News EDITION 2
I APRIL 2022
In this issue: 3. Message from Amanda and Doug 4. What’s Happening in Stores - LSM Update 5. What’s Happening in Stores - Back to School 6. What’s Happening in Stores - All Things Kids 7. Value Everyday at BIG W 9. Our New BIG W APP 10. Online Only Deals - PMR Update 11. Online Payments and Claims Portal 12. Real Care & Sustainability 14. Supply Chain Network 15. What’s Ahead in Q4 16. Message from Pej
Message
from Amanda and Doug Welcome to our second edition of BIG W News! We would like to thank you for your support and focus as we continue working together to navigate our way through many disruptions including the continued impact of Covid and ongoing supply chain challenges. We continue to learn and adapt to deepen our level of partnership with you to ensure we have the right products, at the right time, in the right place for customers. Listening and learning is a core value at BIG W and we thank you for your ongoing feedback as part of our Voice of Supplier program. It was very encouraging to see an improvement in our February result including both our overall and trust scores. We are continuing to focus on collaborative forecasting and in store execution in Q4 to make more meaningful change. As we look ahead in Q4, our key focuses will be: Managing the headwinds of inflation by ensuring we remain competitive and offering great value for our customers every day Continuing to build our key destination categories and how we can become more distinctive for our customers Setting ourselves up for another successful Toy Mania event As we move from turnaround to transformation, building our commercial plan for FY 23 and beyond We look forward to continuing to keep you updated and informed in BIG W news and will soon be sending you an invitation to our next supplier update, currently planned for June. In the meantime, we encourage you to continue providing your valuable feedback, and we wish you and your families well over the Easter period. Thank you and take care,
Amanda & Doug
What’s been happening in stores Availability LSM Update We’re excited to share our new data-led tool that has landed for our store teams called Lost Sale Monitor (LSM). It’s an important change as we continue to focus on delivering best in class technology to improve availability of the products our customers love to shop. LSM is a data algorithm that has been used across the Woolworths Group over the past few years and delivered great results. Each day BIG W store teams are directed to products with reliable historical sales that have stopped selling. It then provides the team an opportunity to fix probable issues impacting availability. Early feedback from our store teams have called out that LSM is great at ensuring our products are on show, price tickets are correct and stock on hand is accurate.
LSM technology has been deployed across BIG W and is now live in all Stores. EDITION 2 I APRIL 2022
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What’s been happening in stores Back to School (BTS) We know our customers love events at BIG W and Back To School (BTS) 2022 was no different. Even with the change of return to school dates we had a very strong result and most importantly delivered fantastic results for our customers through 4 key anchors - Value, Low Prices, Range and Convenience. We amplified VALUE with the most trusted brands, plus the quality parents can rely on at great prices. Mums don’t need to shop around; they know BIG W is the most affordable. We illustrated LOW PRICES and that BIG W is the most affordable choice in the market via price check and value plays. Our $2 price story was well received by customers. We celebrated our RANGE which makes the BTS shop easy by having everything mum’s need in the one place. We are the true “one-stop” Back to School shop. And CONVENIENCE, BIG W made the BTS shop easy. We‘ll do the shopping for you with safe contactless services like PICK UP, DIRECT TO BOOT and HOME DELIVERY options and this drove an increase in digital sales by 78%.
Visiting stores, we have upgraded our Woolworths Group Visitor Management App Last year we introduced the 'Woolworths Group Visitor Management' app, to be downloaded to phones and replace the paper sign in book at our stores. This is a mandatory requirement for entering our stores and applies to all visitors; including contractors, merchandisers and demonstrators. It’s a solution which is safer for our stores and visitors and we thank you for using the app. Following feedback from our visitors and suppliers, the app has been updated with a better flow of information. We are also adding a documents section to the app homepage that will be customisable by stores and will include information for users of the app such as HAZARD reports, restricted access registers and diagrams/evacuation details that you may/will need when visiting or providing services at our stores. For more information or support please contact our visitation partner, VISTrak 1300 853 990
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What’s been happening in Stores All Things Kids is coming... We have an exciting new Ambition to be the first choice everyday for All Things Kids and have been trialing various initiatives in stores for several months across Toys, Gaming, Outdoor Toys and Books The Trial focuses on range, price, in-store experience, new fixtures and layout with amazing results, we look forward to sharing more with you in the future. What's Next? We will be working on floor plans throughout Q4 With Network rollout commencing early FY23 If you have any feedback or would like to be involved please reach out to Christine Faulkner directly cfaulkner@bigw.com
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Value Everyday launches at BIG W
Why we are building a value program Rock 3 is all about delivering on our ambition to lead on value. We know price is super important to our customers and that value is more than just price. 'We have listened deeply to team and customers to inform our Value drivers and unlock the step change we need.'
How we share with customers/team Value Everyday will glue together the ways customers can get value from BIG W - making it tangible and easy, everyday.
What drives our Value Everyday Program Trusted quality To demonstrate our commitment to quality we've “family-tested” a host of products with both team members and customers across hundreds of Aussie households. Our new "trusted quality" program ensures customers that our products pass that allimportant family test - because real life needs real quality. We will look to maintain an always on trusted quality program, with a consistent testing scheme in place all year round.
