Coles to permanently axe print catalogues in digital move

Coles will permanently stop delivering printed catalogues to letterboxes across Australia, replacing them with personalised digital communications instead.

The grocery retailer said it would permanently cease letterbox drops of catalogues from September 9, although it will still print some and make them available in-store.

It has been delivering weekly printed catalogues to customer letterboxes for decades, though it did temporarily suspend this during the first wave of COVID-19 “due to limited product availability caused by a surge in demand.”

“Since 2000 we have delivered around 200 billion pages of weekly catalogues to letterboxes across Australia,” Coles Group CEO Steven Cain said in a statement.

Coles already offers a digital version of the print catalogue online, and Cain said the use of that had increased by “more than 50 percent” since March.

However, the retailer will now move to a more advanced digital catalogue offering that is more closely integrated with its online shopping platform, and that can also personalise offers.

This new offering will be called coles&co and will be opened from Thursday this week.

“Customers’ … appetite for immediacy and digital information means a weekly, one-size-fits-all, catalogue in their letterbox is no longer as relevant for them as it once was,” Cain said.

“We’re using our digital capabilities to replace it with something more personalised. 

“As we add new features, this could include recipes that change daily rather than weekly, as well as tailored content on food and drink trends.”

The new channel, coles&co, will offer what Coles called ‘shoppable’ specials, “allowing customers to do their shopping right from the screen. Just tap on a product to add it to your basket, and then check out via our online shopping services - or save it as a shopping list to take with you when shopping in store.”

The retailer did not say what technology platform or platforms it is using as the foundation for the new digital channel.

iTnews was seeking additional comment at the time of publication.