NEWS
Woolworths scraps cashless payment trial after backlash
Supermarket chain Woolworths has ended a trial of electronic-only payments in 14 of its stores across Sydney , Melbourne and Brisbane following a public backlash on social media .
Customers complained about the cashless payment trial , which began in July last year , saying it excluded people who prefer to pay with cash . It also prevented homeless people and others who are not accustomed to using cards for transactions from purchasing essentials .
When Woolworths promoted the trial , it said it made shopping “ seamless ” for inner-city customers . But some shoppers criticised the move and threatened to boycott Woolworths .
Someone from Sydney tweeted :
“ Man who is clearly sleeping rough unable to pay because cash is no longer accepted at Central Park . He was distressed . And then a Woolworths staffer who had finished her shift quietly paid for his food . The corporate head office needs to act like the staff .”
In response to the tweet , Woolworths said : “ We ’ ve been trialling card only payments in our Metro Central Park store for three weeks . The trial will end on Sunday February 14 , in response to feedback from local shoppers . We ’ ll continue to review and refine our approach as needed in each trial store based on customer feedback .”
Cash payments resumed in all Woolworths Metro stores by March 10 .
NAB report : Aussies spent $ 45.61 billion online last year
Australians spent $ 45.61 billion online in the 12 months to January 2021 , showing a 45.6 per cent jump in year-on-year sales , according to the latest NAB Online Retail Sales Index .
Monthly sales jumped 4 per cent in January following a 4.7 per cent dip in December 2020 . The Australian Bureau of Statistics ’ data reveals an online growth of 1.6 per cent and 62.8 per cent on a monthly and annual basis respectively for the same period .
NAB chief economist Alan Oster said metro areas continued to outpace regional uptake of online sales , and takeaway food continued to see strong buy-in from Australian consumers .
Oster said the largest contribution to growth for this category in January was from the two biggest sales states , New South Wales and Victoria .
Peloton to launch in Australia , names country manager
Fitness and technology retailer Peloton announced in March it will launch its first stores in Australia this year and has appointed Karen Lawson as country manager .
According to Peloton , it will open its first stores in key Australian cities such as Sydney and Melbourne that will act as interactive showrooms for customers to try out its smart-cycle products .
“ Australia is really ahead of the game globally in terms of innovative fitness technology and models , which , as an interactive fitness platform , is a really inspiring and motivating factor for us to finally welcome Aussies to the Peloton community ,” Peloton managing director , international Kevin Cornils told Inside Retail .
8 | www . insideretail . com . au May 2021