Australia’s e-commerce revolution continues to gather pace as Woolworths looks to up the stakes with its new UberEats partnership.

From August 30, select customers in Melbourne and Sydney will be able to get their groceries delivered from Woolworths Metro stores straight to their door within an hour of placing an order thanks to the freshly-inked deal.

The offer will be extended to additional regions along the east coast in the weeks that follow.

Justin Nolan, Woolworths Metro general manager, said the deal reflected the business’ focus on making shopping easier for customers.

“This partnership will give our ‌customers‌ a ‌fast,‌ ‌reliable‌ ‌and‌ ‌effortless‌ ‌way‌ ‌to‌ ‌get‌ ‌groceries‌ ‌delivered‌ ‌to‌ ‌their‌ ‌door‌ within an hour,” he said. 

“It will be an ‌ideal‌ option for‌ those smaller ‌top‌ ‌up‌‌ or‌ last minute shopping needs, and complement our existing eCommerce offer. Importantly, it will also help us meet the needs of customers seeking to limit their community outings during the pandemic.”

Everybody’s selling something

The Woolworths-UberEats deal comes as the volume of Google searches for ‘how to sell online’ reached all time highs, while Australia Post’s latest annual e-commerce report showed 9 million Australian households purchased goods online last year.

“Though 2020 was a year full of challenges, it was also one brimming with opportunity for Australian retailers,” said Australia Post acting group chief executive officer and managing director Rodney Boys.

“While businesses had to pivot early and quickly change how they continued to serve their customers, research conducted by Deloitte Access Economics found those that invested in eCommerce were significantly buffered from the impacts of COVID-19, limiting overall revenue losses to 7% between March and August 2020.”

TZ Limited, an ASX-listed technology company specialising in access control platforms, has been focusing on developing their integrable e-commerce solution. The company provides the software required to operate a host of smart locks used in parcel lockers and data centres’ cabinets, and to ensure quality they also manufacture their own locks.  

In line with the increasing trend for e-commerce, TZ similarly saw an uptick in new orders as it entered the current financial year.

In the June quarter 2021, the business undertook several activities to recapitalise the business and strengthen its balance sheet, including raising $9.6 million from new and existing investors and paying down $7.6 million in principal debt.

Following these steps, TZ raised its recurring revenue base for the 2022 financial year to $3 million – up 25% on the previous year.

New orders for US sales also hit $9.3 million, with a substantial portion of this order book expected to be completed in FY22.

The company’s Australian order book has also grown, and with two major deals already in final negotiations CEO Scott Beeton says the company has a “very positive outlook” for the year ahead.

Stay up to date with the latest TZ Limited company news and announcements by registering your details on their investor centre.

Reach Corporate provides Corporate Advisory Services to TZL and has been engaged by them to manage their investor communications.

Sources:

• SmartCompany: The COVID boom: Are e-commerce stores playing the pandemic lottery?
• Mirage: Woolworths and Uber Eats partner to accelerate ultra convenience in Australia
• Australia Post: eCommerce Industry Report 2021
• ASX: TZL Announcement 28 May 2021
• ASX: TZL Announcement 30 June 2021
• ASX: TZL Announcement 30 July 2021
• StockHead: TZ announces rights issue following ‘heavily’ oversubscribed placement