Atlas / Sector
Sector profile
Retail & Consumer marketing benchmarks
Strongest on Acquisition Performance, with the most room to move in Brand & Positioning. Retail & Consumer sits above the national average across 7 industries.
Building evidence · based on 91 businesses, growing
Sector signature
Bars are this sector. Ticks are the national average.
Sector strength
Acquisition Performance
+3 against the national line. The dimension this sector leans on.
Biggest gap
Brand & Positioning
-1 against the field. The soft spot holding the sector back.
The spread
11 points
Between the strongest and weakest industry in the sector. A wide gap means the average hides real winners.
The map
Where this sector sits
Every dot is an industry we measure. The 7 industries in Retail & Consumer are lit in red. Choose any two dimensions for the axes.
Acquisition Performance →
Retail & Consumer sits above average on Retention & Loyalty and above average on Acquisition Performance. The spread of red dots shows how tightly the sector clusters.
The spread inside the sector
Every number is a Marketing Score out of 100, rolling six dimensions into one figure. 46 is a business doing the basics. 81 is one that markets like a business twice its size.
The distance between the strongest and weakest performer in Retail & Consumer is wide. A small cluster is genuinely good. A long tail sits well behind. The bar to lead this sector is lower than the reputation suggests. So where would you land?
In national context
Where the sector lands on the map
Every industry we measure, sorted low to high. The marker shows where Retail & Consumer averages out.
In this sector
Every industry in Retail & Consumer, ranked
Sorted by Marketing Score. Open any one for the full profile.
The read
What the numbers say about Retail & Consumer
On the whole, Retail & Consumer is an above-average sector. It leans on acquisition performance and trails on brand & positioning.
Retail and Consumer ranks 4th of 11 sectors with a composite, 1.6 points above the national average. Australian retail went through a forced digital acceleration since 2020 and the businesses that survived are, on average, more digitally mature than most of the economy. Digital Maturity leads the sector.
The spread within the sector tells the real story. Omnichannel & Bricks-and-Clicks Retail sits at the top on 70.7. Pet Industry (Vet Clinics, Pet Products, Services) anchors the bottom on 59.6. That is a 11.1-point gap between two verticals in the same sector, separated by one thing: who owns the customer relationship. Marketplace and platform sellers rent their audience. Omnichannel retailers build theirs.
Data & Tracking is the sector's weakest dimension and its biggest ceiling. Most retailers collect transaction data but few connect it to acquisition spend in a way that drives decisions. The retailers closing that gap are the ones pulling away from the pack.
The 11.1-point gap between Omnichannel & Bricks-and-Clicks Retail and Pet Industry (Vet Clinics, Pet Products, Services) is the defining split in Retail. Owning the customer relationship is worth real composite points.
What to watch in Australian retail
First-party data is becoming the competitive moat. As third-party cookies phase out and platform ad costs climb, the retailers with clean CRM data and email lists will outperform those relying on marketplace traffic. This favours D2C and omnichannel operators.
Franchise systems are quietly outperforming most standalone retailers. Centralised marketing budgets, shared data infrastructure and national brand campaigns give franchise operators scale advantages that independent retailers cannot match alone.
Patterns
What the Retail & Consumer numbers reveal
Computed from 91 scored businesses across 7 industries. Updated as new audits complete.
By the numbers
16.9-point gap between Enterprise and Small Business
Enterprise businesses average 70.9. Small Business averages 54. Scale creates a 16.9-point advantage in this sector, driven by dedicated marketing teams and infrastructure investment.
Who's leading
ASX-listed companies score 6.2 points higher than unlisted
29 ASX-listed businesses average 70.5 vs 64.3 for 62 unlisted. Public reporting discipline and larger budgets correlate with stronger marketing maturity.
How industries compare
Digital Maturity (67.5) is the sector's edge. Data & Tracking (57.4) is the drag.
A 10.1-point spread between the strongest and weakest dimensions. Digital Maturity is 1.5 points above the national average. Data & Tracking sits 0.2 points below national average.
What's shifting
1.6 points above the national average of 63.7
Retail & Consumer ranks 4 of 11 sectors. The gap is closeable. These are not structurally weak businesses. They are businesses that have not prioritised digital marketing.
