Strong piece of advice here, Woolworths.
Drop this slop.
this post was submitted on 20 Jan 2026
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There is a better option. Stop shopping at Woolies. Or only use them as a last resort provided the item is on discount.
Even better option, break up the duopoly.
Coles is getting into bed with Palantir . We already decided to stop shopping there.
Now Woollies is doing this.
The only other option in my town is Aldi. They're great for some things, but don't have the range of the duopoly.
What do you suggest as an alternative?
(At least this AI thing Woollies is implementing seems to be only online orders. I usually shop in person, so ought to be able to avoid it... for now.)
Butchers, bakeries, and fruit and veggie stores still exist.
It's not a 100 % replacement but it's a start.
Yes and no. That kind of diversifying is ideal, but much more achievable in a city. And I know plenty of people who simply don't have the time to make so many stops. There's a reason the big stores get most of the business, and it's not that we approve of their practices.
For my part: We do use the butcher. We don't have a fruit and veg store. Markets are twice a month, but they're an unreliable source of produce here. Specialty shops are also limited outside of cities, and often more expensive.
I'll continue muddling along as best I can, which already involves sourcing things from non-duopoly options when I can. But that's a far cry from the ideal.
I just think it is too simplistic to say "just stop shopping there". Many people don't have that luxury of choice.
You usually can't order online from those places, so they're not replacements. This AI shit only applies to online shopping, so if shopping in-store is still an option then there is no reason to change.
Get what you can get from Aldi, rest from the woolies. You'll only have to do the extra shop at the woolies every couple months probably.
Yeah IIRC a while ago Aldi ran an ad campaign which was basically "look, we know we don't have everything you want, so you're going to go elsewhere. Just come to us first for the bulk of your stuff, hey?" Pretty clever, if you ask me.
placing suggested items directly into a customer's online shopping basket.
Woolworths says Olive will not complete purchases automatically, and customers will still need to approve and pay for orders.
soo... They're gonna be randomly putting shit in people's carts and hoping they don't notice before they checkout.
...yea, there's gonna be a class action in the future.
This would be incredibly easy to get a refund for under Australian consumer law, at least.
Not that I believe most people would do this.
Nor that any fines will be handed down for this despicable behaviour...
It's for online delivery and direct to boot orders I assume, but no thanks.
Though I haven't used online delivery or direct to boot orders since they decided you're not allowed to use your monthly discount on anything other than in-store.
There's a monthly discount? I'm in an area where there's no alternatives to the duopoly of evil, and I have kids with disabilities so I literally can't get in store to shop. I'm not going to be able to avoid this. I'm annoyed.
All I do is make a list of my chosen products, in the apps, and shop the ones that are on special, only, and buy multiples to last while those products aren't on special, I make a list, because then I just skip past everything, go straight to a simple list of everything I need. Having the list eliminates impulse buying, and has halved my grocery bill. I'm too susceptible to the mind tricks they employ to sell more to you than you need, if i go in, I'll spend $100, every time.
I'm with Woolies Mobile, which gets me 10% off of one shop per month. I signed up when they had some really great long-expiry plans so I pay only about $12 per month on average, paid annually instead of monthly. The catch was…right after I recharged for the second time, they announced you can no longer use the monthly discount on online orders.
It was about that time they made their Delivery Unlimited worse too, though I forget exactly how.