Coles shoppers ahead on smartphone technology, study

Posted by AFN Staff Writers on 4th November 2013

Grocery buyers who shop at Coles are more likely to have a smartphone than those who shop at Woolworths, Aldi or IGA, according to new findings from market research organisation Roy Morgan Research.

Nearly two thirds (59 per cent) of main grocery shoppers at Coles had a smartphone, and among Flybuys cardholders, this rose to 62 per cent, according to Roy Morgan Research. By comparison, 57 per cent of Woolworths shoppers had a smartphone, 53 per cent of Aldi shoppers and 43 per cent of IGA shoppers.

With smartphone ownership now almost as common as having a credit card, according to Roy Morgan Research, Australian supermarket Coles is trialling a new technology that enables shoppers to pay at the checkout with a tag on their phone. Australian Food News reported in October 2013 that Coles had launched the Pay Tag trial with 5,000 available.

“Coles customers, as well as Flybuys loyalty cardholders, are considerably more likely than the average Australian (or even the average grocery buyer) to have a smartphone, and nearly 23 per cent of Coles customers download an app in an average four weeks,” said Warren Reid, Group Account Manager Consumer Products for Roy Morgan Research.

Loyalty card holders more smartphone savvy

Woolworths Everyday Rewards card holders, much like their Coles Flybuys counterparts, were more likely than the average Woolworths shopper to have a smartphone, with 60 per cent owning a smartphone.

“Loyalty card schemes such as Flybuys for Coles or Everday Rewards for Woolworths have been around for many years,” Mr Reid said. “Now with credit cards and insurance, supermarkets are fast becoming financial institutions in themselves. Ultimately the end goal for supermarket retailers is still to attract new customers or obtain a bigger cut of household dollars,” he said.

Roy Morgan said its new psychographic classification system ‘Helix Personas’ showed that grocery buyers who had downloaded an app on their phone were almost 40 per cent more likely to belong to the ‘Metrotech’ community of well-educated, high-income, young urban professionals. According to Roy Morgan Research, grocery buyers in this group were 25 per cent more likely to be Coles customers.