Coles grows online business with Shopfast purchase
Coles grows online business with Shopfast purchase
Coles Myer has signalled its intention to push ahead of its rivals in the online grocery market with the acquisition of Australia's largest online grocery retailer, Shopfast.
The acquisition, which now makes Coles the country's largest online food retailer, will see the supermarket chain take over Shopfast's customer database, operating system and delivery vehicles.
Coles spokeswoman Sarah McNeil said that although there was a considerable degree of crossover between the two operators, the deal was still a very attractive one for Coles for a number of reasons.
"We are both grocery retailers and we sell a lot of the same products, but Shopfast's range is a little bit wider and includes items such as CD's and flowers, and the fact that they are the largest online grocery retailer in Australia meant that the size of the business was right for us."
Jon Wood, managing director of Coles Myer's emerging businesses division, added: "We will achieve significant benefits for our online business for what is a relatively limited capital outlay for Coles Myer."
McNeil added that Shopfast customers would still be able to shop online at shopfast.com.au, at least for the time being. "For the customer, the transition will be seamless. They will still be able to use the Shopfast site, but from the back end, the fulfilment will be combined."
The Coles Online service, which can be found at www.colesonline.com.au, is only available at present in Sydney and Melbourne. There are no plans to extend it further at present, though Coles have said they would not rule out such a move.
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