Woolworths starts building second eStore

Woolworths Estore
Woolworths recently opened its first eStore in Melbourne. Image: Supplied.

Supermarket giant Woolworths has kicked off construction of its first eStore location in Queensland, hoping to up its delivery capacity across the Sunshine Coast.

The store will be located behind the business’ store in Maroochydore, will hold up to 10,000 in-demand grocery items and will feature technology that will improve the speed, efficiency and accuracy of the product picking process.

“Rapid growth in online grocery demand has given us an opportunity to reimagine the role of our stores in our e-commerce offering,” said Woolworths’ e-commerce director Annette Karantoni.

“We’re investing millions in new e-commerce infrastructure to help keep pace with rising customer expectations and build an ever more convenient online offer.”

The new site will facilitate deliveries from the region of Queensland spanning Coolum Beach to Wurtull, and will also help to reduce congestion in the Maroochydore store since most online picking will be done out of sight.

According to Woolworths, around 160 extra workers will be employed to service the store, which should open in mid-2021.

Construction firm Evolve has been appointed to build the eStore – the second in Australia and fourth overall, with two in New Zealand. The business’ eStore’s are part of a larger partnership with Takeoff Technologies, which seeks to test out the capabilities of the concept.

You have 7 articles remaining. Unlock 15 free articles a month, it’s free.