Bunnings snags a bite of the pet market

Australian hardware giant Bunnings is entering the pet merchandise market to try and take a bigger bite of the fast-growing $10 billion industry.

1. An Aussie’s best friend

Australian hardware retailer Bunnings is expanding its pet merchandise business, hoping to compete with specialty pet retailers and take a bigger bite of the fast-growing $10 billion category. The expansion will include close to 1,000 products, up from a couple of hundred items, and will offer dry food, materials and toys for dogs, cats and birds.

It represents the business’s largest category expansion in almost 20 years as it looks to create a broader offering to customers as well as tap into the growing trend of more pets coming in-store.

2. Reel them in

The U.S. House Foreign Affairs Committee has voted in favour of a bill that would grant President Joe Biden the power to ban Chinese-owned social media app TikTok, along with other apps considered security risks. Lawmakers voted to approve the measure, with Republicans arguing that TikTok posed a national security threat by giving the Chinese Communist Party access to users’ personal information.

However, the bill still faces significant obstacles before it can become law, including approval by the full House and the Democrat-controlled Senate. The Biden administration has not stated whether it supports the bill or whether it believes the bill would grant the president the legal authority to ban TikTok.

3. Time to zip it

Australian buy now, pay later firm Zip, is preparing to exit most of its global markets and expects “significant” capital inflows from asset sales. The exit strategy includes plans to sell or end operations in 10 of its 14 markets, while focusing on growth in Australia, New Zealand, the US, and Canada.

Zip hopes to complete the sales by the end of June as part of its plan to reach positive cashflow by the first half of 2024 while dealing with rising interest rates, increased competition and the prospect of increased regulation.

4. No need to quit

The biggest banks in Australia are giving existing customers a discount of more than one percentage point on their home loans to stop them from switching to other lenders as competition increases and $350 billion worth of ultra-low fixed rate mortgages are set to expire this year.

The discounts come as banks are also having to offer new customers promotions such as free internet and upfront cash as they deal with falling demand from new borrowers in line with interest rises.

5. Salesforce pivots

Salesforce CEO, Marc Benioff, has announced a new strategy to increase profitability and efficiency during the company’s quarterly earnings result call. The company’s focus on efficiency has already shown results with a profit margin of 22.5 per cent last year and a goal of 27 per cent this year.

The new strategy is focused on four areas: restructuring, improving profitability and productivity, prioritising core innovations as well as a deeper relationship with shareholders. This approach is a departure from Benioff’s previous emphasis on ‘stakeholder capitalism’ and employee well-being.