Bunnings is the latest retailer to identify organised crime as its biggest shoplifting threat.
Speaking last week at the release of the hardware chain’s 2025 financial year results, Wesfarmers CEO Rob Scott said shoplifting gangs had become a major problem.
“The vast majority of the threatening situations that are impacting customers and team members are actually perpetrated by organised crime gangs,” he said.
Scott said criminals were coordinating through gangs to steal high-end power tools and sell them online.
He said there were also similar thefts at Wesfarmers stablemate Officeworks, where tech items such as laptops are targeted.
“A lot of those products show up on black markets and marketplaces,” Scott said.
Last month, retailers welcomed a police bust of one of Australia’s largest theft syndicates, but warned shoplifting was rampant without any simple solutions.
On August 15, Victoria Police revealed they had arrested 19 people who allegedly shoplifted more than $10 million worth of goods.
The syndicate allegedly targeted major supermarkets, stealing baby formula, medicines, vitamins, skincare products, electric toothbrushes and toiletries.
The Australian Retailers Association said shops were under attack across the nation, but that Victoria was an “absolute hotspot”.
Victoria Police said it charged multiple people in Operation Supernova. Detective Acting Inspector Rachele Ciavarella alleged the syndicate was part of a co-ordinated criminal enterprise profiting from stolen goods.
“Those arrested are predominantly Indian nationals on temporary, student, or bridging visas,” police said.
On Thursday, Scott observed that Victorian sales across Wesfarmers’ retail businesses, including Bunnings, Kmart, Target, and Officeworks, had been disappointing, with one notable exception.
“The only area where we’re seeing stronger growth in Victoria is the sale of home security products within Bunnings,” he said.
“It’s quite a sad statistic to be sharing.”
Coles CEO Leah Weckert has frequently claimed out that meat stolen from Coles supermarkets turns up in restaurants, pop-up shops and even at footpath stalls.
Dan Murphy’s and BWS have also experienced coordinated theft and have taken to locking up expensive spirits and premium wines.
In July, Bunnings managing director Michael Schneider called for Australia’s privacy laws to be changed to allow the use of facial recognition in its stores to reduce shoplifting and protect staff.
In a submission to a Productivity Commission review, Schneider refuted a previous ban by the Privacy Commissioner, saying that facial recognition technology could be used safely, responsibly and ethically.
“These technologies are essential to protecting team members and customers from rising incidents of violent and threatening behaviour across the retail sector, and other losses that come from retail crime,” he said.
Despite the thefts, Wesfarmers posted a 3.4 per cent jump in revenue to $45.7 billion for the 2025 financial year, with all three of its retail brands posting sales growth.
Kmart sales rose by 3.4 per cent to $11.34 billion, while sales at Bunnings grew 3.3 per cent to $19.6 billion and Officeworks had a 3.8 per cent jump to $3.5 billion for the year.
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