Overview

In Bella Vista lies the Woolworths Group head office, home to Australian household brands such as Woolworths, Big W, and Dan Murphys.

Woolworths Group was suffering from chronic parking overflow. Initially, they modelled the outcome of building more infrastructure for parking. 6500 staff members commuting everyday, put them in the same parking conundrum. This led them to look at a more sustainable and effective way to reduce the reliance of parking.

Liftango was engaged because our ability to help create an easier more sustainable commute. Helping Woolworths Group achieve their goal of reducing carbon emissions by 10% (Woolworths Sustainability Report 2019). A strong marketing effort, custom rewards and guaranteed car parks resulted in over 2500 trips averaging a month.

The Problem

Woolworths Group head office had severe parking congestion. With parking under huge strain, every morning and afternoon and resulted in having to rely on parking valet staff to double park cars in, which was a costly and time consuming effort. Competing for a car space, was not a feasible way to continue.

At Bella Vista, Woolworths Group has 6500 employees, communicating and implementing behavioural change posed a huge challenge. Alongside this, Woolworths has pledged to reduce their carbon emissions by 10%. It seemed logical that finding a sustainable way to reduce the number of vehicles traveling to site each day would become a focal point of this strategy.

What are the effects of parking on staff?

Why do we choose guaranteed parking, as an incentive? Well, a stressful daily commute has a huge roll on effect to employees...

"Lengthy commutes have been associated with reduced worker well-being and negative family outcomes in many studies. Indeed, the HILDA data shows that people with long commutes are generally less satisfied with their jobs and are more likely to be looking for another job."
- Melbourne Institute

By reducing the stress of parking, employees are more likely to remain in a job, be happier and have reduced stress at work.

The Solution

Liftango provided Woolworths Group with a solution that entailed the following:

• An exclusive “Team Ride” branded app
• Carpooling program to reduce the amount of parking congestion
• 52 guaranteed car spaces for users
• A custom rewards program for frequent users
• Step-by-step support for marketing the service
• Live reporting dashboard

The Marketing Playbook

Woolworths Group followed the Liftango Carpooling Playbook and implemented the following solutions:

• A company-wide event for the launch
• On-site promotional stands and giveaways
• 56 Branded “Team Ride” car spaces
• “Carpooling only” access to car parks
• Carpark entry signage
• Email and GooglePlus campaigns

The Results

Woolworths Group had an incredible initial uptake, resulting in 6607 cars being taken off the road in the first three months. With regular marketing and the custom rewards program Woolworths sustained 2500 trips per month and saved approximately 16000kg of CO2 to date.