Kmart products bringing Australians into business have been unveiled
Shoppers looking for toys, kitchenware and shoes are driving sales growth at discount department store Kmart, whose CEO says the brand is perfectly positioned to weather the cost-of-living crisis.
Earnings figures from Kmart’s parent company, Wesfarmers, released last Wednesday showed that the Kmart Group, which includes Kmart stores and discounter Target, boosted the group’s results with sales jumping 24.1 percent to $5.7 billion. Dollar has advanced for the six months to December.
Kmart CEO Ian Bailey says the discount department store’s customer base is growing across all income groups.Credit:Wayne Taylor
The company’s chief executive, Ian Bailey, said last week the group has seen growth in the number of customers in the lower, middle and higher income brackets as people of all wealth classes seek essential essentials.
“What we are seeing is that we have more customers in the Kmart store than ever before. We’re not just the domain of lower-income people,” he said.
Wesfarmers CEO Rob Scott confirmed on Wednesday that demand spread across a range of items, with the company reporting sales growth across all product categories in the six months to December. But Bailey said there are a few key areas where momentum is really building.
“A couple of areas that are really strong for us [are] Home, which is such an important category — kitchen and food are really powerful,” he said.
“We’re not just the domain of lower-income people.”
Ian Bailey, Kmart Managing Director
“In the apparel world, shoes are doing really well – I think it’s because we’ve improved our product offering. And also our budget toys… that’s really strong for young families.”
While retailers that stocked major household items like JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman benefited from an onslaught of COVID-19-fueled sales, brands like Kmart and Target were hit hard during the lockdown years when retail restrictions prevented their brick-and-mortar sales. Mortar shops from the trade.
https://www.smh.com.au/business/companies/inside-our-love-affair-with-kmart-the-products-driving-us-in-store-20230215-p5ckt2.html?ref=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_source=rss_business Kmart products bringing Australians into business have been unveiled
