As of 1 November 2026, Coles has reported first-quarter revenue of 11.2 billion dollars, up 2.2 per cent year on year, with supermarket sales up 2.7 per cent on a comparable basis. E-commerce was the strongest line at 22.9 per cent growth. Woolworths reported 19.4 billion dollars for the same period, up 4.7 per cent, and the ABS put annual headline inflation at 4.3 per cent in the 12 months to September. Managing director Leah Weckert said customers remain value-conscious, shopping across multiple retailers and focusing more on promotions and loyalty. For anyone tracking price behaviour, the quarter is a clean read on what discount depth buys.
A 22.9 per cent online quarter
The arithmetic is blunt. With inflation at 4.3 per cent and supermarket sales at 2.7 per cent, the store network gave up real ground while online grew fast enough to carry the group. That pattern usually means shoppers are consolidating trips and moving fill-in purchases online, not that they are buying more overall.
Online growth of this size also changes what price governance has to cover. Shelf labels can be checked by a field team once a week; an online catalogue changes by the hour, and the same item can carry a different effective price depending on promotion stacking, delivery fees and loyalty offers. Monitoring has to move from label checks to price feed checks.
Discount depth against inflation
Promotions and loyalty
Coles points to promotions and loyalty as where shoppers are focusing, which is the retailer's own description of a value market. In that environment the promotional calendar becomes the pricing system: the shelf price matters less than the price a loyal shopper actually pays after offers, and that number is the one competitors watch.
What the gap with Woolworths means
A 4.7 per cent gain at Woolworths against 2.7 per cent in Coles supermarkets is a share signal, not a demand signal. Both banners are selling into the same households, so the difference reflects execution on value perception, availability and loyalty mechanics rather than a larger market. That makes it a useful benchmark for any brand selling through both.
| Metric | Coles | Context |
|---|---|---|
| Group revenue | 11.2 billion dollars, up 2.2 per cent | Below inflation |
| Supermarket sales | Up 2.7 per cent comparable | Real terms negative |
| E-commerce | Up 22.9 per cent | Strongest line |
| Woolworths sales | 19.4 billion dollars, up 4.7 per cent | Share benchmark |
| Headline inflation | 4.3 per cent to September | Real growth test |
Price governance in a value market
The first task is to define the comparison set. Price gaps only mean something against a named competitor and a named pack size, so monitoring should record the banner, the pack, the effective price after offers and the date. Anything less produces a number nobody can act on.
The second task is frequency. If shoppers compare weekly, monthly monitoring will always arrive late; if the catalogue changes hourly online, a weekly check only samples the promotions that happened to be live. The practical answer is a daily automated feed for the priority list and a weekly field check for the rest.
How to audit a price gap
An audit is only useful if the same sheet can be rebuilt by someone else. Each step below should leave evidence, and the comparison should be run on the same day across banners. Otherwise the gap you report says more about when you looked than about what the market is doing.
FAQ
Why is 22.9 per cent online growth the headline number?
Because it is the only line growing well above inflation. Total revenue rose 2.2 per cent and supermarket sales 2.7 per cent on a comparable basis while annual headline inflation ran at 4.3 per cent, so in real terms the store network was flat to slightly down while the online channel compounded.
Does the Woolworths comparison change the reading?
It sharpens it. Woolworths reported 19.4 billion dollars in sales for the same period, up 4.7 per cent, so the gap is not about the market shrinking; it is about which banner captured the value-seeking shopper. Coles itself says customers are shopping across multiple retailers and focusing on promotions and loyalty.
What does a value-conscious shopper do to price governance?
It compresses the tolerance for price gaps. When households compare across banners weekly, a gap on a staple item becomes a reason to switch rather than a reason to grumble, so price monitoring has to run at item level and at a frequency that matches how often shoppers check.
What should a supplier expect from the elevated cost outlook?
Tighter promotional funding requests and longer lead times on cost recovery. Coles cited geopolitical uncertainty and higher fuel prices for an elevated cost forecast, which usually means the retailer tries to hold shelf prices on traffic drivers and recover margin on the rest of the basket.
