Covid-19 coronavirus: Countdown launches eStore to help service growing demand

Countdown will deliver more than 7500 online shopping orders each week through an online-only dedicated store which launches today.

The Penrose-based supermarket will help alleviate growing online shopping demand which has skyrocketed since the coronavirus lockdown started.

To help keep up with the number of online orders, Countdown has been forced to close six of its stores nationwide temporarily.

The layout of the Penrose-based eStore. Photo / Supplied

The store would have trucks delivering the orders from 6am to 7pm daily. Photo / Supplied

Countdown's Grey Lynn Central, Northwest, Tauranga and Moorhouse stores transitioned to help service online orders only.

Meanwhile, staff members at Albert St Metro and Cable Car Lane were redeployed to other stores to support their online shopping needs.

Online customer registration was 10 times higher than Countdown would normally see each week, general manager for digital Sally Copland said.

"With New Zealanders staying home for the lockdown, visits to our website have increased 300 per cent," Copland said.

"This means our new store dedicated to serving online shoppers is more important than ever."

Sally Copland, Countdown general manager of digital. Photo / Supplied

The new 8800sq m eStore's layout is organised based on sales data to increase picking efficiency.

And while it looks like any other supermarket with a butchery, bakery and shelves lined with products, no customers are allowed in-store.

Instead, a team of 200 personal shoppers, including 105 new to Countdown and 94 transferred from other stores, will run the eStore.

Delivery trucks will operate daily between 6am and 7pm, with staff replenishing stock - when orders are not being packed - with 25,000 products.

It will service delivery orders for Countdown stores in Mt Wellington, St Johns, Three Kings, Mt Eden, Botany, Manukau City Mall, Meadowlands and Manurewa.

Online pick-up orders will continue to operate, with increased windows available at each store due to delivery orders being moved to the eStore.

Copland said it was thought increasing Countdown's delivery capacity would triple the number of pick-up orders processed at affected stores.

"This is crucial in these challenging times when we know so many people are relying on online shopping."

Meanwhile, the supermarket chain has also partnered with Boston-based eGrocery company Takeoff Technologies to help in-store shopping.

Technology developed by the company quickly picks and moves the most popular grocery items to shoppers on a conveyor belt.

However, fresh fruit, vegetables, meat, fish, delicatessen items and slower-moving goods will continue to be picked manually.

Copland said no jobs would be replaced by the technology once it arrives in-store later this year.

Covid19.govt.nz: The Government's official Covid-19 advisory website

NeedToKnow3