Woolies enters home software market

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By Kelly Fiveash • Get more from this author

Posted in IT Channel, 30th March 2007 15:08 GMT

Woolworths, the UK-based family and entertainment retail behemoth, is set to release its own range of home PC software.

The firm has teamed up with white label software developer Formjet Innovations to offer seven software products including word processing, internet security, anti-virus, and "edutainment" packages.

Formjet director Graham O'Reilly told El Reg that the software will be aimed at what he described as a "huge audience walking through the stores" which is typically made up of young mothers.

With the exception of its anti-virus application, O'Reilly said the software will be fully compatible with Microsoft products including Vista.

He added that a pricing structure for the software is yet to be announced but can be expected to be in line with "value for money" customer expectations at the store.

The move into the software market is a strategy seen by some as an attempt to buoy up flagging sales at Woolworths, allowing it to compete directly with the likes of Tesco, which introduced its own software brand in partnership with Formjet last October.

Woolworths is yet to release an official statement about the new range of home software, but a spokesperson at the firm told us more details will follow in the next few weeks.

Woolies' software is expected to hit the shelves sometime in April. ®

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