[4] The first store was opened on 5 December 1924 in Pitt Street of Sydney's Imperial Arcade, called "Woolworths Stupendous Bargain Basement".

However, as trading continued and shareholders brought more capital, the dividends paid by the company increased from 5% to 50% after its third year of operation.

Woolworths stores began selling a variety of goods, claiming the lowest prices as well as money back guarantees.

[12] As Woolworths gradually focused more on groceries, the first Big W department store was opened in 1964 at Jesmond, New South Wales.

The implementation began with South Australia and Northern Territory in mid-February 2008, and to other states (excluding Tasmania)[29] by the end of May 2008.

[31] Later, in about 2022, Woolworths rebranded its loyalty scheme to “Everyday Rewards” to further solidify its growth beyond the supermarket industry.

The Frequent Shopper Club, stylised as F$C, was a reward program for shopping in Woolworths stores in Tasmania.

[35] Woolworths offered these credit card holders reward vouchers redeemable throughout its store network.

[37][38] In 2023, Woolworths announced the credit card offering would be discontinued at the end of their 8-year partnership with Macquarie Bank.

The Australian Communications & Media Authority (ACMA) found Woolworths had unlawfully spammed more than a million customers between October 2018 and July 2019.

[59] The supermarket was found to have repeatedly ignored consumers who had tried to prevent receipt of marketing emails and had not attempted to improve, despite the ACMA notifying the company that they had received customer complaints.

ACMA chairman Nerida O'Loughlin said of the violation: "The spam rules have been in place for 17 years and Woolworths is a large and sophisticated organisation.

[60][61] In 2024, Woolworths admitted to underpaying staff by $1.24 million in long service leave entitlements between November 2018 and January 2023.

A petition, promoted by local community groups, gathered over 1600 signatures, with support from the City of Sydney mayor, Clover Moore.

He subsequently announced his intention to resign from the position in September of that year with the managing director of e-commerce and loyalty, Amanda Bardwell replacing him as CEO.

[76] In September 2024, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) brought legal action against Woolworths, accusing the supermarket of misleading customers on discounts through their Prices Dropped promotions.