Shoppers tired and frustrated amid intense Delta strain pressure says Woolworths boss

The head of Australia’s largest groceries chain Woolworths has revealed that the Delta outbreak of COVID-19 has put “intense” pressure on the country’s supermarkets, with shoppers in Sydney and Melbourne worn out as the novelty of last year’s lockdowns fades away.

In an exclusive interview, Woolworths chief executive Brad Banducci said the supermarkets’ customers and employees were both feeling the drain of 2021’s lockdowns, with the high case numbers also leading to some staffing issues across the company’s Sydney and Melbourne stores.

Woolworths boss Brad Banducci says consumers are tired and frustrated.Credit:Wolter Peeters

“We’ve essentially got a material chunk of the east coast of Australia in a very extended Delta-driven lockdown, which is quite different to previous strains of COVID-19,” he said.

“And it’s not as obvious to everyone all the pressures that are out there and so the ability to rally everyone together and be very focused - which were all wonderful narratives last year â€" is a little bit harder.

“If you listen to consumers, everyone’s just frustrated, and the excitement of being at home and it being a bit of an adventure has long worn off.”

Mr Banducci’s comments come as many of the country’s supermarkets are regularly emerging as tier one and two exposure sites in both NSW and Victoria due to visits from infected workers and shoppers.

This has put “intense” pressure on supply chains over the past few weeks, he warned, though the situation has rapidly improved recently thanks to the successful introduction of rapid antigen testing, which is picking up workers with COVID-19 cases before they can expose an entire warehouse.

However, the broader spread of the virus through the country’s latest lockdowns has still placed greater stress on supply chains when compared to last year, with Woolworths weathering staffing problems both in stores and in warehouses, patchy product availability and difficulty fulfilling online orders.

“Some of our stores have had more than 10 cases and so that that team has been sent home 10 times. Can you imagine the personal insecurity that comes from that? It’s very hard, just at a human level, to be in those situations,” Mr Banducci said.

“Consumers are a little more tired, our team is more tired and there’s still a lot of pressure, and I think that makes for a dangerous moment.”

The chief executive called on shoppers to look after each other and “cut ourselves a bit of slack”, pointing to the end of the year and 2022 as a light at the end of the tunnel.

Earlier this month, Mr Banducci said he was also keeping a close eye on international supply chains, which have been slammed by the Delta variant and heightened consumer demand.

He and other retailers have warned of a potential shortage of consumer products such as electronics coming into the key Christmas trading period.

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