Woolworths’s Dash platform sees 71% growth

Woolworths’s on-demand delivery platform, Dash, has reported a 71% growth in sales over the past year, reflecting its strong market performance. Alongside this growth, Dash also enhanced its operational efficiency, achieving a 95% on-time or early delivery rate, a 10% improvement from 2023.

According to Woolworths, the expansion of Woolies Dash has led to the creation of 2 200 new jobs across the value chain in the past 12 months, contributing significantly to employment growth in South Africa. The group believes that this development aligns with its Good Business Journey, the group’s flagship sustainability initiative. This initiative saw Dash save 38 tonnes of paper by using smaller delivery bags. Woolworths says that this is a step towards its goal of becoming one of the world’s most responsible retailers.

Woolies Dash continues to distinguish itself as the only on-demand grocery delivery service in South Africa that guarantees an unbroken cold chain, ensuring that perishable foods are delivered fresh and safe to customers.

A key milestone in Woolies Dash’s evolution has been the launch of its first dark store in Cape Town’s CBD, dedicated solely to fulfilling online orders. This approach eliminates competition between online and in-store shoppers, improving product availability and speeding up delivery times. The success of this dark store has prompted plans for more to be rolled out nationwide.

“Investing in dark stores is a testament to our focus on creating a future-fit omnichannel offering that leverages and transforms existing assets to continuously improve our customer’s experience,” says Liz Hillock, Woolworths director of online & mobile.

The group believes that its efforts are resonating with consumers, as evidenced by its recent ranking as the top performer in net sentiment scores in DataEQ’s South African Retail Sentiment Index. Woolworths outpaced the industry average, scoring 19.5% compared to the 8.8% average, highlighting its strong consumer perception on social media.  –  moneyweb.co.za