Bargain hunting behaviour now ‘entrenched’ among Woolworths shoppers, says Amanda Bardwell
Woolworths chief executive Amanda Bardwell says value-seeking shopping behaviour is now ‘entrenched’ as households cope with higher cost-of-living pressures.
Woolworths chief executive Amanda Bardwell says value-seeking shopping behaviour is now “entrenched” as households cope with higher cost-of-living pressures.
“For three years now, we’ve been talking about the pressure on household budgets. We’ve moved beyond a temporary phase into a new reality of entrenched value-seeking,” Ms Bardwell told media as she unveiled Woolworths’ full-year results on Wednesday.
“Customers have developed money-saving habits to stretch their weekly shopping as far as possible. Lower shelf price and everyday low price are helping meet their needs.”
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.The nation’s biggest supermarket chain booked an 18 per cent lift in net profit to $1.14 billion in the year to June 28. Excluding significant items, which included a $710 million provision to right an historical staff underpayments bungle, net profit would have hit $1.6b.
Group revenue jumped 3.6 per cent to $71.5b.
But the real star of the show was its wildly popular Ooshies collectibles campaign, which drove a near 8 per cent surge in sales in the first eight weeks of the 2027 financial year.
Ms Bardwell said sales momentum at its Australian supermarkets had been building steadily in the second-half. This momentum was “amplified” by Ooshies.
She said customers participated with the campaign in several ways.
“We see our existing customers really just appreciate the opportunity to bring a little moment of joy to their kids and family as they’re already shopping with us, so they get a little extra reward,” Ms Bardwell said.
“We see some customers who certainly might decide to add a few more items to their basket while they’re shopping with us, so that they certainly qualify for the extra Ooshie.
“And then we do have some customers who might not shop with us very frequently who choose to switch to Woolies during that period.”
Rival Coles on Tuesday conceded Woolworths’ Ooshies promotion kept a lid on sales growth as it entered the new financial year.
More to come.
Originally published as Bargain hunting behaviour now ‘entrenched’ among Woolworths shoppers, says Amanda Bardwell
