"Woolworths' position as Australia's preeminent multichannel retailer was confirmed last night by two wins at the Online Retail Industry Awards (ORIAs)," Woolworths said. "Woolworths supermarkets won the ORIA for best multichannel retailer and best online retail marketing initiative.
Woolworths director of multichannel, Penny Winn, said: "The multichannel award recognises the success of the revamped Woolworths website which integrates shopping in store, online and through smartphones to create a seamless retail experience."
Winn said the online retail marketing initiative award had been granted to Woolworths by the ORIA panel for the February launch of the supermarket's transactional app, "The creation of virtual supermarkets in Melbourne and Sydney, where products could be scanned and then purchased through the smartphone app, allowed us to graphically illustrate Woolworths' leadership in online retail."
However on the same day, launching Access iQ - an initiative to provide advice on helping web sites meet accessibility standards Innes, who is blind, said: " Imagine being able to do the grocery shopping without assistance for the first time in your life. I don't have to imagine - I did it. Briefly, this opportunity was there, until Woolworths updated their app and rendered it inaccessible."
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A Woolworth's spokesman told iTWire: "We'll be looking into the specifics of Mr Innes' concerns with the app and website as it's not 100 percent clear from [his comments] where in the process those challenges occurred."
He added: "Woolworths' aim is to make all our shopping options accessible to all our customers...The Woolworths mobile shopping site was developed to the same standards as the online shopping website which was audited for accessibility by Vision Australia.
"Whilst the majority of the Woolworths shopping website is accessible Vision Australia has notified us of some areas of improvement, including drop down menus and the choice of colours on certain pages, which we are working through."
