One of Australia’s biggest retailers is ramping up its store footprint as it ruthlessly chases market share across the automotive, outdoor and sporting goods sectors.

Super Retail Group, which owns Supercheap Auto, Macpac, BCF, and Rebel, made the announcement at an investor day in Sydney, where it laid out a new five-year plan.

“We have to be ruthless in the decisions that we make and the categories that we go after, and that is exactly what we will do,” chief executive Paul Bradshaw said on Thursday.

Super Retail has a $4 billion share of a total market that it believes is worth $65 billion across the auto, outdoor and sport categories.

This means all four brands have significant room for growth, with Supercheap Auto having a 9 per cent market share, Rebel 10 per cent, BCF 12 per cent and Macpac 6 per cent, he said.

“For me, you’ve got to own the categories that you play in and give your customers exactly what they want in those categories,” Bradshaw said.

To that end, Super Retail will expand its stores from 790 to 900 by 2031, focusing on underrepresented regional areas with new formats under a strategy dubbed ”Ignite”.

The expansion will be funded through its existing annual capital expenditure budget of about $150 million.

While the stock exchange-listed group said it will incur annual project costs of $30 million over the next three years, it also expects to save about $75 million a year by the 2029 financial year.

Its strategy also includes meeting demand created by the national uptake of electric vehicles.

“Retail is changing at the fastest pace I’ve ever known,” Bradshaw said.

Asked about the rationale for expanding brick-and-mortar stores given its existing online portals, an executive pointed to limitations at Supercheap Auto stemming from the combustible nature of some products and customers’ need to interact with goods in person.

“We have strong online sales across each of the businesses … but customers have a strong preference for click and collect,” chief financial officer David Burns said.

“We don’t have dedicated distribution centres for online, so we’re leveraging our assets, and customers want to come in.

“The brands themselves are also very equipment-orientated, particularly BCF – customers want to touch and feel the product.”

Super Retail’s expansion program will lean more on Supercheap Auto and Rebel than BCF or Macpac.

The group’s shares rose by almost 2 per cent to $12.50 in early trading.

-AAP