“This is much more professional and matching the in-store experience with that experience online. It’s all about winning from a customer point of view – the store process is the same. But it’s about reducing service times for the customer.”
Localz saved 7 mins off the collection service times for Click and Collect in Woolworths Australia.
Localz has been working with Woolworths in Australia since late 2014 after conducting a three-month trial of micro-location technology in their Double Bay store. Woolworths' main objective was to improve the customer experience by reducing collection times for Woolworths’ Click & Collect service. Localz used beacons technology to help streamline the process. The project grew into boosting in-store sales, improving operational efficiency and cutting waiting times and queuing for orders’ collection.
Woolworths is the largest retail group in Australia with over 1,800 locations and turnover exceeding $50 billion. There are currently 961 stores and over 111,000 staff members. Woolworths aims to always provide innovative, simple ways to improve the customer experience when they shop online and in-store. This is where Localz was able to assist.
Our challenge at Woolworths was to improve the customer journey, from the moment customers ordered online to the second they left the store. During the initial three-month trial, Localz worked closely with the Woolworths’ team to enhance the Click & Collect service in their Double Bay store in Sydney. We installed beacons around the store, which allowed staff members to be notified when customers arrived at the store.
Upon their arrival, customers with Click & Collect orders received an automatic notification to their device asking if they would like to collect their order. If a customer selected to pick-up their order, staff were notified to locate and deliver the parcel to the collection desk. In the meantime, the customer was guided to the collection point via their mobile device. When the customer arrived at the collection desk, the order was ready for pick-up. This resulted in Woolworths cutting the average service time of Click & Collect orders from 15 to 7.6 minutes, with minimum collection time of 15 seconds.
Through the use of micro-location technology, Localz also enabled Woolworths to send personalised offers, based on data from the Woolworths Everyday Rewards loyalty programme. At the checkout, customers could pay via their phones by being near the POS system, and loyalty points, coupons and payments were seamlessly transacted. This saved Woolworths on average around three seconds per transaction and boosted customer satisfaction.
About Localz’ solution for Woolworths, Tim Andrew, Commercial Director and Co-Founder of Localz, commented: “Using location technology to enhance the customer experience is now part of the course for every retailer. What was great about this project with Woolworths, was bringing together the one-to-one marketing experience, driven by the customer, with a true frictionless payment and checkout experience. This is what the modern shopper is demanding – technology that makes their day better.”
Elise Barber, Online Head of Business Development at Woolworths, explained: “This is much more professional and matching the in-store experience with that experience online. It’s all about winning from a customer point of view – the store process is the same. But it’s about reducing service times for the customer.”
Read Part Two to find out how Localz worked with Woolworths to drive in-store purchases.