Woolworths' time to clean the litter tray 😼

We have a cat called Tony. We love him. We just don’t trust him around new cushions, cheese plates or lizards . He’s a bit disgusting when you come to think about it.

Apparently, Woolworths is now Australia’s version of Tony.

According to Roy Morgan, they are currently the fifth most distrusted brand in Australia - sliding a massive 194 spots to now sit alongside their feral friends at Coles, Meta, Qantas and Optus. Yet, they are still our most loved supermarket. It appears they may just need a good spray with the hose.

Deloitte explores the concept of trust (holding back snarky comment) in their latest 2024 Australian Retail Holiday Report. Price gouging, poor customer experience, unethical behaviour, data breaches and product quality issues were the quickest ways to lose customer trust. Fair to say that an ACCC investigation and CEO’s who struggle to be relatable on camera are bad too.

But it comes back to a simple human truth. To get trust, you need to give trust.

And Bunnings is currently king of the trust.

You want to bring your doggo in? Come in little buddy. Want to drive your car through our warehouse? No probs, back her up. That $99 Ozito drill happen to fail after you placed the final deck screw? No worries, here’s your money back. And hey, why don’t you pop on one of our iconic straw hats while you’re in the yard? Onya mate.

Rational or not, Bunnings feels like a trusted mate.

Been to Woolworths lately? It’s on special if you buy 2 or more. Only if you are a loyalty member. I swear it was cheaper last week. Hope you can navigate around all those packers. No registers. Check yourself out. Screen frozen, you’ve tried to trick the self-service scales. Here’s someone coming to help. With a camera around their neck… just in case you are angry at this point.

If you want a good demonstration of trust breakdown, check out the Price Check Guy (and the comments) on TikTok. Fascinating. He even created a Chrome extension for customers to track Woolworths and Coles prices over time.

But just like Tony, Woolworths isn’t going anywhere… yet. To still be the most loved brand after the last few years shows how deep-rooted the brand connection is. It’s time to put the claws away and show your customers some gentle affection.

Cheers,
Bushy

ECOMMERCE NEWS

A few little extra stories after the two-week break…

🤖 Amazon’s AI Video Generator
I came back to a deluge of AI press releases. The one that stood out to me was Amazon’s announcement of an AI video generator. Available to US advertisers, Amazon is now turning product photos into product videos. I can’t see how it could go wrong.

📉 Deloitte's Retail Holiday Report
I mentioned it above but Deloitte’s 2024 Australian Retail Holiday Report is really good. 76% of Australians plan to cut back their peak season shopping- from $517 on gifts last year to $425 this year. However, 51% of retailers still expect sales growth. Someone is off here.

📜 2024 Privacy Act Reform - Softer Than Expected
The long-awaited Australian 2024 Privacy Act Reform was finally introduced to parliament. After discussing with Gai Le Roy from the IAB, it seems the reform landed softer than expected—opt-out marketing, consent definitions, and SMB exemptions remain largely untouched in this version. It leaves suggestions there is more to come but no timeframes associated.

💬 Reddit’s Guide to Being Cool
As a marketer, is there anything scarier than crafting ad copy for a Reddit community? Brutal territory. Luckily, Reddit have released an ad library with examples from their most successful advertisers who have lived to tell the tale.

💳 Afterpay’s New Media Network
It was only a matter of time. Afterpay announced the Afterpay Media Network in partnership with Yahoo’s DSP. Advertisers will now be able to access anonymised customer behaviour of Afterpay customers across both online and in-store.

🏆 Good Design Award Saints
If you are want to inject some sunshine in your day, checkout the 2024 Good Design Award winners. A special shout out to our friends at Alton, Greener, Flite, HoMie, Joolca, Quad Lock, TIACS and Twoobs for your win. You make this a beautiful place.

🧵 Sizing Trends Linked to Ozempic
Michaela Wessels, CEO and founder of Style Arcade, shared a revealing graph showing the rising demand for smaller sizes (XS-M) over the past two years. Michaela, now based in New York, connects this trend to the surge in advertising and availability of GLP-1 medications like Ozempic. Food for thought. Not for eating.

🛠️ mycar’s Auto Translate Campaign
I wasn’t aware of it until it was shortlisted for a B&T award but mycar’s autotranslate campaign which allows customers to use their phone to translate mechanic talk into real talk is a lot of fun. Great idea but only 200 translations in the last six months. Gosh I miss advertising awards.

🏫 IKEA's College Pop-Up Genius
IKEA realised Chicago college kids couldn’t get to their out of town locations, so they brought them to campus. In a trial with three universities, IKEA set up pop up showrooms and pick-up points within universities. Smart.

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Nathan Bush is an independent Australian ecommerce transformation consultant, with expertise in marketing, technology, and team leadership. If you're looking for fresh ideas, facing key decisions, or implementing significant investments, I'd love to work with you. Learn more and get in touch.