Coles is following the lead of UK supermarket giants Tesco and M&S by introducing dedicated shopping hours for health and emergency service workers on the frontline of the fight against the coronavirus pandemic.
Coles announced this morning its stores would dedicate two “community hour” shopping periods a week to those workers on Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Starting Thursday, the first hour of trade will be set aside for doctors, nurses, paramedics, hospital and ambulance staff, police and firefighters.
Emergency service workers who hold an Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency card, have a workplace ID or are wearing their work uniform will also be able to shop during those times.
Monday, Wednesday and Friday community hours will continue to be dedicated to vulnerable and elderly customers.
Coles Group chief executive Steven Cain said the move would help those key workers access the essential groceries they need.
“We know these workers are incredibly busy and hope that providing them with a dedicated hour at the beginning of the day to shop will make their lives a little easier and support the vital work they are doing every day,” Mr Cain said.
Coles said it was also in the early stages of rolling out a new online shopping priority service for customers who find it difficult to shop in-store.
The supermarket giant said it was spending and extra $1 million a week on extra store cleaning and in-store security to protect shoppers as panic-buying continues to frustrate both store workers and customers.