FAQ – Supermarkets in Australia
Woolworth Group Ltd. is the largest supermarket retailer in Australia. The group includes a number of well-known household brands, including BIG W, BWS and Dan Murphy's. Their operations include retail stores, discount department stores, home improvement, petrol and hotels.
Major supermarket (Coles, Woolworths, Aldi, Harris Farm's regular produce) Independent (this includes small chains, IGAs, and any store not in the major supermarket category or Harris Farm imperfects)
Australia has one of the most concentrated grocery markets in the world. Woolworths and Coles account for almost 70% of supermarket sales, 60% of alcohol retail, and 40% of all retail in Australia.
Grocery retail market leaders in Australia
Australia's supermarket industry is dominated by four main companies, Woolworths, Coles, Aldi, and Metcash (IGA).
Woolworths. Founded by five Australian entrepreneurs in 1924, Woolworths is Australia's largest supermarket chain, boasting 1,076 stores across Australia. Woolies prides itself on being the 'Fresh Food People' by sourcing over 95% of fresh produce and 100% of fresh meat from Aussie farmers and growers.
Berries are the top-seller. “The biggest sales category is berries by far, with the group selling 25 per cent more in sales than second place.
ALDI Australia operates more than 570 stores in six states and territories, directly employing more than 13,500 people and working with more than 1,000 Australian business partners each day. Since opening in 2001, ALDI has contributed an estimated $30 billion to Australia's gross domestic product.
Walmart
Walmart is the largest supermarket chain in the United States, and indeed the world, with a *global turnover of $611.3 billion (€556.45 billion) in 2022. The group operates more than 10,500 stores globally, while in the US its banners include Walmart, Walmart Supercenter, and Sam's Club.
As we can see, Woolworths is by far the larger company here. In fact, Coles is close to half the size of Woolies. In some ways, this makes sense. Woolies turned over more than $60 billion in revenues in FY2022, while Coles did two-thirds of that, with just under $40 billion.
Top eCommerce stores in Australia
woolworths.com.au leads this market with revenues of US$4,226.2 million in 2022. Followed by coles.com.au with sales of US$2,554.5 million and then apple.com with sales of US$1,383.5 million.
That's why Walmart is always the No. 1 choice for groceries. The bad thing is, Walmart doesn't ship outside U.S., thus you have to get a free U.S. address for your order and ship to Australia via a reliable parcel forwarder.
There is no Walmart in Australia, but there are stores in Queensland. The first Walmart store opened in the United States in 1962 and spread rapidly across the country. However, it was not until 1989 that the first store opened outside of America, in Mexico City.
In financial year 2022, the Woolworths Group held the largest share of the grocery retail market in Australia, with a share of 37.1 percent. Woolworths' major competitor, the Coles Group, came in second with a little over a quarter of the market share.
Price, quality, convenience, even something like Food Rescue and a brand that does good in the community. “There are a vast array of reasons why a customer picks a supermarket and indeed picks Woolworths.
Myer has long been Australia's largest department store by revenue and store count.
Walmart is the world's largest food and general merchandise retailer, with over 11,500 stores across 27 countries. These are mostly hypermarkets that house not only groceries, but also pet shops, pharmacies, and cellular phone stores. The company also operates: Discount stores.
The United States of America-based Walmart Inc is the leading supermarket and hypermarket in the world (by food service sales). The company reported revenues of $611,289 million for the fiscal year ended January 2023 (FY2023), an increase of 6.72% over FY2022.
The name "Woolworths" was legally taken to capitalize on the F.W. Woolworth name since they did not do business in Australia, and had not registered the trademark there, but is in no other way connected to the U.S. or U.K. Woolworths.
Aldi avoids brand names
Why is Aldi so cheap? At most supermarkets, you'll find tons of name-brand items, but at Aldi, a whopping 90% of the products are private label. By avoiding brand names, Aldi can skip going through another company and offer you cheaper prices.
Finder research has found consumers' preferences are unchanged since 2021. Woolworths is still the nation's favourite supermarket, with 48% of Australians saying they primarily shop with the fresh food people. This is closely followed by Coles (39%).