RETAIL TRADE – AUSTRALIA

Muffin Break is tops for Coffee Store satisfaction

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 30-Oct-17

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that Muffin Break is Australia’s best coffee/doughnut store, with a customer satisfaction rating of 87.3% in September 2017, putting the chain ahead of Donut King on a customer satisfaction rating of 86.3%. Although both have performed strongly so far in 2017, their customer satisfaction ratings in September are slightly down on a year ago, whereas the chasing pack have all increased their performance over the last year. In third place is Donut King stablemate Gloria Jean’s with a customer satisfaction rating of 83.0%, just ahead of this year’s big improvers Starbucks Coffee on 81.5% which has improved customer satisfaction by an impressive 9.1% over the past 12 months. Roy Morgan Research CEO Michele Levine says Muffin Break won the Annual Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Award for the first time in 2016 and a series of strong performances so far in 2017 have put the coffee shop in the box seat to repeat this success.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, MUFFIN BREAK PTY LTD, DONUT KING, GLORIA JEAN’S COFFEES PTY LTD, STARBUCKS COFFEE COMPANY (AUSTRALIA) PTY LTD

JB Hi-Fi leads Ikea & The Good Guys for satisfaction

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 30-Oct-17

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that JB Hi-Fi is Australia’s leading furniture and electrical retailer, with a customer satisfaction rating of 90.1% in September 2017. Its customer satisfaction has fallen 1% from a year ago. Behind JB Hi-Fi in second place is an improving Ikea on 88.9%, up 3.1% on a year ago, followed by JB Hi-Fi stablemate The Good Guys on 88.6%. However, the biggest improver in the category over the past year is 2015 Annual winner Betta Home Living/Betta Electrical, which surged 6.9% to a customer satisfaction rating of 88.2%. Harvey Norman rounds out the top 5 with 86.8% of its customers satisfied. Roy Morgan Research CEO Michele Levine says the strong performance of JB Hi-Fi, and recent purchase The Good Guys, sets the two retailers up for a good showing at the 2017 Annual Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards, due to be held early in 2018.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, JB HI-FI LIMITED – ASX JBH, IKEA TRADING PTY LTD, THE GOOD GUYS, BETTA ELECTRICAL PTY LTD, HARVEY NORMAN HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX HVN

Woolworths denies Myer interest

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 19 : 27-Oct-17

Solomon Lew’s Premier Investments acquired a 10.8 per cent stake in department store chain Myer earlier in 2017, but the value of his investment has fallen by 35 per cent over the last six months. This has prompted Lew to launch a range of attacks against its board and its "new Myer" strategy. South African firm Woolworths Holdings has denied rumours that it was planning to launch a takeover bid for Myer at around the time that Lew made his investment. Lew in turn refutes suggestions that his investment was made to stop a possible Woolworths bid.

CORPORATES
PREMIER INVESTMENTS LIMITED – ASX PMV, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, WOOLWORTHS HOLDINGS LIMITED, DAVID JONES LIMITED, COUNTRY ROAD LIMITED, QANTAS AIRWAYS LIMITED – ASX QAN, TREASURY WINE ESTATES LIMITED – ASX TWE

Wesfarmers’ Scott eyes the long game

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 24 : 26-Oct-17

Grocery giant Coles has reported an 0.3 per cent decline in sales for the September quarter, to $A9.4bn. Same-store food and liquor sales increased by just 0.4 per cent, down from 0.7 per cent growth in the previous three months and well below the forecasts of some analysts. Wesfarmers’ incoming MD Rob Scott remains upbeat about the outlook for Coles, forecasting that it will return to sales growth in the second half of 2017-18. Meanwhile, Kmart has reported same-store sales growth of 4.9 per cent, but Target has posted a 6.4 per cent decline.

CORPORATES
COLES GROUP LIMITED, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED, TARGET AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, OFFICEWORKS SUPERSTORES PTY LTD, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, CITIGROUP PTY LTD, VIVA ENERGY AUSTRALIA LIMITED

The Athlete’s Foot wins for customer satisfaction

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 23-Oct-17

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that The Athlete’s Foot had Australia’s most satisfied shoe store customers in August 2017 with a customer satisfaction rating of 87.1%, an increase of 3.9% on a year ago. Close behind are Spend Less Shoes with a customer satisfaction rating of 85.9% and Williams The Shoemen on 83.9% – both of these shoe stores improved their customer satisfaction ratings from a year ago. Roy Morgan Research CEO Michele Levine says achieving high customer satisfaction results is a vital metric for retail businesses looking to maximise customer retention in an increasingly competitive marketplace, and the arrival of giant US retailer Amazon is set to add further pressures for existing retailers.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, THE ATHLETE’S FOOT AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, SPENDLESS SHOES PTY LTD, WILLIAMS THE SHOEMEN

Rebel is Australia’s top sports store for customer satisfaction

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 23-Oct-17

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that Rebel Sports is Australia’s leading sports store with a market-leading customer satisfaction rating of 88.4% in August 2017, up 2.7% from a year ago. It is followed by Sports Power (86.8%) and Sportsco (75.8%). However, they have both achieved greater increases in their customer satisfaction ratings than Rebel over the past year. Roy Morgan Research CEO Michele Levine says Rebel Sports’ victory in August builds on consecutive wins in the annual Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards in 2015-16, and Rebel Sports will be aiming for a "threepeat" in the Sports Store category at the 2017 annual Awards.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, REBEL SPORT LIMITED, SPORTS POWER, SPORTSCO PTY LTD

Debenhams sets up shop in Australia

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 : 18-Oct-17

Pepkor will open the first Debenhams department store in Melbourne on 24 October, and Pepkor executive Graham Dean says the store format it has chosen has not been used by Debenhams before, nor has it been seen in Australia. Dean, who used to work for Myer, says the traditional "big-store" format that department stores are known for are no longer viable. