Coles boss Leah Weckert says customers are cutting trips to shops to save on fuel costs

More than half of Coles customers say the fuel crisis has impacted their driving habits, with crunched households cutting grocery trips to save on petrol costs.

Chief executive Leah Weckert on Friday said 32 per cent of customers were making fewer trips to supermarkets and shopping centres during the week, while 30 per cent were combining grocery trips to reduce how often they need to travel.

Just over a quarter of consumers were dining more at home to save money, she said, citing internal research.

“In the weeks after the fuel price rises, we also saw a greater demand for our online delivery services as customers look to save themselves a trip to the store,” Ms Weckert told reporters on a call.

“We’ve also seen customers stock up on some extra staples to have in the pantry, do a larger shop than they normally would, or stock up on a few more pantry essentials or freezer items.”

Ms Weckert, who was handing down Coles’ latest quarterly sales results, said the grocer continued to see value-seeking behaviour from shoppers.

“Customers are planning carefully, making greater use of specials, loyalty points and offers to help manage the weekly shop,” she said.

Echoing comments by her counterpart at rival Woolworths, Ms Weckert said Coles had received price hike requests from food and grocery suppliers as they battle with higher fuel and fertiliser costs triggered by the Iran war.

“We know that households are under real pressure and they rightly so expect us to be doing everything that we can to keep groceries affordable, but we also know that the cost impacts that suppliers are facing are significant,” she said.

“Our approach is going to be to absorb cost where it’s possible to do so, pass on only the unavoidable . . . and then to continue to review prices very regularly, so that as conditions change, we can ensure that we make appropriate adjustments and bring prices back down.”