Bunnings to join pet care battle
Retailer in dogged pursuit of riches
BUNNINGS will launch a new and expanded pets offer next month that will result in the biggest single category expansion by the hardware retailer in two decades as it makes a play for the $10bn pet care and products sector.
The hardware giant has begun fitting out its national network of stores to carry the much stronger and hugely expanded pets range that will be rolled out through most of its store fleet by the end of March.
Its push into petcare goods, from cages and enclosures to rugs and pet food, will cash in on soaring pet ownership levels in Australia since the Covid-19 lockdowns. Pet owners are also increasingly spending more money on their animal companions.
“What we are going to be bringing to life in our stores over the next four weeks is quite a comprehensive step change in our pet range, probably the biggest category expansion in Bunnings for 20 years,” Bunnings managing director Mike Schneider said.
Mr Schneider said Bunnings shoppers were already comfortable with bringing their pets into stores when walking the aisles for hardware and home improvement, with the chain now set to offer up to 1000 different pet-related products within a dedicated selling space of about 40sq m in each store.
“If you look at the last few years, I think it is 60 per cent of Australians now own at least one pet,” he said.
“It has become a very important part of many, many families across Australia and we think that that connection that people have with the Bunnings brand, bringing those pets into the store, creates a great advantage.
“We do think we can bring a very, very competitive offer into this market and we think that given that sort of comfort that the customers have bringing their pets into the business, it’s going to be a very good complementary category for us.”
Its move into petcare goods will also place the hardware retailer further into direct competition with its old nemesis Woolworths, which has also recently invested heavily in pet businesses.
In December Woolworths spent $586m to buy a 55 per cent stake in Petspiration, which has the PETstock retail banner, 276 stores, 65 vet clinics and 162 grooming salons.
Some of the space in Bunnings stores handed over to a new pets hub with be partially taken from categories such as children’s playground equipment, which Mr Schneider conceded had not given the retailer the returns on its allocated space it was looking for.
Bunnings has made a habit of shifting into adjacent categories, such as flatpack kitchens and home swimming pool fences that have quickly turned into huge profit generators, and now it has its eye on the lucrative pets industry.
The pet move was a natural extension for Bunnings, Mr Schneider said.
While Bunnings has sold pet enclosures and cages for some time, its new offerings will include more daily products. “This has taken us more into durables and accessories, and pet food as well,” he said.
Mr Schneider said the market should expect Bunnings, part of the Wesfarmers group, to similarly move into other growth categories over the next few years.