Hardware giant Bunnings is hoping to dominate the fast-growing $10 billion specialty pet sector with an expanded range of close to 1,000 products.
Bunnings boss Michael Schneider said the expanded range would be in store from late March, and looks to compete with specialty pet retailers. Schneider points to “our ability to buy bulk volume products, to merchandise that in an appealing way” as giving them an edge over smaller operators.
Bunnings will be focusing on general merchandise, rather than services, for dogs, cats, and birds.
“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,” Schneider told The Australian.
“If you look at the last few years I think it is 60 per cent of Australians now own at least one pet, it has become a very important part of many, many families across Australia and we think that connection that people have with the Bunnings brand, bringing those pets into the store, creates a great advantage.”
In December, Woolworths paid $586 million for a 55 per cent controlling stake in Petspiration – parent company of the PETstock brand, which has 276 stores, 65 vet clinics, and 162 grooming salons.
Earlier this month, the supermarket giant also invested a further $4.9 million into its pet insurance and vet services joint venture PetCulture.
“We’ve seen some really significant shifts at a societal level around how we think about four-legged friends in our homes,” Schneider said.
“This is an up to $10 billion category, depending on how you look at it.”
