ELECTRONIC COMMERCE – AUSTRALIA

AussieCommerce sued over part-sale

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Sarah Danckert, Andrew White
The Australian – Page: 21 : 13-Oct-14

Adam Glezer, ex-national sales manager of AussieCommerce, has launched legal action in the Supreme Court of Victoria against founders Adam Schwab and Jeremy Same. Glezer alleges he was pressured into selling them his 19.8% holding in Deals.com.au, subsequently acquired by AussieCommerce, for just $A282,000 in April 2013. This was despite the board members valuing the business at between $A10m and $A25m. AussieCommerce, the self-proclaimed market leader in online retailing in Australia, is preparing for an IPO

CORPORATES
AUSSIECOMMERCE.COM.AU, DEALS.COM.AU PTY LTD, SUPREME COURT OF VICTORIA, BRANDSEXCLUSIVE (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, CUDO PTY LTD, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, MACQUARIE CAPITAL PTY LTD, APN NEWS AND MEDIA LIMITED – ASX APN

Wotif shareholders approve $703m Expedia takeover deal

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jamie Freed
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 10-Oct-14

Healthscope is set to replace Wotif.com in the S&P/ASX 200 Index after the latter’s acquisition by US-based Expedia was approved by more than 99 per cent of shareholders. Expedia is likely to have a 45 per cent share of Australia’s online hotel booking market following the acquisition, which is still subject to approval by the Foreign Investment Review Board and the New Zealand Commerce Commission

CORPORATES
WOTIF.COM HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX WTF, EXPEDIA INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIA. FOREIGN INVESTMENT REVIEW BOARD, NEW ZEALAND. COMMERCE COMMISSION, WEBJET LIMITED – ASX WEB, PRICELINE.COM, BOOKING.COM BV, AGODA COMPANY PTE LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN HOTELS ASSOCIATION, CIMB SECURITIES INTERNATIONAL (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, HEALTHSCOPE LIMITED – ASX HSO, STANDARD AND POOR’S ASX 200 INDEX, DOW JONES INDUSTRIAL INDICES

Online retailers stay upbeat

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jessica Sier
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 7-Oct-14

Australian online retailers have reported strong growth and are positive about the outlook for Christmas spending. Overall retail spending rose by only 0.1 per cent in August 2014, with spending in retail stores falling by 2.9 per cent. Milan Direct founder Dean Ramler said that his company’s sales rose by 51 per cent in September compared with the previous year. The Catch Group co-founder Gabby Leibovich said that his group’s sales rose by 26 per cent in the September quarter

CORPORATES
MILAN DIRECT PTY LTD, CATCH GROUP PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, HARVEY NORMAN HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX HVN, CATCH-OF-THE-DAY.COM.AU, SCOOPON.COM.AU PTY LTD

Dan Murphy’s draws on the right connections

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 19 : 2-Oct-14

Brad Banducci, director of the liquor group at Woolworths, says its Dan Murphy’s chain is about to undergo a major transformation. It is launching the new Connections online sales site, which will eventually have some 20,000 items on offer. This compares with about 8,200 in the "bricks and mortar" outlets, and the demand trends on the internet will in future also influence what lines are stocked in the stores. Suppliers will need to pay a quarter of the retail price to have their products listed, and Woolworths will save on inventory costs

CORPORATES
WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, DAN MURPHY’S

Battle lines shift in war for online

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 31 : 25-Sep-14

Australian consumers are continuing to embrace online shopping, with the websites of major retailers enjoying strong growth in traffic during 2013-14. Data from Hitwise and UBS shows that there was a 250 per cent increase in visits to Woolworths’ grocery website, compared with 240 per cent growth in visits to Coles’ website. Visits to the websites of JB Hi-Fi and Dick Smith rose by 150 per cent and 80 per cent respectively

