Huge change to Bunnings Warehouse that every Australian needs to know

Customers could find a few of the Bunnings products they’re used to might soon be gone from the store’s shelves as the Australian hardware giant tweaks its inventory.

Supply-chains are flowing again and providing the retailer with more choice of items, merchandise director Jen Tucker told suppliers in a letter this week.

‘With the most disruptive phase of the pandemic-related supply challenges behind us, it’s pleasing to see our in-stock performance continuing to improve,’ Ms Tucker wrote, reports The Australian.

She said inventory would be ‘calibrated’ to better suit customers, meaning products ordered to fill shelves or keep as backup stock will be cleared out of warehouses to make way for better performing items.

‘For some lower turning and niche products we’ll adjust down our holdings per store… to reflect the rate of sale rather than presentation levels,’ Ms Tucker said.

Ms Tucker didn’t reveal particular low-selling items or product lines that would be ‘adjusted down’, though the process would likely be fluid to meet shifting customer demand. 

Barrenjoey analyst Tom Keirath told the newspaper that stock related to home improvement had done well as customers were in lockdowns but would likely drop as people began to travel.

‘People were stuck at home with nothing to do… Now they’re out travelling and so the demand for those [DIY] products is going to be lower,’ Mr Keirath said. 

This contrasts with tradies who had business slow during lockdowns but were seeing a rapid increase as new work flows through the pipeline.

The power tools and ‘nuts and bolts’ they buy were a strong performing part of Bunnings business, Mr Keirath said. 

Ms Tucker told Daily Mail Australia the process was standard for large retailers. 

‘We’re constantly improving our processes to ensure we have the right product on our shelves at the right time and at the lowest prices for our customers,’ she said.

‘Like all retailers, we regularly review inventory.’

There’s no doubt Covid was a disruptive period for all retailers with supply chain challenges and unprecedented levels of demand across different product categories.’ 

‘Now that we are beginning to come out the other side, we are working with our suppliers to ensure we’re managing stock as we always have, in a practical and commonsense manner.’