PC reseller lands Woolworths as distribution channel

IT reseller Futu Online has become the first technology seller picked by eBay to have its products available for pickup at more than 90 Woolworths and Big W stores.

The eBay store is one of only a handful picked for the “click and collect” rollout, which will allow customers to pick up Futu Online orders from selected Woolworths and Big W stores, starting in Sydney and Tasmania.

eBay touted the arrangement as the “ultimate in shopping convenience”, with one seller describing Woolworths as a “ready made national network of physical stores”.

Of the six eBay sellers announced publicly so far, Futu Online is the only technology store with its products now available via Woolworths and Big W. Dick Smith, Officeworks and The Good Guys, which also have eBay stores, are also offering click and collect for their eBay users at their own stores.

eBay picked Futu Online because of their “high standards of customer service” including the offer of zero to one day handling and free tracked shipping, an eBay representative said. Futu Online's eBay page states it tries to dispatch orders within three business days of verifying payment.

The Futu Online eBay store lists laptops from Asus, Toshiba, Sony, HP, Lenovo, and tablets from Microsoft, Sony, HP and others. The seller also lists desktop PCs, monitors, printers, ink and toner, hard drives, memory cards, PC components including CPUs and motherboards, cameras, iPhone accessories, software and other products.

Not all products on the Futu Online eBay store were available for pickup from Woolworths and Big W, thought items that were included various laptops, tablets, NAS devices and PC components, from CPUs to motherboards.

eBay has stated the service will expand to include 250 sellers within two months. eBay and Woolworth predict up to 12,000 sellers will become involved, with more Woolworths and Big W stores added over the next three years. 

eBay estimates 91 per cent of Australians live within 10km of a Woolworths store. Products from eBay sellers delivered via the stores must be less than 16kg in weight and 50cm by 40cm in size.

Technology retailers are at the “top of the priority list” to bring onboard the Woolworths click and collect program, the eBay representative said.

“Technology is one of the most popular categories on eBay, and we have more than 42 million searches completed for tech items every year so it is obviously very important to the eBay business to be supporting sellers in this space,” the representative said.

Other local retailers with an eBay presence include online retailer Mwave, as well as Dick Smith and Officeworks.