Woolworths is the largest supermarket chain in
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
, owned by
Woolworths LimitedWoolworths Limited is a major Australian company with extensive retail interest throughout Australia and New Zealand. It is the:* largest retail company in Australia and New Zealand by market capitalisation and sales...
. It is colloquially known as "Woolies" and in
VictoriaVictoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales to the north, South Australia to the west, and Tasmania to the south, across the Bass Strait. Victoria is the most densely populated state, with over 70% of...
the majority of stores trade as
SafewaySafeway is the trading name used by Woolworths Limited until 2008 for its supermarkets in Victoria, Australia. Elsewhere in Australia the trading name was simply Woolworths supermarkets. In August 2008, Woolworths announced it would be discontinuing the Safeway name, rebranding Victorian stores as...
.
Woolworths advertises through television, radio, newspapers, catalogues, their website and in-store. Since the 1980s Woolworths, Safeway, Purity and Roelf Vos used the tag-line
The Fresh Food People. This was accompanied by a
jingleA jingle is a memorable slogan, set to an engaging melody, mainly broadcast on radio and sometimes on television commercials.- History :The jingle had no definitive debut: its infiltration of the radio was more of an evolutionary process than a sudden innovation...
launched in the early 1990s that continues today.
Woolworths is the largest supermarket chain in
AustraliaAustralia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the continental mainland , the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans...
, owned by
Woolworths LimitedWoolworths Limited is a major Australian company with extensive retail interest throughout Australia and New Zealand. It is the:* largest retail company in Australia and New Zealand by market capitalisation and sales...
. It is colloquially known as "Woolies" and in
VictoriaVictoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales to the north, South Australia to the west, and Tasmania to the south, across the Bass Strait. Victoria is the most densely populated state, with over 70% of...
the majority of stores trade as
SafewaySafeway is the trading name used by Woolworths Limited until 2008 for its supermarkets in Victoria, Australia. Elsewhere in Australia the trading name was simply Woolworths supermarkets. In August 2008, Woolworths announced it would be discontinuing the Safeway name, rebranding Victorian stores as...
.
Advertising
Woolworths advertises through television, radio, newspapers, catalogues, their website and in-store. Since the 1980s Woolworths, Safeway, Purity and Roelf Vos used the tag-line
The Fresh Food People. This was accompanied by a
jingleA jingle is a memorable slogan, set to an engaging melody, mainly broadcast on radio and sometimes on television commercials.- History :The jingle had no definitive debut: its infiltration of the radio was more of an evolutionary process than a sudden innovation...
launched in the early 1990s that continues today. Woolworths introduced a second slogan
Bringing food to life, with accompanying jingle, but was eventually dropped and Woolworths reverted back to the original jingle.
In late 2005, a new second slogan "Low prices you can count on everyday" was launched. As of 2007, that second slogan has changed to "Low prices you can count on".
In mid-2008 Woolworths (and Safeway in Victoria) started a new campaign, "Australia's Fresh Food People." The advertisements and
POS systemPoint of sales or checkout is both a checkout counter in a shop, and the location where a transaction occurs. Colloquially, a "checkout" refers to a POS terminal or more generally to the hardware and software used for checkouts, the equivalent of an electronic cash register. A POS terminal manages...
depicted Australians from different cultural backgrounds engaging in activity relating to "Fresh Food", such as a boy trying to grow an avocado from a seed, an older man getting his watermelon home from the supermarket, and a couple protecting their vegetable patch from cockatoos. This campaign introduced a new theme song, replacing
We're Woolworths the Fresh Food People, Woolworths the Fresh Food People, Woolworths the Fresh Food People... with
We Are, We Are, Fresh Food People, Australians are Fresh Food People, and we are the Fresh Food People.
2008 Rebranding
On 22 August 2008, Woolworths announced it was launching a new identity for all its supermarkets and plans to replace the Safeway brand in Victoria, in order to unite all of its supermarkets under one common brand 'Woolworths'.
