Come at me: Woolworths Christmas Pop Outs Vs Coles Little Shop

Posted by AFN Staff Writers on 14th November 2018

WOOLWORTHS’ counter attack to the Coles Little Shop toy promotion begins today and early social media feedback is mixed. But is its success really that important?

Well, consider this. The Coles promotion was mind bogglingly successful. Coles’ like-for-like sales in the September quarter soared 5.1 per cent, the group’s best result in almost three years.

Woolworths, by comparison, delivered its slowest like-for-like sales growth in two years, at 1.8 per cent.

The battle is for the important middle ground of shoppers, the swinging voters if you like, “cross shoppers” – those who will change supermarkets.

Woolworths lost them during Little Shop. They were young or new families whose children went mad for the toys.

Hard work bringing back customers

Woolies CEO Brad Banducci said as much when reporting his sad first-quarter sales figures.

“Those segments are coming back to Woolworths but we still have some more work to do in getting ready to fully rebalance on that. And as you might imagine that is a real area of focus for (managing director Claire Peters) and the team” he said the time.

So high hopes, from the very top, are pinned on the Woolworths Christmas Pop-Outs.

Note they are made from recyclable cardboard, a counter to Coles’ plastic mini grocery items, which copped some environmental flak at the height of the plastic bag furore. Note also the decision by Coles at the time to delay the removal of single-use plastic bags contributed to their sales uptick by speeding traffic through checkouts that had been slowed by people coming to terms with the bag thing.

Though some on social media some are bagging the Woolworths toys because they’re made of cardboard angry customers say won’t last.

Anyway, the Woolworths Christmas Pop-Outs feature 12 Christmas-themed buildable cardboard characters, to be offered to customers as a festive gift, with every $30 they spend on eligible purchases in store or online.

Santa to save Woolworths

Characters include Santa, Reindeer, Elves, Gingerbread Man, Snowman and more, with the range proudly Australian made and fully recyclable.

Simply ‘pop-out’ the character from the cardboard frame and use the instructions at the bottom of the board to build them. Three characters will be released each week, for the next four weeks.

Complementing the 12 characters is a collector Christmas Tree Stand which is available to purchase for $3.

The Christmas Tree Stand is designed to house the characters and can also be used as a decoration in the home.

Woolworths Supermarkets managing director, Claire Peters said:
“We believe that kids, parents, grandparents and individuals will be captured by the wonder and imagination of the range and will find ways to make them their own this Christmas – whether that’s as a place card for the dining table or an additional festive ornament around the Christmas tree.

“Our team has also spent a great deal of time ensuring that we considered the environmental impact when putting this together and we are proud to say that the range is 100% Aussie made and fully recyclable.”

Customers will also be able to see what they are getting as the “Woolworths Christmas Pop-Outs” will not come in ‘blind plastic bags’ to help avoid duplication or disappointment and minimise waste.

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