Supermarket giant Countdown is today taking its online grocery shopping to a smaller stage, with the service now available through the brand’s MyCountdown smartphone app. 

While the app was initially launched in 2018 as a means to help in-store customers find what they needed, the more than 200,000 new registrations for online shopping during New Zealand’s lockdown made it clear the ability to shop online via the app needed to be fast tracked, according to Countdown general manager of brand and Countdown X Sally Copland. 

“Times have changed and mobile is the device of choice for almost all of us, for almost everything,” Copland said. 

“Making purchases seamless from the app no matter where you live is a critical part of providing a world-class online shopping experience and that’s what we want for all Kiwis.”

According to Countdown, 7.9 per cent of its sales were online in March, though the last week of March, the week just before lockdown, saw online rocket to 11 per cent of total sales.

Countdown’s digital team, Countdown X, is already working on the next iteration of the app, which will add the ability for households to collaborate on their household needs using the apps list features. 

“Our goal is to continue to make it easy for people to shop the way they want, when they want,” Copland said.