Our fourth and hopefully last COVID-19 retail innovation wrap up! With the curve now nice and flat in Australia for almost two months and community transmission negligible over the last couple of weeks, it’s looking like things will be returning back a new ‘normal’ soon. Gyms are expected to open back up on the 22nd of this month, and restaurants, cafes and bars are now able to accommodate dine-in patrons, albeit at a reduced number. Great news, and now some more good news in the form of retail innovations we’ve seen over the last month.
Bunnings
Now officially Australia’s most trusted brand, Bunnings has extended its Click & Collect offering to include deliveries straight to your car boot. Drive in, park, dial a special phone number and a dedicated team member sends your order out to you. It’s faster than waiting in line to get past the ‘Bunnings bouncer’, safer from a COVID-19 perspective, and there’s way less chance of falling for a whole bunch of ooohhh-that-could-come-in-handy unplanned purchases. This service is now available at several retailers including selected Coles and Priceline Pharmacy stores, and we expect to see it continue to increase in popularity in the coming years thanks to how convenient it is – perfect for parents with littlies, people with disabilities, or those running short on time.
Bardot
There used be a time where you could be almost certain your local Westfield would have a Bardot, but late last year, expensive leases and massively increased competition sadly saw Bardot slip into voluntary administration. However, in a surprise move, Bardot is back and better than ever (range-wise) in the form of an online-only retailer. Their website has been overhauled, their Instagram photography style refreshed and their pricing ever-so-slightly tweaked thanks to the massively reduced overheads.
This huge change for the business was likely years in the making, and being on the front foot has probably helped the brand avoid lots of the pain felt by their competitors due to the pandemic. Let’s hope this Aussie owned and run label can stay dressed for success for years to come.
Amazon Australia
In 2018, Amazon Australia entered the Australian grocery market, and last week they quietly launched their alcohol offering. Thanks to the new service, thirsty shoppers will be able to order beers, wines, spirits and mixers from big brands like Corona, VB and Tanquerey, as well as local brands like SOFI Spritz, Curatif Cocktails and Lawrenny Estate. Slowly but surely, Amazon seems to be strengthening its presence downunder, and the likes of Dan Murphy’s and BWS are probably not going to be too pleased with the new competition.
Coles
Coles has recently launched flypay, a new payment platform in partnership with flybuys. flypay speeds up the online checkout by storing delivery and payment details – much like PayPal – but also allows customers to instantly collect flybuys points on all eligible purchases, something which wasn’t previously available. From a business perspective, flypay is extremely clever as it means much lower merchant fees for the participating retailers, so it’s really a win-win. And if you just so happen to be thinking to yourself, ‘that’s a nice brand identity’ when you clapped your peepers on the flypay logo above, we’re proud to say it’s one of our creations.