Coles and Woolworths reveals first quarter results, claims low produce price despite inflation
With inflation rampant across Australia, grocery bills have been hitting household budgets hard.
However, the latest results from the country’s supermarket giants claimed that the fresh produce prices in the first quarter of 2023 are lower compared to the same period last year.
According to the first quarter results, Coles and Woolworths’ meat, vegetable, fruit, and deli prices have dropped significantly—up to 14 per cent and 12 per cent, respectively.
What's behind these major price decreases? According to Brad Banducci, CEO of Woolworths, it’s because of lower global input costs.
'Importantly for our customers, inflation in our food businesses continued to moderate over the quarter, driven mainly by deflation in fruit and vegetables and meat as lower input costs in these categories have led to lower retail prices,' he said.
‘The trading environment remains uncertain, and value for money remains a key focus for our customers across all our businesses.’ the CEO added.
However, grocery inflation remained elevated at 5.7 per cent for Coles and 4 per cent for Woolworths compared to the previous year, driven by products like milk, eggs and cooking oils.
Shoppers also reported noticing decreased portions of grocery items, though the prices remained the same. A bottle of Rose’s English Breakfast Marmalade, for example, has been downsized from 500 grams to 375 grams without any price reduction. Some other victims of ‘shrinkflation’ are Nescafé, Coke, Glad Wrap and Smiths chips.
Both supermarkets saw revenue increases despite lower produce costs. Coles reported $10.25 billion in sales, up 3.6 per cent compared to last year. Woolworths saw even stronger growth of 5.3 per cent to $17.2 billion in revenue.
This was supported by booming online sales, up 24 per cent at Coles and 16 per cent at Woolies thanks to a boost in positive sales in their E-commerce platforms. More shoppers switched to home delivery during the first quarter.
Gary Mortimer, Professor of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour at Queensland University of Technology, explained that increased online sales show customers trust online shopping.
‘One of the challenges when it comes to food and grocery shopping online is this concept around quality and freshness. It sounds like both Coles and Woolworths have got that right,’ he stated.
Professor Mortimer noted the major investments by both retailers, like Woolworths' acquisition of failed home delivery startup MILKRUN.
'One of the underlying challenges of food and grocery shopping online is this sense of urgency,' he shared. ‘When you’re buying groceries, you want it delivered tonight to cook tonight, and MILKRUN has helped them capture that immediacy.’
Memberships for loyalty programs of both supermarkets also saw an increase. Coles reported 39.4 per cent more traffic in their mobile app, which they said was due to various new features.
‘We added several features to make it easier and faster for customers to find value through our digital platform,’ Leah Weckert, Coles Group CEO, remarked.
The company’s Flybuys program had a 9.9 per cent increase in members and a 22 per cent increase in customers using its members-only offers.
On the other hand, Woolies saw 6.8 per cent more new members compared to last financial year. This translated to 600,000 new members.
The supermarket also experienced an increase in digital traffic at 22.8 per cent, while the increase in the active weekly users of Everyday Rewards and Woolworths app reached 44 per cent and 37 per cent, respectively.
Looking ahead, Coles and Woolies are ramping up technology solutions to enhance the in-store experience. Over 250 Coles stores will trial new 'smart gates' and product tracking cameras by year's end to lessen shoplifting.
Woolworths is also testing smart gate technology with plans to roll it out if successful.
However, experts have warned that increased security measures in the supermarkets could backfire. A Consumer Psychology Expert Professor at the University of New South Wales Business School, Nitika Garg, said: ‘A sense of trust is lost when supermarkets increase surveillance with little explanation.’ You can read more about this here.
Members, did you notice this price drop when shopping for produce? Share your thoughts in the comments below!
However, the latest results from the country’s supermarket giants claimed that the fresh produce prices in the first quarter of 2023 are lower compared to the same period last year.
According to the first quarter results, Coles and Woolworths’ meat, vegetable, fruit, and deli prices have dropped significantly—up to 14 per cent and 12 per cent, respectively.
