Coles partners with eBay to offer online grocery shopping
Australian supermarket chain Coles has established a partnership with eBay to sell groceries on its local online marketplace, with the ecommerce giant labelling the move a "world first".
Coles and eBay kicked off the online grocery marketplace on Tuesday, according to a statement, which will allow consumers in the metro Sydney, Melbourne, and Brisbane areas to order products such as pre-packed fresh food, pantry, personal care, and household items.
Products sold on eBay will have the same prices as those sold at Coles' physical stores, and the first 5,000 users of the new online marketplace will receive a 25 percent discount for their first order.
Consumers subscribed to eBay's membership program, eBay Plus, will receive free delivery on orders that are AU$49 and over, while also receiving double the amount of flybuys points for all orders.
According to eBay, the partnership will give Coles access to 11 million unique monthly visitors through the company's local online marketplace.
Coles online chief executive, Alister Jordan, said the partnership is part of the supermarket chain's goal of making grocery shopping easier for consumers.
"By partnering with eBay, we are providing our customers another convenient way to access our products and have them delivered straight to their door," he said.
Coles and eBay are currently only offering one delivery option -- groceries being dropped off even if no one is home -- with further delivery options to be provided later this year, eBay said in the statement.
The move comes as Coles continues to shift its focus from "price to convenience", partnering with UberEats in January to trial the delivery of ready-to-eat and ready-to-heat meals from Coles in the Sydney suburb of Pagewood.
Coles director of fresh food, Alex Freudmann, said at the time that the supermarket chain was committed to making the lives of consumers easier with its offering of ready-to-eat and ready-to-hear meal delivery.
In the meantime, the supermarket chain has also turned to Optus Business to provide connectivity to its more than 2,400 stores and other corporate sites. Under the multi-year deal, NBN will use fibre to connect Coles sites, with Optus providing corporate mobile services.
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