Woolworths launches Australia's first virtual supermarket

Woolworths’ mobile shopping revolution continues with the unveiling of Australia’s first virtual supermarket. 

Tjeerd Jegen, Woolworths Director of Supermarkets said: “The walls of Town Hall Station in Sydney have been converted into a virtual supermarket and will feature more than 120 of Woolworths’ most popular products across all product categories, including our famous fresh food”.

Sydney commuters going through Town Hall station will be the first in Australia to experience the cutting edge of supermarket innovation.  The Wall looks like a Woolworth’s supermarket shelf but customers, in this case commuters, do not purchase any goods physically. Instead they view goods on display on the walls of the station, and then buy them using the Woolworths apps on their mobile device. Woolworths then delivers the goods to their home for a delivery fee.

Key features available on the Woolworths App for iPhone and Android include:

·   Mobile shopping: Browse or scan products, order and pay on your mobile.

·  Shopping lists: Create, edit and save shopping lists that will appear in the aisle order of your preferred store.  Also share shopping lists other Woolworths App users.

·  Product Finder: Search for products by name or category, scan the barcode and add them to your list.

But if you want to give this service a go, be quick because it’s only going to be there for one week as a trial. During this time, techies will be loitering asking users questions about what they think of the service, enabling them to develop it further for the future.

This development is hot on the heels of Tesco’s Homeplus expansion. Earlier this month, Tesco announced how it was expanding the trial of its award-winning virtual stores to more than 20 bus stops in South Korea, giving busy commuters the opportunity to do their grocery shopping 'on the go.' The new stores follow the launch of the world’s first virtual store, opened by Tesco in Seoul last year. Using the virtual display, people can scan the relevant barcode or QR code with their Homeplus App to order different products and can even organize for home delivery that day.