Woolies 2.0 – Woolworths returns online

Written by Gary Robinson

I read with interest on Econsultancy today that Woolworths is to make a comeback this summer as a 100% pureplay online store.

Bought by the owners of the Daily Telegraph, Sir David and Sir Frederick Barclay, the site will join their portfolio of brands (such as Littlewoods) under the Shop Direct Group banner.

As Econsultancy quite rightly pointed out, Woolworths is a brand that a lot of people trusted and it makes sense to try and resurrect some value out of that equity.

It will be interesting to see how this digital resurrection fares. Will those same people with the affinity for the high street brand, now go online to shop at Woolies? Or will it attract a new, younger and digital savvy audience?

That question will probably depend on its positioning. What will digital Woolworths actually sell.

When you consider its high street inventory – CDs, DVDs, Toys, Kitchenware, Children’s Clothes and Pick and Mix – there is a lot of competition online for those products (okay, maybe not for Pick and Mix) and there are some pretty major brands already dominating that marketplace (i.e. Amazon, Tesco, etc).

For a long time, price has been a USP for Woolworths, but they may find it tough competing on that angle especially in the CD/DVD market.

Details of their new product range are to be revealed in a few months, but right now they’re asking former customers to tell them what they want their new Woolies to sell.

Shop Direct Group Chief Executive, Mark Newton-Jones says “what we’re looking to do is encourage customers to come to us and tell us what they would like to see from Woolworths and what they liked and disliked and we’ve set a website up already. You can come and register online with us this morning and tell us the sort of products you’d like to see”.

Ultimately, for this new Woolworths to be a success, they’re going to have to demonstrate value, to give online shoppers a reason to use them over their bigger brand online competitors. If they find the right position, identifying what was successful for their brand previously they might just pull it off.

Could this be the start of a new trend in this economic climate, I wonder? Will online be the saviour of struggling offline brands or will it be the last ditch hurrah of once iconic brands?