Baby Bunting has seen its sales across the company rise, with New Zealand becoming a key market for the speciality retailer.

Company-wide sales for the first-half of the 2026 financial year grew by 4.9 per cent compared with the prior comparable period. While online sales now represent 24.8 per cent of the company’s sales, an 18 per cent increase, Baby Bunting is still led by its 79-strong network of retail stores.

In New Zealand, a sales growth of 16.5 per cent at a 38.4 per cent gross margin reduced the company’s losses to $1.4 million. Baby Bunting credited the $700,000 loss reduction to its expanding presence in the country.

With five stores now open in New Zealand, Baby Bunting opened its first ‘store of the future’ branch in December 2025.

Baby Bunting said it is continuing to invest in marketing to support Baby Bunting’s growth in the country, with a long-term plan to open ten new stores.

The losses are expected to be resolved with supply chain and overall cost savings.

In Australia, Baby Bunting added five stores in the half-year with six ‘store of the future’ refurbishments. It aims to bring the cost of such refurbishments down as the company looks to target a 10 per cent EBIT margin.

Baby Bunting carried out $25.9 million in investments across the half-year, adding two large-format stores, three small-format stores, and completing six ‘store of the future’ refurbishments. The company said it is opening two more large format stores in Q3.

First arriving in New Zealand in 2022, Baby Bunting has since opened the country’s largest baby-goods store in Christchurch.