1-in-5 shop at Kmart for home products
Australians are increasingly choosing leading discount department store Kmart to buy their home products such as homewares, manchester, mirrors, baby & nursery products, furniture, plants & garden accessories.
The latest research from Roy Morgan shows a fifth of home products customers shopped at Kmart (19.9%) in an average four weeks in 2019 up by an impressive 9.4% points from five years ago. The striking nature of Kmart’s performance is particularly evident when comparing Kmart’s performance to other leading retailers including Target, Big W, Ikea and Harvey Norman in particular.Kmart, Big W and Target were separated by less than 1% point for home products customers in 2014 with Kmart (10.5%) just ahead of Big W (10.3%) and Target (9.7%). However, in the intervening five years Kmart has increased by 9.4% points whereas Big W has declined by 2.2% points to 8.1% and Target has declined by a significant 4.1% points to only 5.6%.
The outstanding performance of Kmart, which itself has a consumer friendly online presence, is particularly evident when one considers the performance of leading online marketplace eBay.
Although many regard the likes of eBay, and Amazon, as unstoppable juggernauts set to ‘lay waste’ to the Australian retailing scene the figures simply don’t support this argument. In 2019 only 2.9% of home products customers shop at eBay, up a modest 0.6% points from five years ago and the gap to Kmart has grown from 8.2% points in 2014 to 17% points today.
Source: Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia) April 2013 – March 2019, moving 12 month figures quarterly. Average interviews per year n=3,512. Base: Australians aged 14+ who have bought home products including furniture, homeware & manchester, home decorations (e.g. artwork, mirrors), plants & garden accessories or baby & nursery products in an average four weeks.
Kmart shoppers are from across the spectrum but young mums dominate
As one of Australia’s largest retailers Kmart attracts millions of customers from across the gender, age, geographic and socio-economic spectrum however there are some characteristics that stand out as particularly associated with the Kmart shoppers.
The quintessential Kmart shopper is female and part of the Millennials generation, aged in her 30s, and is either working full-time in a white-collar job or on home duties with young children to look after. Kmart shoppers are far more likely than the average Australian to be young parents with kids aged under 12.
She’s part of the Conventional Family Life (Roy Morgan Values Segment) who represent the core of ‘middle Australia’ and when it comes to shopping she’s far more likely than the average Australian to agree that ‘she was born to shop’ and ‘enjoy clothes shopping’ while she’ll also ‘go out of her way in search of a bargain’ and ‘buy more store’s own products than well-known brands’.
She’s the type that ‘often enters competitions which are on packets or labels on products’, ‘usually notices the advertisements on shopping trolleys when she goes grocery shopping’ and ‘uses coupons she finds in magazines or on packets’ – and she likes to ‘keep up-to-date with new ideas to improve her home’ and ‘can’t relax until she knows the house is clean & tidy’.
Michele Levine, CEO, Roy Morgan, says the performance of Kmart in recent years is a shining example that traditional retailers can be (extremely) successful despite the surge in online retailing and the challenges of primarily online outlets such as eBay and Amazon:
“Discount department store retailer Kmart is going from strength to strength in the home products market and now a fifth (19.9%) of home products customers shop at Kmart, up an impressive 9.4% points on five years ago.
“Five years ago Kmart, Big W and Target were separated by less than 1% point for home products customers with Kmart (10.5%) just ahead of Big W (10.3%) and Target (9.7%). In the five years since Kmart has increased by 9.4% points whereas Big W has declined by 2.2% points to 8.1% and Target has declined by a significant 4.1% points to only 5.6%.
“Kmart’s performance is even more noteworthy when compared to the online retailers which many have suggested will sweep all before them. In 2019 only 2.9% of home products customers shop at eBay, up a modest 0.6% points from five years ago and the gap to Kmart has grown from 8.2% points in 2014 to 17% points today.
“Contact Roy Morgan to learn more about the purchasing habits of Australians and why they shop at one retailer or another and what drives their decision-making.”
These are the latest findings from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey of over 50,000 consumers annually from the 12 months to March 2014 through to the 12 months to March 2019.
Visit the Roy Morgan Online Store to learn more about Online Shoppers and view the Homewares Buyers Profile, the Manchester/Soft Furnishing Buyers Profile or the People who have bought Homewares & Manchester Online Profile and many more.
For comments or more information please contact:
Roy Morgan - Enquiries
Office: +61 (03) 9224 5309
askroymorgan@roymorgan.com
Margin of Error
The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. Margin of error gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.
| Sample Size | Percentage Estimate |
| 40% – 60% | 25% or 75% | 10% or 90% | 5% or 95% | |
| 1,000 | ±3.0 | ±2.7 | ±1.9 | ±1.3 |
| 5,000 | ±1.4 | ±1.2 | ±0.8 | ±0.6 |
| 7,500 | ±1.1 | ±1.0 | ±0.7 | ±0.5 |
| 10,000 | ±1.0 | ±0.9 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 |
| 20,000 | ±0.7 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 |
| 50,000 | ±0.4 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 | ±0.2 |
