Betta is best, according to furniture and electrical buyers

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 1-Oct-19

Betta Home Living/Betta Electrical has won Roy Morgan’s Customer Satisfaction Award for furniture and electrical retailers for the third month in a row, with a customer satisfaction rating of 95% in August 2019. This is 15% higher than a year ago. In joint second place are IKEA and JB Hi-Fi, which each have customer satisfaction ratings of 90%, both down 1% from a year ago. Roy Morgan’s research also shows that women do the majority of the shopping at Betta Home Living/Betta Electrical, and nearly half its customers are aged 50 or over, while the average IKEA customer is female and aged 25 to 49. These findings come from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey, which is based on in-depth face-to-face interviews with over 50,000 Australians each year in their homes.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, BETTA HOME LIVING, BETTA ELECTRICAL PTY LTD, IKEA TRADING PTY LTD, JB HI-FI LIMITED – ASX JBH

Supercheap Auto, Repco and Autobarn in tight race for annual satisfaction award

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 24-Sep-19

Supercheap Auto has won Roy Morgan’s Auto Store Customer Satisfaction Award for August 2019, with a customer satisfaction rating of 88%. It is just ahead of Repco (86%) and Autobarn (85%). The satisfaction ratings of auto stores are particularly stable when compared to other industries. If we compare current ratings with those from August 2017, we see that all three auto stores have only moderately increased their ratings (+3%). The customer satisfaction ratings have been obtained from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey, derived from in-depth face-to-face interviews with over 50,000 Australians each year in their homes.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, SUPER CHEAP AUTO, REPCO CORPORATION LIMITED, AUTOBARN PTY LTD

Retailers warn tax cut stimulus effect is months away

Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 19-Sep-19

Lower interest rates do not seem to be having a positive impact on retail sales, according to Peter Allen, the CEO of shopping centre owner Scentre Group. Allen told an Australia Israel Chamber of Commerce retail forum in Sydney on 18 September that consumers are seeing rate cuts as a sign the economy is slowing, and that they may need to be more careful with their spending. Daniel Agostinelli, the CEO of footwear retailer Accent Group, said that tax offset payments have not had any positive impact on its sales as yet, while Erica Berthold, the CEO of online fashion retailer The Iconic, said stimulus on its own was not enough to lift sales. Meanwhile, the latest ANZ-Roy Morgan Index has revealed that consumer confidence declined 3.5 per cent to a two-year low of 109.3 points.

CORPORATES
SCENTRE GROUP – ASX SCG

Retail king Harvey says: ‘I’m never going to retire’

Original article by Carrie LaFrenz
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 : 2-Sep-19

Harvey Norman chairman Gerry Harvey says the company recorded three per cent growth in same-stores sales during the first two months of 2019-20. The furniture and consumer electronics retailer’s pre-tax net profit for 2018-19 was 8.4 per cent higher than previously, at $574.56m. Meanwhile, Harvey has ruled out retirement, despite approaching his 80th birthday.

CORPORATES
HARVEY NORMAN HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX HVN

Woolies thrives but Banducci stays cautious

Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 17 & 20 : 30-Aug-19

Groceries and liquor giant Woolworths Group has posted a 2018-19 net profit of $2.693bn, which is 56.1 per cent higher than previously. Its profit from continuing operations was down per cent at $1.49bn following the sale of its petrol division, but group sales rose 5.3 per cent to $59.98bn. Woolworths’ core Australian supermarkets division recorded earnings and sales growth of 5.7 per cent and 5.3 per cent respectively. Big W’s sales were 6.5 per cent higher, although the discount department store chain posted an EBIT loss of $85m.

