Helping customers find value remained a key focus for Woolworths in recent months, resulting in Australian Food total sales increasing 3.6% in Q3 F25 to $13,051 million.
Woolworths Food Retail sales increased 3.4% (4.8% ex Tobacco) to $12,909 million and WooliesX sales increased by 15.0% to $2,129 million.
Woolworths Group CEO Amanda Bardwell said cost of living remains a concern for customers, however customer scores were largely stable during the quarter and sales growth rates improved modestly across the Group.
“Our focus on value through lower prices for customers in long life groceries has led to the fifth consecutive quarter of average price declines, excluding tobacco,” she said.
Value-driven sales
Woolworths lowered prices on over 340 products as part of the Lower Autumn Price program together with a strong promotional program; two Everyday Rewards ‘Boost your Budget’ campaigns; and a wide range of Easter items to provide more choice for customers to celebrate.
Average prices (ex tobacco) declined by 0.5% in Q3 compared to the prior year. Excluding fruit and vegetables (which experienced inflation) and tobacco, average prices declined by 1.2%.
Own and exclusive brand sales continued to outperform in the quarter with growth of 5.7%. Long life own brand sales were particularly strong in value categories with 8.0% growth driven by pantry, frozen foods, snacking and household care.
Woolworths Food Retail Easter-adjusted sales in the quarter increased by 3.6% driven by solid item growth with Easter-adjusted comparable sales increasing by 3.0%.
In long life, item growth was supported by the Minecraft Cubeez collectibles program, particularly in grocery food driven by increased promotional uptake by customers. Fresh item growth improved due to lower prices in chilled and strong item growth in meat, with customers trading into more value-driven lines such as mince.
Woolworths Supermarkets (store-originated) sales for Q3 increased 1.4% (2.9% ex Tobacco) to $10,671 million. Including Pick up eCommerce sales, sales to customers visiting a store increased by 2.6%.
Total eCommerce sales momentum remained strong despite disruption to services during the quarter, increasing 16.3% to $1,820 million. Metro (store-originated) sales increased 5.4% to $418 million primarily due to new store growth.
Community support
Woolworths Supermarkets supported communities impacted by adverse weather events across Queensland and Northern NSW during the quarter. In early February, Woolworths donated bottled water, fresh milk, dry groceries, as well as sheets, pillows, nappies, toiletries, pet food and other essential items to evacuation centres.
In addition to this, in partnership with the Federal Government and the Australian Defence Force, Woolworths supported the Ingham community by airlifting pallets of drinking water and essential groceries to provide much-needed supplies to residents isolated by flood waters.
“I would like to recognise the incredible efforts of our team to support weather affected parts of Queensland and Northern NSW during the period,” Ms Bardwell said.
“This included airlifting essential items into Ingham and other communities isolated by floodwaters as well as the donation of groceries and essential items to local evacuation centres. These weather events have led to additional costs of $20-25 million due to higher stockloss, incremental transportation costs and damage to the Hervey Bay supermarket.”
Broader business
Woolworths’ Australian B2B sales increased by 6.3% with solid momentum continuing in PFD. In New Zealand, while the trading environment remains competitive, total sales increased by 4.8% and eCommerce sales increased by 24.3% with a successful collectibles program supporting growth. BIG W’s customer scores remained strong with Easter-adjusted sales increasing 1.9% (total sales: -1.5%) supported by growth in home and play.
“With only two months until the end of our financial year, we remain focused on the priorities set out in February which include improving our retail fundamentals in value, availability and range, simplifying the way we work and unlocking the full potential of the Group,” said Ms Bardwell.
During the quarter, Woolworths completed 12 supermarket renewals, opened two new supermarkets and closed one Metro. At quarter end, the total network comprised 1,009 Woolworths supermarkets, 105 Metros, 745 Direct to Boot locations, six CFCs and two eStores.
