Australian parent announces ‘transformation plan’.

 

The Woolworths Group has announced plans to rebrand its chain of 194 Countdown stores in New Zealand under the Woolworths name. 

 

The rebranding is part of a NZ$370 million, three-year transformation plan for the company which will see older stores revamped and an upgraded customer loyalty program. 

 

In a statement, the company said the rebranding was to create “a name well known locally given the brand’s long history in the country”.

 

Signage on individual stores will begin to change “in the coming months” with the business name changing early next year and the entire network transformed over the next two years.

 

Spencer Sonn, managing director of Countdown and Woolworths Group New Zealand, said he believed the time was right for the company to “accelerate the change” of making the company “a better business”, do more to meet customers’ needs and expectations, and bring more of its Australian operational approach to New Zealand.  

 

Everyday Rewards, the company’s Australian loyalty program, will be launched in New Zealand early next year. Customers will also see “more convenient e-commerce shopping options and a deeper connection to grassroots community activities