Australia: Woolworths targets value-conscious pet shoppers as competition heats up

Woolworths Group, Australia’s largest retailer, posted AU$18.5 billion ($12.1B/€10.4B) net sales in Q1 of fiscal year (FY) 2026, ending 5 October 2025. This is a 2.7% increase compared to Q1 FY2025.

The biggest jump came from e-commerce, with sales totaling AU$2.7 billion ($1.76B/€1.5B), a 13.2% increase compared to the same period last year.

Pet business

Sales in Petstock, its pet retail business, increased by 15.8% in Q1 to AU$238 million ($155.8M/€134M). 

The performance was driven by network expansion through 6 new stores and by wholesale revenue from distributors Big Dog and TimePet, with Woolworths owning 28% of the shares in both companies.

Comparable sales for Petstock rose 3.9%, mainly due to a strong volume growth following “a value reset in the quarter, increased marketing and solid own-brand and e-commerce growth.” Throughout the quarter, the retailer expanded its offer of lower-priced products, prioritizing value for money to be attractive. 

Online transactions grew by 23.5%, accounting for 11.2% of sales, supported by growth in the 15-minute Click & Collect service and delivery.

The bigger picture

Proportionally, the pet business grew faster than the company as a whole. It also delivered the strongest growth of the quarter, outperforming Big W, which rose 1% across its 4 divisions (Clothing, Play, Home and Everyday), Australian Food at 2.1% and New Zealand Food at 2.5%. 

The company groups its operations into Food and W Living. The latter includes Big W, which encompasses clothing, toys and appliances, home goods and selected everyday items such as cosmetics, as well as Petstock.

The revenue from the pet portfolio, however, is lower than that of other categories. Sales at Big W, for example, totaled AU$1.13 billion ($740M/€636M). And food’s revenue was AU$15.8 billion ($10.3B/€8.9B). 

Underperformance? 

Despite sales growth, Woolworths Group CEO Amanda Bardwell expressed dissatisfaction with the segment’s performance in stores. 

“By category, Fresh and Grocery Food were solid in Q1, while Pet and Baby continued to underperform in-store,” she says.

And even with a positive comparable sales increase, the report classified the business as “more challenging” in this metric. During the earnings call, the CEO admitted that it reflects the company’s competitiveness in the market, which should lead it to improve its customer offerings.

Strategies for dog and cat products

In the pet category, the retail giant acknowledges that there are areas where performance needs improvement.

Bardwell notes that Woolworths has room to strengthen its price competitiveness, particularly in bulk dry dog food, where recent market entrants have intensified competition. 

“We know that that’s very competitive, particularly with some of the recent entrants into that market. We’ve taken the opportunity to sharpen up our unit pricing there,” she says. 

Woolworths Retail Managing Director Annette Karantoni points to the company’s lower-price program as an example of this strategy in action. According to her, larger formats have been resonating strongly with value-driven shoppers.

Looking ahead, Woolworths plans to launch new dog and cat food by early 2026. The CEO adds that the partnership with Petstock is proving beneficial, noting that the ability to access its well-developed own-brand ranges “is pleasing to see.”

FY2025 performance 

FY2025 for Woolworths ended on 29 June 2025. In the period, the group’s sales accounted for AU$69.1 billion ($45.2B/€39.2B), representing a 3.6% rise from FY2024.

According to the report, the year’s performance was impacted by AU$476 million “related to the acquisition of Petstock.” The acquisition of 55% of Petstock was announced in 2022, approved by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) in December 2023, and completed in January 2024.

Petstock sales totaled AU$859 million ($562.6M/€484M), a 101.8% increase compared to FY2024, the company says, “reflecting a full year of ownership compared to 6 months in the prior year.”

For FY2026, the group wants to focus on rebuilding “momentum” and “restoring customer trust.” “Our current trading performance has been below our ambition with customers continuing to cross-shop to find the best value,” concludes Bardwell.