Rewards A brilliant rewards program that through points gives customers and teams $10 off a future shop, or to save their points for something extra special.
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Price Our refreshed Every Day Low Price Program (EDLP) that offers customers great prices on everyday essentials and great specials/deals on the big and little things making what you want more affordable.
BIG W is now in your pocket With up to 70% of online traffic and sales coming from mobile devices in Australia, we are excited to announce that we are launching the BIG W App in April for iOS and Android.
You’ll be able to: Shop our full range Scan barcodes to check prices Create, share and buy wishlists
And there is more to come… Smarter merchandising in app Improved search functionality In app notifications Push notifications and app only promotions.
Key Features
Shop Our Full Range
Scan Barcodes To Learn More
No matter where you Whether you’re at home happen to be, you can or in the store, scan the browse and shop the barcode using our app to complete range that check pricing and BIG W has to offer. You product information in a really will have the whole EDITION 1 I DECEMBER 2021matter 5 of seconds. store in your hands.
Search For Stock With Ease
Finding Stores Is Simple
If you’re in store and the product you want isn’t in stock, use our app to check if it’s available to buy online or at another store. We may have what you want after all.
Set your local store or search for a BIG W store in your area. This feature is handy if you’re on a family holiday and dad’s forgotten the beach toys… Poor dad!
Online Only Deal Creation Guide How to create Online Only Deal Create a Deal shell Open Deal Click on the Deal Source drop down option
We’re excited to announce we have enabled Online Only Deals and Offers in PMR. This will make things simpler and reduce a large amount of manual work for our Teams as it supports and assists with: 1. Online only offers loads 2. Online only scans without disrupting our commercial offers and scans Overall we expect a significant reduction in the number of manual claims for Online promotions We have included a Step by Step guide in in this Edition showing you how to load. For any queries please email: kkhan@bigw.com
Select Online Only
Add the Scan / Lump Sum / Co-op amount Click on Submit Click Save and Close Deal shell will appear with the letter “O” and “S” on the end
Once the Scan / Lump Sum / Co-Op amount is entered, and the deal is “Submitted” it will be reviewed by the Category Manager Upon the deal being accepted, it will change from red to green with the letter “O” on the end
Any offer loaded to this Online Only deal will NOT be available in-store.
Online Payments and Claims Portal now Available for BIG W partners We are excited to invite you to register today to access Payments and Claims (PAC) on Partner Hub. Currently submitting your query is very manual and done via email which can take up to 3-4 days for the team to investigate and process. By using PAC as soon as the case is created it is allocated to the team to commence review. This enables faster resolution, in some cases on the same day. The portal is free, easy to use and provides you with the ability to: Resolve outstanding invoices and quantity claim disputes more efficiently. Same-day resolutions on specific queries, with remittance in your inbox on the following day. Online access to request remittances, claims and open items. Forecast receivables and transparency on what is paid, awaiting payment, due dates and status of disputes
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How to get started Click here to register and we'll be in contact with you within three business days Click here to view more information on Partner Hub
Have any questions on our Payments and Claims Portal?
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Contact our Finance Shared Service team on: (03) 6245 6600 tpc@woolworths.com.au
Real Care, Quality & Sustainability Sustainable Packaging As a group, we have been on our sustainability journey for many years now, and the results are starting to show. We also recognise we need to be better and we are learning to continuously improve. It is our collective responsibility to do the right thing. Our customers want positive change and they are counting on us to make it happen, from eliminating waste to reducing plastic packaging that pollutes our oceans. Our 2025
What is this document? The packaging and materials protocol has two main purposes: It outlines BIG W’s ambitions towards our 2025 packaging targets and the commitments which we’ve made publicly for our own brand products. It also has information to help vendors, product owners and manufacturers to make more sustainable decisions in regards to packaging for BIG W own brand products in order to meet or even exceed the 2025 packaging targets.
Sustainability Plan includes a product pillar of which one goal is sustainable
What does it mean for you and your products?
packaging: Woolworths Group
BIG W is going to use this document and the 2025 targets to form our decisions on our packaging moving forward. All new and existing products will be progressively reviewed with more attention on sustainability. It means together we will look at how we can improve our packaging to meet our goals.
Sustainability Plan 2025. Our commitment is to collaborate with you, our trading partners, government and industry to reduce waste and transition our business to a circular economy. As part of this, we have set an ambitious commitment to make 100% of our own brand packaging sustainable by 2025. As we continue on this journey we have
What will BIG W do moving forward to support you? Together we need to start by assessing the materials we use across the range of BIG W own brand products and plan how we can make changes where the packaging doesn’t meet commitments. Throughout the product development process we will need your help to assess all packaging components in our own brand products and as a collaborative effort to make changes where challenges exist. We encourage you to explore more sustainable options with packaging as we work towards the targets.
developed our Packaging and Materials Protocol for our own brand products which will support our delivery of this goal:
Packaging and Materials Protocol - vendor portal link
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We encourage you to take the time to understand the protocol and embark on the journey to deliver our sustainability goals together . We encourage you to please contact us by emailing packaging@bigw.com if you have any questions about our sustainable packaging goals and how we can work together to bring about positive change.
