Bunnings, Mitre 10 nail it online
Bunnings and Mitre 10 are continuing to gain digital mileage as consumers continue to spend more time improving homes and grooming backyards in their free time.
More free time and nowhere to go ensured Australians continued their laser-like focus on home improvements and backyard grooming, delivering great digital mileage for Wesfarmers-owned hardware chain Bunnings and rival Metcash’s Mitre 10 group.
Both discretionary stocks came up trumps in Macquarie Group’s latest Google Trends research into digital interest.
“As expected, Easter long weekend led to heightened search interest, as people continue home-improvement projects,” the note said.
Previously, pandemic-fuelled interest during lockdowns and working from home saw interest in these retail stocks soaring.
The research also found Kmart was favoured for online searches, but white goods retailers experienced a notable decline in the first week of April, below pre-COVID levels.
Interest in JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman also diminished online, back to January 2020 levels, following the traditional December holiday season spike in spending.
Interest in Amazon is growing as the group gains traction in Australia.
Separately, as toilet paper and staples flew off the shelves, digital favouritism may have declined for supermarket duopoly Coles and Woolworths.
Coles appeared to have gained interest in November and December after experiencing a slowdown in August and September, possibly due to the rollout in the first half of this year of Coles Plus online membership, which provides free delivery and click and collect benefits.
Meanwhile, within liquor retailers, Woolworths’ Dan Murphy’s and BWS lead the segment as interest spiked over the December-January holiday season and Easter break.
Search analysis shows dining-out is now back on the table due to the vaccine rollout and reduced local outbreaks.
The vaccine rollout has also led to greater interest in travel options, but they depend on vaccine/border closure updates.
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