Dan Murphy's to go online in March
Woolworths Group has put discount liquor retailer Dan Murphy's online push back on track today after it was postponed over the busy Christmas and New Year period.
(Dan Murphy's image by Stephen Dann, CC BY-SA 2.0)
Customers would be able to buy from Dan Murphy's online store from March, Woolworths announced today.
Woolworths Group flagged a 75 per cent increase in online channel sales for supermarkets and Big W over the half year ending 2 January 2011.
"Shopping online is becoming an increasingly important part of the Woolworths and Dick Smith online sites to create fast, interactive and leading shopping experiences," the group said in its results announcement.
Woolworths has also seen strong growth from the Big W online store after its launch in May 2010, with over 9000 products now listed online.
Managing director and CEO of Woolworths, Michael Luscombe, told investors and analysts today that improving the Woolworths supply chain with new IT platforms and next-generation tech is one of the company's six key opportunities for the medium term.
"We will continue to focus on … further enhancements to our supply chain, including next-generation replenishment, continued improvement in distribution centre systems, IT platforms and a world-class merchandising system," he said.
"The performance of our supply chain program continues to benefit the bottom line and further financial returns will continue as the [distribution centre] infrastructure reaches greater efficiency levels," the company's report said.
Woolworths is set to use techniques and intellectual property developed in its national distribution centre in Mulgrave, Victoria, in other distribution centres including New Zealand Supermarkets, BWS, Dan Murphy's, Big W and the consumer electronics distribution centres.
"Significant software and hardware upgrades have increased capacity on the site with an extension of existing automation. These changes have significantly improved … efficiency and reduced costs," the company added.
These operations are set to coincide with the ongoing Quicksilver supply chain program, which looks to build on AutoStockR to deliver products to stores faster and more efficiently, a program the company had nearly flagged as "almost completed" in 2010.