Updated August 25, 2026 — 9:58am,first published 9:10amColes has ruled out turning to plastic Spider-Man and Hulk figures to boost its business, saying its future collectables will be more functional than fun as the supermarket giant claws back sales lost to rival Woolworths’ wildly successful Ooshies campaign.Coles chief executive Leah Weckert conceded the nation’s second-biggest supermarket chain had a “temporary moderation” in sales after Woolworths launched its collectable collaboration with Disney, which sold out before the weekend it was due to conclude.Coles chief executive Leah Weckert has conceded the supermarket giant had a “temporary moderation” in sales after Woolworths launches its Ooshies campaign.Weckert sought to downplay the impact of Woolworths’ campaign on foot traffic in its stores, and said sales at Coles’ rival had returned to normal “almost immediately with that collectable campaign finishing up”.“It does tend to be a temporary impact,” Weckert told reporters in a call on Tuesday morning to discuss Coles’ latest results.Coles has previously run popular campaigns including Little Shop, which were miniature replicas of iconic Australian grocery items like Vegemite or shopping trolleys, and buildable cardboard Pokémon. More recently though, it has run collectable campaigns of cookware and frying pans, and offered a Curtis Stone-branded range of glass containers redeemable with Flybuys points.Future campaigns would be similar, Weckert indicated. “You’ll still continue to see us doing the collectable campaigns, but probably more on the practical side of things,” she said.The supermarket chain grew total sales by 2.8 per cent to $45.6 billion, with supermarket sales revenue rising 5.1 per cent. Coles posted profits of $1.09 billion, weighed down by $235 million in backpay after the Federal Court last year found Australia’s biggest supermarkets failed to keep accurate records of staff. Excluding this, Coles’ net profit lifted 13.7 per cent to $1.255 billion.Coles shares were up 1.2 per cent to $22.92 just before midday on Tuesday, while Woolies’ shares added 0.8 per cent.Online orders grew by 26.4 per cent to $5.6 billion as the supermarket invested in robotic technology that picked, packed and bagged groceries, which led Coles to expand its delivery catchments and reduce wait times in Sydney and Melbourne.Shoppers are increasingly using AI to compare prices as they spread their grocery shop across multiple retailers and looking for value, Weckert said. Coles’ private-label products grew 6.1 per cent, led by the Coles Finest range, which increased more than 9 per cent.Supermarket prices grew 1.5 per cent over the year, with cost increases in fuel, meat and dairy partially offset by deflation across fresh produce and eggs.The company said liquor sales – which declined by 3.3 per cent amid ongoing cost-of-living pressures, consumers’ reluctance to spend and heavy discounting – had come in below expectations.“We have completed a strategic review of the business and are now executing a program to improve the financial performance by creating a more integrated food and drink proposition, optimising the store network and simplifying the operating model,” Coles said in its announcement.Coles grew its total sales by 2.8 per cent to $45.6 billion, according to its latest results.Eamon GallagherThe grocery giant is declaring a final fully franked dividend of 78¢ per share, an increase of 13 per cent on the dividend paid last year.Over the past year, Woolworths, Coles and Aldi have been competing more aggressively on prices, with all three supermarkets lowering and locking prices across hundreds of everyday grocery items.More to comeThe Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning.From our partners