The grocer said the move to standardize operating hours of its counters across Australia is due to a shift in customer shopping behavior and to “offer a consistent customer experience across our store network”.
“We’ve made a change to the trading hours of our fresh service counters nationwide, due to a shift in customer shopping behaviour,” a spokesperson for Woolworths told 9News.com.au.
“This includes our meat, seafood and deli counters.
“Customers can still purchase similar products, such as chicken breast fillets and salmon, within our packed Fresh Convenience range located in-store.
“Select stores across the country will open one hour later or close one hour earlier to align with other stores and better match customer shopping patterns.”
The changes mean Woolworth’s Fresh Service Deli will open from 7am to 8pm, seven days a week.
The Seafood and Meat Counters will trade from 9:30am to 7pm on weekdays, and 9am to 7pm at the weekend.
A handful of stores will operate longer fresh service counter hours due to high customer demand at those specific stores.
Woolworths have posted signage at the Fresh Service areas and at the front of stores for customers to be informed of the altered trading hours.
The changes come following a handful of trials across New South Wales stores in May.