Woolworths goes Door Busting for daily deals

Woolworths is the latest Australian retailer to enter the deal-of-the-day online fray, quietly launching "Door Buster” over the holiday period.

The website, registered on 20 December, is an extension of Woolworths’ Everyday Rewards loyalty card system, offers a raft of products under two areas “Instant Buys” and “Mega Deals".

The time specific deals features free home delivery for purchases over $AU20 and next day delivery.

Technology products are a core category with the Amazon Kindle selling for $AU99 in a recent deal.

The site describes itself as “a new online retail service offering that provides a website chock full of fantastic deals. We will have outrageously cheap prices on products from confectionary to designer handbags and everything in between”.

In November the retailing giant outlined its intentions to roll out a comprehensive multi‐channel retailing strategy to capitalise on the online shopping boom.

Woolworths Director of Multi‐Channel, Penny Winn said the company would increasingly strengthen its focus on online. Woolworths online sales grew at a rate of 63 percent during the 2011 financial year.

“We are really seeing a revolution in retail as customers integrate mobile, social networking and other internet‐enabled technologies into their bricks and mortar shopping experience. It isn’t a question of online or offline, it’s about creating integrating the two seamlessly,” Winn said.

Woolworths research found that customers who shop both in‐store and online spend 70 percent more than customers who only shop in‐store.

Interestingly, an old version of the DoorBusters FAQ page, indexed by Google but no longer available, suggests that Woolworths originally hoped to distance itself from the new brand. "We're cheaper than Coles and Woolworths online" the old FAQ said. ®