A NEWLY instated online grocery shopping service has created 22 new jobs in Morwell.
In a flipside to the stigma of online shopping crushing local business, the new team members employed were all from the Latrobe Valley except for one, who has opted for a tree-change to Morwell.
Coles Online Morwell manager Lisa Meier said for 14 of the newly employed team members under the age of 18, it was their first job.
“The remainder of them vary in their return to work after maternity leave, extended leave or long-term unemployment,” Ms Meier said.
She said the opening was in response to an overwhelming volume of requests by Gippslanders to have an online service, more than that of any other region in Victoria.
While the store currently services Warragul through to Traralgon, its chosen mid-way position between Warragul and Sale opened up the possibility of future deliveries to Sale customers.
Currently, the store has two delivery vans which require four customer service agents per van.
“If we can increase our vans to four it would create another eight jobs minimum and more personal shopper roles as well,” Ms Meier said.
With online shopping growing as a whole, Ms Meier said people were looking to the service as their time was restricted.
“I look at it as a society and community we’re becoming more and more time-poor, we’re taking that away from the customer and we deliver it for them,” Ms Meier said.
“It’s good for budgeting, reduces impulse purchases and there’s no screaming children in the trolley.
“Customers place their orders online and they can elect to have their order delivered or collected at the store.”
