the company will launch a new digital channel on Thursday.
coles&co is a brand new experience will offer the very best specials alongside exclusive content to inspire customers with new products, tips and recipes.
It features ‘shoppable’ specials, allowing customers to do their shopping right from the screen.
Consumers can tap on a product to add it to their basket, and then check out via online shopping services.
The supermarket giant said its digital catalogue has surged in popularity since COVID-19. Customers are pictured waiting for Southland Coles, in Melbourne, to open in March
The home delivery of weekly printed catalogues has been a feature of the Australian supermarket shopping experience for decades.
It was temporarily suspended during the first wave of COVID-19 due to limited product availability caused by a surge in demand.
Coles has delivered around 200 billion pages of catalogues to homes across Australia since the service kicked off in 2000.
He said ceasing the initiative would save over 10,000 tonnes of paper every year – the equivalent of an estimated 80,000 trees.
The demand for printed catalogues in Australia and internationally has dwindled in recent years as households increasingly turn to social media, TV and websites, for cooking inspiration.
Coles joins a growing list of retailers and industries making the move online amid evolving consumer habits.
In May, Big W cut its printed catalogue in favour of forging a digital presence while Woolworths slashed its specials catalogue by a third to reflect changes in demand.
coles&co (pictured) is a brand new experience will offer the very best specials alongside exclusive content to inspire customers with new products, tips and recipes