[3] Founded in Sydney in 1924 as variety retailer Woolworths Limited, the company entered the New Zealand market in 1929 and has traded in every Australian state and territory since 1960.

Woolworths experienced steady growth throughout the 20th century and began to diversify its business, closing the last of its variety stores in the 1980s to focus on its portfolio of other retail brands.

[7] World War II slowed the growth of the company, with the Australian and United States militaries commandeering Woolworths' warehouses in Sydney for storage.

[8] The company further diversified in 1960, opening it first purpose-built supermarket at Warrawong,[9] purchasing the Rockmans chain of women's clothing stores[10] and commencing selling liquor at some outlets.

[19] In 2001, Woolworths expanded its consumer electronics retailing interests with the purchase of the Tandy chain in Australia from InterTan.

[22][23] With Queensland licensing laws dictating that liquor retail outlets must be operated by a hotelier, Woolworths moved into the hotel industry in 2004 by acquiring 75 percent of the Australian Leisure and Hospitality Group (ALH) in a joint venture with business partner Bruce Mathieson.

[59] BP pulled out of the deal in July 2018, saying that sale conditions imposed by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission would make the acquisition commercially unviable.

[62] In March 2019, Woolworths launched a stand-alone media business called Cartology to communicate with supplier partners and customers.

Woolworths indicated that it would explore options to divest the newly created Endeavour Drinks business in 2020, subject to shareholder approval at an annual general meeting.

[71] In 2020, Woolworths was found to have repeatedly ignored consumers who had tried to prevent receipt of marketing emails and had not attempted to improve, despite the AMCA notifying the company that they had received customer complaints.

[72] In September 2020, Woolworths and pet insurance company PetSure signed a deal to launch a new joint venture called PetCulture.

[75] Following the transaction, Woolworths and Quantium established a new joint data science and advanced analytics business called Wiq.

[76][77] In October 2020, Woolworths rebranded its supply chain function as Primary Connect with the goal of evolving it into an end-to-end service provider for the group as well as external businesses.

[78] In February 2021, Woolworths restructured its red meat business, creating a new standalone division called GreenStock.

[79] In 2021, Woolworths launched HealthyLife, an online platform which offers health and wellness advice, products and services.

[80] Having been delayed by the COVID-19 pandemic, Woolworths successfully completed the demerger of its alcohol, hotel, and gambling businesses into a new ASX-listed company, Endeavour Group in June 2021, with the new company holding the Dan Murphy's, BWS, AHL, Cellarmasters and Jimmy Brings brands.

[83][84][85] In February 2022, Woolworths Group rebranded its logo to better represent "what its collective businesses and platforms stand for today".

[87][88] In May 2022, Woolworths announced a $243 million bid to acquire an 80 percent stake in online marketplace MyDeal from its founder, Sean Senvirtne.

[90] In July 2022, Cartology announced it had made a deal to acquire targeted advertising company Shopper Media for $150 million.

[93] In March 2023, HealthyLife launched telehealth services through a partnership with Global Health, allowing patients to make appointments with doctors, naturopaths and dietitians.

[99] In February 2024, Woolworths announced that Brad Banducci would retire as CEO in September 2024 and a $781 million loss due to major write-downs.