CORPORATES
WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, BIG W DISCOUNT STORES, ENDEAVOUR DRINKS, DAN MURPHY’S, COLES GROUP LIMITED – ASX COL

Foodland celebrates 12 months at top of supermarket satisfaction ratings but supermarket customer satisfaction is in decline

Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 27-Aug-19

Foodland has secured its 12th straight Roy Morgan Supermarket of the Month Award with a customer satisfaction rating of 86% for July 2019. Foodland has now won 19 of the past 20 monthly awards. Foodland was followed by Aldi (83%), Coles (82%), Woolworths (81%) and IGA (80%). Foodland and Aldi have now held the top two positions since February 2017. Despite their ongoing success, the overall customer satisfaction ratings for all five leading supermarkets have declined significantly from a year ago. Both Aldi and Woolworths have recorded the largest decline (-10%). Foodland has also recorded the highest customer satisfaction rating for fresh fruit (84%), bread (81%), fresh vegetables (82%) and delicatessen (78%). Aldi performed the best in dairy (85%) and meat (74%), whereas Woolworths secured the highest customer satisfaction for seafood (51%). These are the latest findings from the Roy Morgan Single Source survey, derived from in-depth face-to-face interviews with 1,000 Australians each week and over 50,000 each year.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, FOODLAND AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS SUPERMARKETS, IGA

Coles boss bullish as online sales hit $1bn

Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 19 : 23-Aug-19

Grocery and liquor retailer Coles Group has posted a 2018-19 net profit of $1.434bn, which is 9.1 per cent lower than previously. Earnings from continuing operations were down 8.1 per cent at $1.325bn, and sales fell 1.7 per cent to $38.46bn. Coles’ online sales increased by 30 per cent to $1.1bn, and the division was profitable for the first time in 2018-19. Shareholders will receive a final dividend of $0.24 per share, plus a special dividend of $0.115 a share.

CORPORATES
COLES GROUP LIMITED – ASX COL, COLES ONLINE PTY LTD, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, VINTAGE CELLARS (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, LIQUORLAND (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD, FIRST CHOICE LIQUOR SUPERSTORE, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED, GOLDMAN SACHS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Recession – what recession? asks Amazon

Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 19 : 6-Aug-19

Rocco Braeuniger, Amazon’s country manager for Australia, says he has not seen any indication that the retail sector is in the poor state that some retailers and media commentators have claimed. He was speaking at the launch of a new Amazon service called Launchpad, which aims to help start-ups and small businesses that want sell their products via Amazon. A spokesperson for David Jones’s parent company Woolworths Holdings recently claimed that the retail sector is in a recession.

CORPORATES
AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, DAVID JONES LIMITED, WOOLWORTHS HOLDINGS LIMITED

Retailers hope tax-cut cheques will fuel spending spree

Original article by Rosie Lewis, Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 2 : 11-Jul-19

More than 970,000 people have lodged their annual tax return with the Australian Taxation Office since 1 July. Retailers are optimistic that the federal government’s tax cuts will have a similar stimulatory effect on the sector as the one-off payment made by Labor in 2009. Russell Zimmerman of the Australian Retailers Association says the tax cuts will allow struggling consumers to buy items such as new electrical appliances and clothing.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN TAXATION OFFICE, AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION, NATIONAL RETAIL ASSOCIATION LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, UNIVERSITY OF MELBOURNE. INSTITUTE OF APPLIED ECONOMIC AND SOCIAL RESEARCH, CITIGROUP PTY LTD

Retailers bask in a little ray of sunshine

Original article by Tim Boyd, Patrick Durkin
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 7 : 5-Jul-19

Carpet Court CEO James Hayward predicts that the $1,080 tax rebate that most low and middle income earners will receive in the next few months will provide a similar boost to the economy as Kevin Rudd’s 2009 stimulus package. That package saw around 10 million Australians receive $900. His comments are echoed by MYOB CEO Tim Reed, who notes that low and middle income earners have a "high propensity to spend".

CORPORATES
CARPET COURT AUSTRALIA LIMITED, MYOB GROUP LIMITED, KOGAN.COM LIMITED – ASX KGN, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA