Aldi Australia is generating sales growth of more than 10 per cent in 2017 as sales push through the $8 billion mark after a revamp of its strategy to devote more space to fresh foods.
Chief executive Tom Daunt has signalled there is still room for another 100 stores in its local network.
He said heavy price cutting by much larger rival Woolworths, which had invested $1 billion in cutting prices in the past 18 months to regain momentum against Coles, had had little impact on the Aldi business, which was making strong gains as its value approach was embraced by cash-strapped shoppers.
Mr Daunt also said the looming opening of a local distribution business by online giant Amazon would cause no problems for Aldi, which had a substantial general merchandise offering of clothing, outdoor products and tools in its stores with its “special buys”, along with its core supermarket range of 1500 grocery product lines.
Mr Daunt said there were no set numbers or a timetable about when Aldi might hit a ceiling of expansion in Australia, but it was likely to finish up at about 600 stores in total. Aldi wasn’t planning to enter Tasmania or the Northern Territory yet. “The answer is we’ll wait and see,” he said.
