Bunnings announces barking mad new range
Hardware supergiant Bunnings has unveiled its plan for the “biggest category expansion in 20 years”, to the delight of pet owners nationwide.
In a move sure to set tails wagging, the retailer has declared its pet products range will swell from a few hundred lines to roughly 1000 items.
Pet retail has thrived during the Covid-19 era, and Bunnings’ latest move stands as a challenge to its rival retailers, with the likes of Woolworths having spent $586m in 2022 for a controlling stake in PETstock’s parent company.
Bunnings hopes to have its brand new dedicated pet areas up and running by the end of March, effectively launching the competition for best in show between retail giants.
As Bunnings’ managing director Michael Schneider told The Australian, “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.”
The company, which has allowed dogs to enter the shop with their families since 2015, has seen a staggering boost in pets coming by to sniff out the best deals since Australia’s Covid restrictions were lifted, something that Bunnings hopes will encourage people to turn towards their new pet category.
“We have an internal page called Bunnings Pet Spotting,” Schneider said, “we have 10,000 of our team signed up to that page who share photos of dogs and their owners coming into our stores ... our team members like to share the space.
“I think the fact that you are already there with your pet creates a natural habitat for people to come in and shop [for them].”
Schneider went on to discuss that the company is aware of how important pets are to people, and how competitive prices are key for Australians, explaining how “we’ve seen some really significant shifts at a societal level around how we think about four-legged friends in our homes. This is an up to $10 billion category, depending on how you look at it.”
That $10b category has benefited greatly from Australians setting pet ownership records with the puppy pandemic boom, and Bunnings is eager to embrace it.
“Sixty per cent of Australians now own at least one pet,” Schneider 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.”
Despite its enthusiasm, Bunnings has announced that it will be “strategic” about the expansion. Rather than offering the likes of grooming and vet-care as many competitors do, they will keep their attention on necessities with their general merchandise.
One thing is for certain, despite new market competition, the retailer has assured shoppers that they will still have the opportunity to do exactly what they’ve come to expect: fetch a good deal.
Images: Getty