Coles sales temporarily slowed amid Woolworths Ooshies promotion
Australian supermarket chain Coles reported a temporary decline in sales for nearly four weeks amid competitor Woolworths' promotion featuring collectible Disney Ooshies figurines. At the same time, in the 12 months to June, Coles increased supermarket sales and its market share compared with Woolworths.
As The Guardian reports, Coles' sales growth continued in July, but the company later recorded a decline amid its competitor's collectible merchandise campaign. Coles chief executive Leah Weckert described the impact as temporary and said it mainly affected physical stores rather than online sales.
Woolworths' collectible campaign
Woolworths offered Disney, Marvel and Star Wars character figurines to customers who spent 30 Australian dollars. The Ooshies figurines are designed to be attached to pens or pencils. They were distributed in opaque packaging, so customers only found out which character they had received after opening it.
The campaign was due to end on Tuesday, but due to high demand, Woolworths sold out of its stock of figurines about a week before the planned end date. The company also organised toy-swapping meetups in various cities so customers could complete collections of 40 characters.
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Changes in shopper behaviour
According to a YouGov survey, almost two-thirds of parents changed their shopping behaviour because of the Ooshies promotion, including by visiting Woolworths more often. One in five adult collectors planned to sell the figurines online. A Facebook group for exchanging Ooshies added nearly 2,500 members in a week, bringing its total to more than 45,000.
Some schools and after-school facilities in Australia restricted the exchange of figurines because children were being distracted, conflicts arose and there were disputes over ownership of the toys. At the same time, environmental organisations raised concerns about future plastic waste. Woolworths said the figurines are made from 97% recycled thermoplastic rubber and that it installed collection containers for recycling them in selected stores.
Coles said its net profit for the year to June rose by 1% to 1.09 billion Australian dollars. Its supermarket profit margin increased from 5.3% to 5.7%. Leah Weckert also said Coles plans to continue running its own collectible merchandise promotions.
