Bunnings is accelerating its push beyond traditional hardware into new categories including kitchens, appliances and broader home and lifestyle products, with the Wesfarmers owned retail powerhouse delivering another year of sales and earnings growth.

Revenue rose 4.1% to $20.4 billion in FY26, while earnings excluding property increased 5% to $2.455 billion.

Total store sales increased 4%, with comparable store sales up 3.7%, with management claiming growth was delivered across consumer and commercial operations, all product categories and regions.

The numbers reinforce just how important Bunnings has become to Wesfarmers, while also highlighting a strategy that increasingly puts the retailer into competition with businesses well outside its traditional hardware rivals.

Consumer growth was driven by home improvement, repairs and maintenance, but Bunnings is also expanding its addressable market through new ranges and categories, including kitchens and appliances.

This potentially puts the hardware giant into greater competition with the likes of The Good Guys, Harvey Norman, IKEA and specialist appliance and kitchen retailers, as Bunnings attempts to capture more of the expenditure surrounding a home renovation rather than simply supplying the hardware and building materials.

Digital is also becoming increasingly important.

Online, app and marketplace sales all grew during the year, while Bunnings has been investing in AI and new fulfilment options.

Its Gemini powered DIY assistant has already handled more than 350,000 customer queries, according to reporting following the Wesfarmers result.

Earlier this year Bunnings also struck a significant deal with Uber Eats, making more than 30,000 products available at in store prices for delivery in under 60 minutes across Australia and New Zealand.

The arrangement attracted criticism from rival Mitre 10, which complained to the ACCC after its own Uber Eats trial failed to progress as Bunnings moved onto the platform.

Bunnings Becoming Much More Than A Hardware Chain

What is emerging in 2026 is a Bunnings business that is steadily broadening its reach.

The strategy appears to be about using the enormous traffic generated by its warehouse network and its reputation for price to sell customers more categories, while simultaneously building a significantly stronger commercial operation.

That commercial push took another step in July with the launch of PowerPass Pro Rewards, a revamped loyalty proposition targeting tradies, small businesses, owner builders and other commercial customers.

More significantly, Wesfarmers transferred Blackwoods and Workwear Group into Bunnings Group from July 1, creating a much larger industrial, safety and commercial operation.

Wesfarmers claims bringing the businesses together will provide greater scale, generate incremental sales and unlock cost efficiencies.

This is significant because Bunnings is effectively attacking the market from both ends.

On the consumer side it is moving deeper into home improvement, kitchens, appliances, pet, lifestyle and digitally delivered products. On the commercial side it is strengthening its position with trades and businesses through PowerPass, Blackwoods and Workwear Group.

Bunnings is also generating an extraordinary return from the capital employed in the business, reporting a 69.2% return on capital for FY26.

Management claims productivity improvements are allowing the business to absorb inflationary cost pressures while reinvesting savings into lower prices and customer experience.

There are nevertheless challenges.

Residential construction is expected to remain subdued in the short term, although Bunnings believes Australia’s housing undersupply and population growth will eventually drive a recovery in building activity.

The sheer size and reach of Bunnings is also attracting scrutiny as it moves into additional markets.

Its use of facial recognition technology has become a major privacy issue during 2026. The Administrative Review Tribunal found Bunnings was entitled in certain circumstances to use the technology to address serious retail crime and protect staff and customers, but also upheld findings that the retailer had failed to adequately notify customers and had shortcomings around privacy processes.

Bunnings is now preparing for a phased introduction of facial recognition across its Australian network, with the company claiming it will only be used to address serious harm, organised crime and high value theft.

The broader issue for competitors is that Bunnings is no longer simply Australia’s dominant hardware retailer.

With $20.4 billion in annual sales, $2.455 billion in earnings, an expanding digital operation and one of the country’s most powerful retail networks, Bunnings increasingly has the scale to enter adjacent categories and quickly become a significant competitor.

For appliance, kitchen, homewares and specialist retailers, that expansion could prove far more significant than another year of strong Bunnings hardware sales.