Bunnings to move into $5bn cleaning market with bulk packaged goods to compete with supermarkets

The move to sell popular cleaning products in bulk will be a direct challenge to supermarket heavyweights Woolworths and Coles as well as Costco.

Bunnings boss Mike Schneider believes the retailer can capture a large slice of the $5bn cleaning category with an expanded launch into the category. Picture: Peter Mathew

Bunnings boss Mike Schneider believes a launch into the $5bn home cleaning market will see the super hardware chain capture a significant slice of the category which covers laundry detergent to dishwashing tablets, as the hardware chain evolves into a retailer that sells everything from “the front gate to the back fence”.

The expanded move into cleaning and selling popular cleaning products in bulk at low prices will be a direct challenge to market heavyweights Woolworths and Coles as well as bulk specialist Costco.

It comes as earlier this year Bunnings launched a new and expanded pets offer that saw the biggest single-category expansion by the hardware retailer in two decades as it made a play for the fast-growing pet care and products sector — worth as much as $10bn — and strengthened its retail credentials outside traditional hardware.

Bunnings has announced the $5bn cleaning market is its new frontier. Picture: David Mariuz

On Monday unveiling the Bunnings pitch for consumers, tradies and small businesses that often seek out bulk purchases of cleaning products such as liquid handwash, paper towels and cleaners, Mr Schneider said Bunnings was riding the wave of demand for cleaning products through the pandemic, which its research discovered were behaviours which have been maintained.

Keen to also showcase its ‘value’ proposition as cost of living pressures place burdens on household budgets, the Bunnings move into the $5bn cleaning sector will have a strong focus on bulk packages at better prices for a range of leading popular cleaning brands such as OMO, Finish, Dettol, Sukin, Cold Power, Sard and Hoover.

“The consumer is incredibly value-conscious,” Mr Schneider told The Australian.

“What we learned from pets was that really strong value and bulk products are things that are really important for consumers because I think, in categories like cleaning, consumers have a really acute eye for the value of a bulk product right down to the unit of measure.

“So consumers are very quick to work out what that equates to ‘X dollars’ a litre or per 100ml or whatever it is, and by bringing a bulk offering into the market, we are increasing our range by over 200 products … and by going in bulk consumers are really being blown away by the value offering that’s there. And we’ve established some real credibility and trust in another consumable category like pets and translating that into a cleaning range has been really well received.”

Bunnings has begun to roll out its expanded cleaning range through its network of stores and hopes to have all its stores stocked with its new cleaning range by early next month. The layout will vary depending on the size of the store, with the largest Bunnings warehouses having up to 4 dedicated aisles. Bunnings has decided to tighten and reduce its range of window furnishings and curtains to make room for cleaning, which Mr Schneider believes can generate better margins.

He said Bunnings was increasingly focused on home improvement — not just hardware — and the moves into pets and now cleaning reflected that repositioning of a brand which has been evolving for many years.

“I don’t think we have called ourselves a hardware store now probably almost since when I joined in 2005. And the way we talk about our merchandising focus is anything ‘from the front gate to the back fence’. That gives you a fairly strong licence. Home maintenance, and really cleaning is a form of home maintenance, keeping your home clean is as relevant as changing your light bulb or putting mulch in your garden.

“It adds to when you want to do things around your home, Bunnings is a compelling destination.”

Mr Schneider said following 13 interest rate hikes, the latest one being announced by the RBA on Melbourne Cup day earlier this month, consumers were hunting for value more than ever, and this included when buying household cleaning products.

“Consumers are incredibly focused on value, probably more than I have really ever seen in any other point of time, and I think bringing something in that you can get really great value for money, they are brand name products … all the brands that customers really trust.”