Your first look inside the new look ‘Plan C+’ Kmart – complete with a slick beauty hub, overhauled layout and a huge change to women’s fashion

Kmart has offered an exclusive glimpse inside its highly anticipated new look stores, as the retailer accelerates the expansion of its ‘Plan C+’ format across Australia. 

With more than 40 fully refreshed stores expected to be operating by mid-2027, Kmart is aiming to make shopping easier, convenient and enjoyable.

The transformation is already underway at 20 of Kmart’s 300 or so stores nationwide.

The Plan C+ format brings together revitalised store layouts, improved product presentation, better service offerings, and the latest technology – all designed to create a simpler, more intuitive shop. 

Shoppers will encounter larger, clearly organised departments in key areas such as Womenswear, Beauty, and Home. 

In Womenswear, enhanced product coordination, outfit-led merchandising and curated groupings will enable customers to piece together complete looks without the hassle of searching through endless aisles. 

Navigation is also clearer and product adjacencies have been improved.

Convenience is at the forefront, with expanded services like Select & Collect allowing orders to be placed online and collected the same day, greater self-service checkout options to help eliminate queues and a streamlined entry and exit design.

Notably, the contentious central-store checkout – relocated from the front between 2012 and 2015 and the subject of much customer debate – will soon be a thing of the past.

Behind the scenes, enhanced technology and new operational methods are boosting efficiency, maintaining strong stock availability and freeing up Kmart team members to spend more time assisting customers on the shop floor. 

Kmart Group General Manager Property, Ben Smith, said the rollout underscored Kmart’s commitment to continually improving the in-store experience in line with customer expectations. 

‘Our customers continue to tell us they want shopping experiences that are simple, convenient and enjoyable, and Plan C+ is helping us deliver on that,’ he said.

‘What we’ve learned from the stores already operating in the format has been incredibly valuable. We’re continuing to refine the experience and apply those learnings as we expand Plan C+ across more communities around Australia.

‘Importantly, these investments help us continue delivering the great value, quality and shopping experience our customers expect from Kmart.’

By the end of FY27, insights gathered through the Plan C+ rollout will help inform further customer experience enhancements across the Kmart network in Australia and New Zealand. 

This transformation comes as the Wesfarmers-owned retailer trials its new ‘K Home’ concept store in Box Hill, Melbourne – a standalone home and furniture destination designed to showcase the breadth of the Anko range beyond what is possible in traditional Kmart outlets. 

‘It is designed to test whether we can unlock a bigger home opportunity through a more immersive format that showcases the breadth of the Anko range in a way our full line stores cannot,’ Kmart Group managing director Aleksandra Spaseska said.

The store features curated displays, room-by-room inspiration and a more immersive shopping environment, including many products available exclusively online due to space constraints elsewhere in the network.

‘We will use the trial to learn quickly, refine the model, and assess the longer-term opportunity,’ Ms Spaseska added. 

Meanwhile, Kmart’s 10-hectare automated customer fulfilment centre in Moorebank, Western Sydney, remains on track to open in 2027/28 – promising to make the group’s supply chain more resilient, efficient and scalable. 

Launched in May, the Kmart online marketplace now offers over 130,000 products from 90 sellers. 

However, Ms Spaseska acknowledged that the current economic climate means shoppers are exercising greater restraint. 

‘We can see from all of our customer data, households are very much focused on cost of living,’ she said.

‘It is the number one issue on their mind, and thinking about how they make household budgets work and how they find more value is really critical.’ 

With these sweeping changes and ongoing innovations, Kmart is positioning itself to deliver even greater value and convenience to its customers, ensuring it remains competitive in an increasingly dynamic market.