Bunnings experiences significant growth in demand

The Australian Wesfarmers Group, parent group of home improvement retail chain Bunnings, provided an update on the impact of Covid-19 on its retail trade channels. In recent weeks, the retail businesses of the group "have made significant progress in further enhancing their respective digital offers while responding to the substantial increase in online sales," Managing Director Rob Scott said. "This includes the implementation of drive & collect by Bunnings and Officeworks, enabling contactless carpark collection by customers, and the conversion of three Kmart locations to 'dark' stores to support its growing online business."
Over the last two months, Bunnings and Officeworks have experienced significant demand growth as customers and their families spent more time working, learning and relaxing at home, the company states. As a result, sales growth in Bunnings and Officeworks for the third quarter of the financial year and the first three weeks of April has increased relative to levels achieved in the first half of the financial year. Given the disruption to usual customer shopping patterns and potential future changes to government measures, it is uncertain whether the higher levels of sales growth will continue for the remainder of the financial year.