PLMS We are excited to announce our new PLMS ( Product Lifecycle Management System for own brand products ) will be launched for Apparel & Footwear at the end of March . The team will connect with suppliers as we commence category rollout.
Real Care, Quality & Sustainability Product Compliance Update The ACCC has put out their compliance and enforcement priorities for 2022-23. The 3 key areas that impact product for BIG W suppliers are: 1. Consumer and fair trading issues in relation to environmental claims and sustainability 2. Compliance with the button battery safety standards. 3. Consumer and fair trading issues relating to manipulative or deceptive advertising and marketing practices in the digital economy. They have stated that they will focus on these areas and will be taking action where claims cannot be substantiated and products are not compliant to current regulations.
Reminder: Button Battery Safety By 22 June 2022, ALL Button and coin cell batteries, and the products that are designed to use or store them must comply with the new mandatory standards. All suppliers will have received a survey from the BIG W Compliance mailbox that MUST be completed. If you have not replied, please do so immediately.
Woolworths Group oxo-degradable plastics policy In line with our Woolworths Group Sustainability Plan 2025 as well as current and forthcoming legislative changes, Woolworths Group will cease the sale, supply or distribution of any product or packaging that contains oxodegradable plastics from 1 March 2022 nationally in Australia, and by 1 October 2022 in New Zealand. If you have any concerns that any of your products supplied to Woolworths Group do not comply with our Oxo-degradable Plastics Policy, please reach out as soon as possible. This will allow us to work closely with you to understand the impact of our Policy and plan a transition accordingly. If you did not get your letter, or have any other questions or concerns, please reach out to your key supplier lead for more information or contact sustainability@woolworths.com.au
By the 29th April, if you have not provided any further information requested by the compliance team about your in-scope products, those products will be considered to be non-compliant and will be scheduled for withdrawal. For further information, please contact compliance@bigw.com
Why is this important? Every week in Australia, an estimated 20 children present at hospital emergency departments after being exposed to these batteries. Some of these exposures result in serious injuries, chronic health conditions, and in some cases loss of life. Many of these incidents could have been prevented by eliminating the need for the button or coin cell battery, securing the battery inside the device, or by alerting caregivers to the importance of storing new and spent button batteries securely out of children’s reach.
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BIG W supply chain network review Warwick operations to continue until 2026 We recently announced that we are extending the lease of our Warwick DC by 3 years up to 2026. We believe that continuing operations in Warwick will best support the needs of BIG W’s customers in our QLD and NT stores, continue to bring employment to the community, and retain our loyal and high-performing team members. The announcement was delivered with care and we’re happy to report that the news was well received by the team.
Warwick, QLD
Primary Connect to operate BIG W Hoppers Crossing DC With the continued growth of the BIG W business and increased importance of online trade, we have made the carefully considered decision to align the operation of the BIG W Hoppers Crossing Distribution Centre (DC) to the operating model of our BIG W DCs nationally. This decision was made in partnership with BIG W, Primary Connect and Linfox. We believe it is a change that is best implemented swiftly to set all partners up for success. The proposed timeline of this transition is planned for the end of June 2022, with Primary Connect assuming the operating responsibilities of the Hoppers Crossing DC from that time. Detailed planning between Primary Connect, BIG W and Linfox is underway and we will communicate updates to our suppliers as the transition is finalised.
Hoppers Crossing DC, NSW For more information on sales and service enquiries please contact us Website: www.primaryconnect.com.au Email: customerservice@primaryconnect.com.au Phone: 1800 PRIMARY (7746279)
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Further Information: Supplier Portal Lismore Flood Update
What’s ahead in Q4 All Things Kids planning continues across Q4 with Rollout early FY23 Mothers Day Event commences in store - don’t forget to spoil your mum Winter Ranges continue to roll out across Home and Apparel
Product Recall If you have a recall please ensure you: Contact your Category Manager prior to Recall going live Follow up up with email This is will ensure we action in a timely manner.
Toy Mania is just around the corner, we know how much our customers look forward to this event Range Reviews Kick Off for Furniture & Decor, Outdoor Living, Home Soft (Bed Linen, Quilts & Pillows, Towels), Health & Beauty, Kitchen & Dining and Home Entertainment. Range Reviews land in stores for Confectionery, Kids Underwear, Household Cleaning, Pets and Womens Intimates.
VOS W16 Our next Survey will be in market from 2 May so please keep an eye out, your feedback is important to us. Any queries on the program please reach out to Shane Carter scarter@bigw.com.
Message from Pejman Happy holidays! Whether you are marking Easter, Ramadan or Passover over these public holidays, I wanted to wish you all a well deserved rest with your family and friends. A huge thank you for continuing to partner with us through some challenging times; Learning to live with COVID, an inflationary environment impacting our customers significantly and supporting our flood impacted communities. We remain optimistic as we continue to adapt to the changing needs of our customers, team and partners and we look forward to sharing our F23-25 strategy in time for the new financial year. Best wishes,
Pejman Okhovat Managing Director