What's behind these major price decreases? According to Brad Banducci, CEO of Woolworths, it’s because of lower global input costs.
'Importantly for our customers, inflation in our food businesses continued to moderate over the quarter, driven mainly by deflation in fruit and vegetables and meat as lower input costs in these categories have led to lower retail prices,' he said.
‘The trading environment remains uncertain, and value for money remains a key focus for our customers across all our businesses.’ the CEO added.
However, grocery inflation remained elevated at 5.7 per cent for Coles and 4 per cent for Woolworths compared to the previous year, driven by products like milk, eggs and cooking oils.
Shoppers also reported noticing decreased portions of grocery items, though the prices remained the same. A bottle of Rose’s English Breakfast Marmalade, for example, has been downsized from 500 grams to 375 grams without any price reduction. Some other victims of ‘shrinkflation’ are Nescafé, Coke, Glad Wrap and Smiths chips.
Both supermarkets saw revenue increases despite lower produce costs. Coles reported $10.25 billion in sales, up 3.6 per cent compared to last year. Woolworths saw even stronger growth of 5.3 per cent to $17.2 billion in revenue.
This was supported by booming online sales, up 24 per cent at Coles and 16 per cent at Woolies thanks to a boost in positive sales in their E-commerce platforms. More shoppers switched to home delivery during the first quarter.
Gary Mortimer, Professor of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour at Queensland University of Technology, explained that increased online sales show customers trust online shopping.
‘One of the challenges when it comes to food and grocery shopping online is this concept around quality and freshness. It sounds like both Coles and Woolworths have got that right,’ he stated.
Professor Mortimer noted the major investments by both retailers, like Woolworths' acquisition of failed home delivery startup MILKRUN.
'One of the underlying challenges of food and grocery shopping online is this sense of urgency,' he shared. ‘When you’re buying groceries, you want it delivered tonight to cook tonight, and MILKRUN has helped them capture that immediacy.’
Memberships for loyalty programs of both supermarkets also saw an increase. Coles reported 39.4 per cent more traffic in their mobile app, which they said was due to various new features.
‘We added several features to make it easier and faster for customers to find value through our digital platform,’ Leah Weckert, Coles Group CEO, remarked.
The company’s Flybuys program had a 9.9 per cent increase in members and a 22 per cent increase in customers using its members-only offers.
On the other hand, Woolies saw 6.8 per cent more new members compared to last financial year. This translated to 600,000 new members.
The supermarket also experienced an increase in digital traffic at 22.8 per cent, while the increase in the active weekly users of Everyday Rewards and Woolworths app reached 44 per cent and 37 per cent, respectively.
Looking ahead, Coles and Woolies are ramping up technology solutions to enhance the in-store experience. Over 250 Coles stores will trial new 'smart gates' and product tracking cameras by year's end to lessen shoplifting.
Woolworths is also testing smart gate technology with plans to roll it out if successful.
However, experts have warned that increased security measures in the supermarkets could backfire. A Consumer Psychology Expert Professor at the University of New South Wales Business School, Nitika Garg, said: ‘A sense of trust is lost when supermarkets increase surveillance with little explanation.’ You can read more about this here.
Key Takeaways
- The price of fresh produce has dropped 12 per cent at Woolworths and 14 per cent at Coles compared to a year ago, despite the supermarkets exhibiting increased revenues in their first-quarter results.
- Online sales for both Coles and Woolworths have increased, demonstrating customers’ trust in the quality and freshness of groceries purchased from their e-commerce platforms.
- Both Coles and Woolworths experienced an increase in their loyalty program membership, with Coles growing by 9.9 per cent and Woolworths by 6.8 per cent.
- Coles and Woolworths have increased their technological efforts to counter shoplifting, with Coles set to implement product tracking cameras and automated gates in over 250 stores by year-end.
Members, did you notice this price drop when shopping for produce? Share your thoughts in the comments below!