Trading Partner News - Woolworths wowlink

01 AIntroductionword from Greg Foran02 Qantas,Customer EngagementWoolworths alliance - taking off soonWelcome to the second edition of the Trading Partner Newsletterfor 2009 and thank you to our suppliers who joined us at ourrecent Traders Update Roadshows.As we approach the end this financial year we know that manybusinesses have been doing it tough. While many people mayduck for cover in rugged economic times, our commitment toyou, our trade partners, is that Woolworths will continue to workto the plans we outlined at the Roadshows.In good times and in bad times, Woolworths has remainedfocussed on the basics of retailing. This will not change and wewill continue to strive to provide our customers the best service,the best products and the best value.Woolworths and Qantas have joinedforces to launch an exiting new alliancethat provides our registered EverydayRewards members the opportunity toearn Qantas Frequent Flyer Points whenthey shop at Woolworths Supermarkets.The alliance will launch in Supermarketsmid 2009, and will then be introducedto other Woolworths’ group stores.Customers will need to be a registeredEveryday Rewards member and eitherjoin Qantas Frequent Flyer or link anexisting Qantas Frequent Flyer accountto earn points at Woolworths.Later in the year Woolworths will bringnew promotional opportunities to tradepartners, details on the alliance and howto take part will be available on wowlinkcloser to launch.(The Woolworths Everyday Rewardsprogram does not operate in Tasmania).To achieve this, we will continue to invest in our stores with newopenings and the aggressive rollout of our new format. Our newand refurbished stores continue to deliver strong results for ourbusiness and for our trade partners.The strong momentum in our business is testament to the hardwork of the entire Woolies team, but we also recognise that our continuing success is a combined effort from the extended‘Woolworths family’ that very much includes our trading partners.We have worked with most of our trade partners for decades, often through previous economic downturns, and believe theserelationships are built on the highest standards of integrity and honesty. On behalf of our shareholders we will continue topositively support both our suppliers and our customers through the changing economic circumstances.As an example, amidst the uncertainty one thing is definite – next quarter will be just as busy as the last! In coming months, wewill launch initiatives designed to improve our service and to provide greater value to our customers. As just one example, ouralliance partnership with Qantas will reward our customers from check-out to check-in through our Everyday Rewards loyaltyprogram.On behalf of the Woolies team, I can assure you we look forward to working with you for decades more to come. If you would liketo make contact with me or provide feedback on any part of our business please email me: GForan@woolworths.com.auGreg ForanDirector – Supermarkets, Liquor and Petrol.We have always publicly acknowledgedthat to be a successful retailer we needsuccessful suppliers who prosper withus, and we will continue to do the rightthing by our suppliers through thischallenging economic environment.Woolworths will therefore continueto trade with our suppliers on therelationship principles that currentlyapply, and that result in the successfultrading outcomes we each enjoy. Wedo not intend to initiate any generalprogram of seeking trading termsincreases. Similarly we will continue ourpolicy of requesting, (for administrativepurposes), only a minimum of fourweeks notice from suppliers of intendedprice increases on packaged products[shorter notice may apply by negotiationto products affected by tax, excise,legislative or unforeseen circumstances.Greg Foran (far right) with (L-R) John Innes Area Manager,The Hon Wayne Swan MP Federal Treasurer,Sue Honan Store Manager Sandgate Woolworths andJill Skinner Local CWA representativeChanges in trading arrangementsMarket price driven fresh foods haveseparate arrangements].As always, we must remain competitivein the marketplace, however, and wewill also continue to work with oursuppliers as we do today to ensure ourtrading arrangements do not result in anycommercial disadvantage.03 PlanningAs we approach the end of the 2009financial year, the Longlife team wouldlike to thank all of our Trade Partnersfor their tremendous support in whathas been a successful year in a verychallenging environment.With that said, our focus should now turnto planning for success in 2010.Promotional PlanningPromotional planning is well underway forFY2010. All Buying teams will have nowengaged you in discussions to ensurestrong programs are in place to driveprofitable sales for both of us. However,the finalisation and loading of these plansis now urgent to ensure we both start theyear strongly. If your plans are yet to beLonglifefor (FY) 2010finalised please contact your respectivebuying team as soon as possible.Category Development ScheduleIn the first quarter of FY2010, Longlifewill publish our Category DevelopmentSchedule for 2010 on the vendor websitewww.wowlink.com.au. Through yourfeedback, and our focus on continuouslyimproving the customer shoppingexperience, we will now endeavour toconduct two range reviews per year onthe majority of the Grocery categories. Theform of this new annual review schedulewill consist of a major review and a minorreview. A minor review will normally belimited to major product launches and thereview of layouts.Woolworths National ConferenceA feature of our annual planning forsuccess is the Woolworths NationalConference. The Conference enablesyou, our Trade Partners, our operationsteam and support office staff to celebrateour past successes and plan the futuretogether in one location. This year’sConference will be held in Melbournefrom 14 to 16 September. Packages forthe Conference will be released in thenear future. We encourage all of our TradePartners to evaluate the Conferencepackages and the opportunities that thisevent will provide.Trading Partner News 3