The logo, which had been in use for 21 years, was replaced with a new brand image with a new green tinted icon representing the 'W' in Woolworths with the addition of a stylised leaf to suggest fresh produce. It is also reminiscent of a 1970s Woolworths logo. However, the company's slogan, "The Fresh Food People", which is known throughout Australia, remains as a key part of the new logo. The company introduced these changes in order to further distance itself from its major rival
Coles SupermarketsColes Supermarkets is an Australian supermarket chain owned by Wesfarmers . It has over 740 stores nationally and more than 92,000 employees...
, and to make its branding more modern, 'softer' and more likeable.
In September 2009, this rebranding scheme was extended to
New ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
stores where the new Woolworths symbol is to be used alongside the
CountdownCountdown is a New Zealand full-service discount supermarket chain owned by Woolworths Limited.Founded in 1981, Countdown is now the flagship brand of Progressive Enterprises, Woolworths' New Zealand supermarket subsidiary, with 70 supermarkets across New Zealand...
brand.
In October 2009, it was reported that Apple Inc. had lodged an objection to Woolworths' trademark application with the Australian Government's
intellectual propertyIntellectual property is a number of distinct types of legal monopolies over creations of the mind, both artistic and commercial, and the corresponding fields of law...
agency IP Australia, claiming that the logo resembles its own. The reports said that Apple was concerned that Woolworths had applied for a blanket trademark for the design, so it could be placed on any product – even on electrical goods like computers and music players. Woolworths was not selling its own brand electrical goods then, but a spokeswoman for the company said that, "While we can't rule anything out, we haven't got any plans at the moment." Woolworths' rebranding program in its 802 Australian stores had been in progress barely over a year.
Discount Fuel Offers
Since 1996 Woolworths has offered its customers a number of incentives for purchasing at their stores by subsidising petrol prices at Caltex Woolworths petrol stations and the now defunct Woolworths Plus Petrol. Discounts included 2-cent, 4-cent, 6-cent and in some regional areas 10-cent discounts on fuel when purchases over certain amounts were conducted. As of September 2009, the current offer is a 4 cent/L discount when transactions of over $30 are conducted in-store, with a further 4 cent discount available if customers spend another $5 or more on other items at the petrol site.
Everyday rewards and credit card
- See also: Everyday Rewards
Everyday Rewards is an Australian loyalty program operated by Woolworths supermarkets. Earned fuel saving offers are stored electronically on the Everyday Rewards card, thus eliminating the need for shoppers to retain paper coupons previously used for this purpose...
In September 2007, a trial began in central west New South Wales of
Everyday RewardsEveryday Rewards is an Australian loyalty program operated by Woolworths supermarkets. Earned fuel saving offers are stored electronically on the Everyday Rewards card, thus eliminating the need for shoppers to retain paper coupons previously used for this purpose...
, a Woolworths shopping card that automatically tracks supermarket purchases and stores fuel discount entitlements, thus eliminating the need for shoppers to retain paper coupons previously used for this purpose. In addition it allows Woolworths to record purchases made by customers to offer them relevant promotions and for studies in demographics and marketing, hence incentives for customers who register their details. This followed Woolworths announcement that is was planning to launch a general purpose credit card in 2008. Woolworths is expected to offer these credit cardholders reward vouchers redeemable throughout its store network. Woolworths subsequently announced that the
Woolworths Everyday Money MasterCard would be launched on 26 August 2008 and allows customers to earn shopping cards redeemable at Woolworths group retailers.
In February 2008, Woolworths announced that following the NSW trial, its Everyday Rewards card would be rolled out nationally, beginning with South Australia and Northern Territory in mid-February, and to other states (excluding Tasmania) by the end of May 2008. During the NSW trial, 50,000 cards were issued to customers.
Woolworths stated in June 2008 that "well over a million" shoppers had taken a card and registered their details. In August 2008, Woolworths stated that there were 3.8 million cards "on issue", with 2.4 million cards "registered".
From June 2009, Everyday Rewards cardholders were able to earn Qantas Frequent Flyer points, by using their Everyday Rewards cards. Cardholders who had successfully linked their Frequent Flyer card to their registered Everyday Rewards card can earn one Frequent Flyer point for every dollar over $30 that they spent in store. In August 2009, Woolworths announced that there were 3.8 million cards "registered", of which 1.2 million were linked to a Qantas Frequent Flyer account.
