Big W, Bunnings & Multi-Store Shopping: One Search Instead of Many Tabs
There's a particular kind of Australian Saturday errand run that starts simply and quietly unravels. You need something from a big general merchandise store and something from a hardware retailer. Maybe it's a home project plus some kids' supplies. You open a tab for each store. Each site has its own search logic, its own way of categorising things, its own set of "similar items" suggestions designed to keep you browsing. Thirty minutes later you have eleven tabs, a vague sense of what things cost, and you still haven't left the house.
This is a solvable problem.
Why Multi-Store Shopping Is Genuinely Hard
Different retailers are good at fundamentally different things, and their catalogues reflect that. General merchandise stores like Big W and Kmart are strong on household items, toys, some electronics, and seasonal goods. Hardware and DIY retailers like Bunnings carry tools, fasteners, outdoor equipment, and project materials. Specialist retailers cover sporting gear, automotive parts, dedicated electronics, and so on.
This means that for any given list of things to buy, you might genuinely need to check two or three different types of retailers — and there's real value in doing so, because the price variance between stores on comparable products is often meaningful. The problem is that the mental overhead of being your own meta-search engine across multiple sites is substantial. And it's precisely that overhead that causes most people to quietly give up and just pay whatever the first reasonable price was.
A Better Multi-Store Workflow
The fix is straightforward, but it requires being deliberate about your process before you start searching.
Start by splitting your list by category. Before you open a single tab, group each item by which type of retailer is most likely to carry it. This sounds obvious, but it immediately reduces wasted searches — you stop asking a hardware store's search engine about toys, and stop asking a general merchandise site about specific power tool accessories.
Then search for the exact product, not the category. "Outdoor stuff" produces nothing useful anywhere. The specific brand name, model, and size of what you actually need cuts through the noise on every platform.
Once you have candidates, use Find It to compare across the stores it covers in a single search, rather than running the same search on four different websites. From there, shortlist one or two options per item, then confirm stock and availability on the retailer's own page before you commit to the drive.
A Concrete Example
Suppose you're doing a backyard tidy-up and grabbing some birthday supplies at the same time. The hardware side of the list has fasteners and a specific tool accessory. The general merchandise side has a gift, some storage containers, and batteries.
The old approach: four retailer sites across two devices, trying to remember the model numbers you need, ending up with a browser full of tabs that all look slightly different from what you actually wanted.
The better approach: a precise list, a quick Find It search for each specific product to see which stores have it and at what price, a shortlist of two stops, and a confirmation on each retailer's site before leaving home.
The outcome isn't necessarily the lowest possible price on every item — it's far fewer missed options, much less time wasted, and a shopping run that actually finishes.
Practical Tips for When You're Already Out
If you're already in the car park and want to check before you walk into a store: search the exact product in Find It, check which nearby options appear and at what price, then confirm availability on the retailer's page or with a quick look at the shelf. Don't rely on a screenshot from a group chat or a price you saw on your phone an hour ago — things change quickly enough that it's worth a 30-second live check.
Try it: Open Find It search
Find It covers a growing set of Australian retailers. Search any product to compare prices and availability at local stores near you. Questions: Contact us