Where they are
NSW dominates with 38 of 91 businesses
42% of scored businesses in this sector are headquartered in NSW, averaging 66. VIC (36), QLD (11), WA (5) follow.
Where the gaps are
Bunnings Warehouse leads the sector at 81.1
15.9 points above the sector average. Scores 10.4 points above its own industry (Omnichannel & Bricks-and-Clicks Retail). Large scale, based in VIC.
Frequently asked
Common questions about Retail & Consumer
How does the retail & consumer sector compare to other Australian sectors for marketing?+
Retail & Consumer scores 65 out of 100, ranking 4 of 11 Australian sectors. This is 2 points above the national average of 64.
The sector's strongest dimension is Acquisition Performance. Its weakest is Brand & Positioning.
Based on 91 scored Australian businesses across 7 industries. NR Marketing Intelligence, April 2026.
Which retail & consumer companies have the strongest marketing in Australia?+
The top 5 performers across all retail & consumer industries:
1. Bunnings Warehouse in Omnichannel & Bricks-and-Clicks Retail
2. Wesfarmers (81) in Omnichannel & Bricks-and-Clicks Retail, ASX-listed
3. Woolworths Group (81) in Omnichannel & Bricks-and-Clicks Retail, ASX-listed
4. Shein (AU) in Marketplace Sellers (Amazon AU, eBay, Catch)
5. Vinomofo in Wine & Spirits Retail
Bunnings Warehouse leads, 16 points above the sector average.
Based on 91 scored Australian businesses across 7 industries. NR Marketing Intelligence, April 2026.
Do larger companies have better marketing than smaller ones in retail & consumer?+
Yes. Enterprise-scale businesses average 71, while Small Business averages 54. That is a 17-point gap.
However, Bunnings Warehouse, Shein (AU), Vinomofo all outperform the Enterprise average despite being smaller. The correlation is clear but not absolute.
Based on 91 scored Australian businesses across 7 industries. NR Marketing Intelligence, April 2026.
Do ASX-listed retail & consumer companies have better marketing?+
29 ASX-listed businesses average 71, compared to 64 for 62 unlisted. Listed companies have an edge, likely due to dedicated marketing teams and public accountability.
ASX status verified against ASX300 listing. NR Marketing Intelligence.
What is the biggest marketing weakness in Australian retail & consumer businesses?+
Brand & Positioning is the weakest dimension, 1 points below the national average of 64.
This is the single biggest lever for improvement.
6-dimension scoring model: Digital Maturity, Acquisition Performance, Conversion Efficiency, Retention and Loyalty, Brand and Positioning, Data and Tracking.
How reliable are the marketing scores for retail & consumer businesses?+
Scores are built from a 6-dimension model using up to 150+ data points per business: GA4 analytics, Search Console, Google Ads, site technology, Core Web Vitals and public data.
91 businesses are scored in this sector, benchmarked against 70+ nationally. Each score carries an evidence depth rating so you can see how much data sits behind it.
Evidence depth: Very High (4+ sources), High (3), Medium (2), Baseline (public signals).
Which retail & consumer industries perform best at marketing?+
1. Omnichannel & Bricks-and-Clicks Retail (70.665)
2. Ecommerce — D2C Retail (67.96)
3. Wine & Spirits Retail (66.795455)
4. Franchise Systems (64.901111)
5. Fashion & Apparel (63.98)
6. Marketplace Sellers (Amazon AU, eBay, Catch) (62.805556)
7. Pet Industry (Vet Clinics, Pet Products, Services) (59.557778)
The 11-point spread shows meaningful variation between industries in this sector.
Based on 91 scored Australian businesses across 7 industries. NR Marketing Intelligence, April 2026.
How can retail & consumer businesses improve their marketing score?+
Three high-impact moves:
1. Strengthen brand & positioning., this is the sector's weakest dimension and the fastest path to a higher score. Even basic improvements move the needle 5 to 10 points.
2. Close the gap on acquisition performance. The sector already scores 66 here. Businesses below that benchmark are leaving easy points on the table.
3. Study the leaders. Bunnings Warehouse and Wesfarmers (81) show what good looks like in this sector.
Based on 91 scored businesses across 7 industries. NR Marketing Intelligence.
Stop reading the average
The Atlas shows the sector. We read your business.
The map tells you what Retail & Consumer does on average. Get Our Take tells you what you do, where you leak and what to fix first.