Kmart trialling new layout as part of plans to double sales to $20bn

Kmart is trialling a new layout of its stores as part of the discount chain’s latest plans to double sales by “luring in younger shoppers”.

Kmart is trialling a new layout of its stores as part of the discount chain’s latest plans to double sales by “luring in Gen Z and Gen Alpha shoppers” and making them “spend more”.

The Australian retail giant’s new managing director, Aleks Spaseska, recently outlined her aim to grow the business’ current $11.1 billion turnover to over $20 billion by focusing on younger customers and expanding its most popular ranges.

Ms Spaseska, who at 41 became the youngest divisional head at the conglomerate when she was appointed in April, said the “biggest difference” to the layout is in the apparel and beauty sections.

She said the overhaul will make shopping easier for Kmart customers.

“If you go into women’s apparel today, you’ll see we mostly sell all the tops together, the bottoms together, the dresses together. If you think about the way our merchants put the ranges together, it’s a brand-new outfit,” she said at a recent Wesfarmers expansion strategy event, SMH reports.

“When you walk the store in the new format, there’s much more co-ordination through women’s apparel, which allows customers to be much more inspired and helps with outfit building … We’ve also brought beauty to the front of the store as well.”

Kmart’s new managing director, Aleks Spaseska, recently outlined her plans to double the retailers sales to $20bn. Picture: Supplied

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To make way for more clothing and beauty items on the shop floor, bulkier products such as bikes and furniture will moved to the back of the store, where customers can request and buy an item through a digital “select and collect” screen.

Brisbane’s Mount Gravatt store was the first to try out the “brand new store format” following a major refurbishment last year, but Ms Spaseska said four more stores are set to be overhauled in the coming month.

If successful, all 325 Kmart stores across the country will be refigured – with early results in Mount Gravatt reportedly showing a promising start.

“Those results have been stronger sales, particularly in apparel, and really pleasingly, we’re seeing customers because of changes to the flow of the store, shop much more,” Ms Spaseska said.

news.com.au understands the planned store refurbishments will aim to incorporate learnings from the trial in Mount Gravatt, and will be based on optimising return on space and improving the shopping experience.

Feedback from the recent Eastland store overhaul will also be used as part of the ongoing strategic focus after it trialled moving centralised checkouts in October 2023 following years of complains.

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The new Mount Gravatt store has been the first to trial a new layout in its apparel and beauty sections. Picture: Supplied

It comes after the Eastland store in Melbourne trialled moving the central checkouts to the exit. Picture: Supplied

The cash registers were relocated from the centre of the Melbourne location to the exits, prompting many consumers to react with joy.

“Absolutely genius! Who would have thought?!” one user lamented.

“This is how it was all the time… never should have changed,” another scoffed.

“OMG. Revolutionary,” someone else mused.

Kmart first began moving its cash registers from the entrance into the middle of stores back in 2012.

By 2018, almost every store in the country had the layout, with many shoppers labelling the move “confusing” and “dumb”.

Both trials have received positive feedback. Picture: TikTok

Kmart is also introducing a new $200 million distribution centre in Sydney’s west. Picture: news.com.au

Kmart is also opening a new $200 million distribution centre in Sydney’s west that will begin operating in late 2027, the AFR reports.

The 100,000 square metre venue will be used for stores and online orders for both Target and Kmart to replenish products faster, improve availability and reduce costs.

Wesfarmers, which merged Target and Kmart into a dual-brand retail giant in 2023, now sells more than 1 billion of its own brand Anko items – from linen to fashion and toys – in Australia each year.

Ms Spaseska recently started trialling stand-alone Anko stores in the Philippines, where it is hoping to target a growing middle-class and already has two outlets.

Three more are set to open by the end of the year, and if successful, the company may roll out stores across the region, Ms Spaseska said.

Originally published as Kmart trialling new layout as part of plans to double sales to $20bn