CORPORATES
HITWISE PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, COLES GROUP LIMITED, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, JB HI-FI LIMITED – ASX JBH, DICK SMITH HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX DSH, COUNTRY ROAD LIMITED, DAVID JONES LIMITED, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, ASOS.COM LIMITED, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, DAN MURPHY’S, LIQUORLAND (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, MASTERS HOME IMPROVEMENT AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WESFARMERS BUNNINGS LIMITED

ACCC orange light on Wotif takeover

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jamie Freed
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 5-Sep-14

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission (ACCC) had been widely tipped to approve Expedia’s acquisition of Wotif.com. However, the competition regulator has expressed concern that the $A703m deal may lead to an increase in commission rates in the accommodation sector. The ACCC has noted that Wotif.com’s low commission rates may have influenced rivals such as Expedia to offer lower rates in Australia than in other markets

CORPORATES
WOTIF.COM HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX WTF, EXPEDIA INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, BOOKING.COM BV, BELL POTTER SECURITIES LIMITED, BELL FINANCIAL GROUP LIMITED – ASX BFG, CLIFFORD CHANCE, FLIGHT CENTRE TRAVEL GROUP LIMITED – ASX FLT, HELLOWORLD LIMITED – ASX HLO, STA TRAVEL PTY LTD, PRICELINE.COM, EUROMONITOR, JETSET TRAVELWORLD LIMITED, STELLA TRAVEL SERVICES LIMITED, DRANSFIELD HOTELS AND RESORTS PTY LTD, ACCOMMODATION ASSOCIATION OF AUSTRALIA PTY LTD

Do bricks and mortar travel agents have a future?

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 27-Aug-14

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that 4,715,000 Australians took an overseas holiday in the year to June 2014. Some 47 per cent used a conventionial bricks-and-mortar travel agent, while 16 per cent booked their holiday via an online-only agency. In contrast, 71 per cent of Australians booked an overseas holiday via a bricks-and-mortar travel agent in the year to June 2007, while just six per cent used an online-only agency

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED

Expedia buyout spares shareholders of ‘lucky’ Wotif

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Jamie Freed
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 13-Aug-14

Wotif.com has posted a 2013-14 net profit of $A43.2m, which is 15.4 per cent lower than previously, while booked room nights were down by 10.8 per cent. CEO Scott Blume expects the decline in room bookings to continue as a result of competition in the sector, and he concedes that Wotif.com would find it challenging to turn this around if the takeover bid from US-based Expedia does not succeed

CORPORATES
WOTIF.COM HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX WTF, EXPEDIA INCORPORATED, PRICELINE.COM, BOOKING.COM BV

Start-ups key as change batters the big four

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Damon Kitney
The Australian – Page: 15 : 4-Aug-14

Consultants at Ernst & Young and KPMG warn that large companies must seek strategic alliances with small start-ups in order to safeguard against digital disruption. A major sector in need of such an approach is that of banking in Australia, and the four main lenders are already facing competition by online payments businesses such as PayPal. However Brian Hartzer, CEO Australian financial services at Westpac Banking, argues the banks can themselves behave like start-ups. Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, group executive institutional banking and markets at Commonwealth Bank of Australia, also says they have an advantage in the shape of large stores of customer data

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, PAYPAL INCORPORATED, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, KPMG, ERNST AND YOUNG

Major bitcoin ATM rollout on the way

roymorgansocial Leave a comment

Original article by Ruth Liew
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 16 : 25-Jul-14

ABA Technology plans to place Bitcoin ATM machines in shopping centres and other high-traffic, high-profile locations around Australia. Chris Guzowski, founder and CEO of the company, says five more ATMs will be rolled out in various capital cities by September 2014. Shoppers already have access to three Bitcoin ATMs, in the Emporium Melbourne mall, Sydney’s Westfield shopping centre, and the Canberra Centre

CORPORATES
ABA TECHNOLOGY PTY LTD|WESTFIELD CORPORATION – ASX WFD|ASX LIMITED – ASX ASX|DIGITALBTC|SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG|EMPORIUM MELBOURNE