Frequent Shopper Club
The
Frequent Shopper Club, or F$C, is a reward program for shopping in Woolworths stores in
TasmaniaTasmania is an Australian island and state. It is located south of the eastern side of the continent, from which it is separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania – the 26th largest island in the world – and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 500,000 ,...
. It was started by Purity Supermarkets in the early 1990s before it was sold to Woolworths in the 1990s. It is still in use today.
Other Woolworths Limited supermarkets
- Woolworths still trades as Safeway
Safeway is the trading name used by Woolworths Limited until 2008 for its supermarkets in Victoria, Australia. Elsewhere in Australia the trading name was simply Woolworths supermarkets. In August 2008, Woolworths announced it would be discontinuing the Safeway name, rebranding Victorian stores as...
in most locations in VictoriaVictoria is the second most populous state in Australia. Geographically smallest mainland state, Victoria is bordered by New South Wales to the north, South Australia to the west, and Tasmania to the south, across the Bass Strait. Victoria is the most densely populated state, with over 70% of...
, and some towns on the Victorian border (e.g. Moama, NSWNew South Wales is Australia's most populous state, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria, south of Queensland and east of South Australia...
). From 2008, a rebranding program will see these stores progressively branded as Woolworths.
- In Tasmania
Tasmania is an Australian island and state. It is located south of the eastern side of the continent, from which it is separated by Bass Strait. The state includes the island of Tasmania – the 26th largest island in the world – and the surrounding islands. The state has a population of 500,000 ,...
, Woolworths traded as Roelf VosRoelf Vos was a wealthy Tasmanian businessman who, amongst other achievements, established a supermarket chain carrying his name initially in Launceston, but later expanded throughout the whole of northern Tasmania. The equivalent in the south of the state was Purity Supermarkets.Vos initially...
and Purity prior to being rebranded as Woolworths in 2000
- In New Zealand
New Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses , and numerous smaller islands, most notably Stewart Island/Rakiura and the Chatham Islands. The indigenous Māori named New Zealand Aotearoa, commonly translated as The Land of the Long White Cloud...
, Woolworths operates supermarkets under three brands - Woolworths, CountdownCountdown is a New Zealand full-service discount supermarket chain owned by Woolworths Limited.Founded in 1981, Countdown is now the flagship brand of Progressive Enterprises, Woolworths' New Zealand supermarket subsidiary, with 70 supermarkets across New Zealand...
and FoodtownFoodtown is a New Zealand supermarket chain owned by Progressive Enterprises. The supermarkets usually tend to be integrated with a shopping mall, and not as stand-alone stores.- 1958 - 1961 Foodtown Supermarkets Limited :...
. It is currently rebranding all stores with the design used by Woolworths throughout Australia under the Countdown name.
- Food For Less
Food For Less is an Australian discount supermarket chain owned by Woolworths Limited. It was originally established in Queensland, where a discount 'food barn' chain operating as "Jack the Slasher" was acquired by Woolworths in the early 1980s...
is a discount supermarket chain located in QueenslandQueensland is a state of Australia that occupies the north-eastern section of the mainland continent. It is bordered by the Northern Territory to the west, South Australia to the south-west and New South Wales to the south. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Sea and Pacific Ocean...
and New South WalesNew South Wales is Australia's most populous state, located in the south-east of the country, north of Victoria, south of Queensland and east of South Australia...
- Flemings
Flemings is a chain of supermarkets in Sydney, Australia. The chain is owned by Woolworths Limited and only three supermarkets still trade under the Flemings brand name. Internally they are known as Woolworths, feature the same marketing materials and carry the same home brand products...
is a group of four supermarkets located in Sydney and the Central Coast
- Woolworths launched Thomas Dux Grocer
Thomas Dux is the trading name for boutique grocery stores launched by Woolworths in 2008..In May 2009, Woolworths announced the acquisition of up to nine store leases from Macro Wholefoods with the intention to rebadge the stores. The first of the rebadged stores opened in August 2009.- Stores...
in two New South Wales locations in 2008. Thomas Dux Grocer stores have a larger fresh food offering than traditional Woolworths stores, along with a larger delicatessen section.
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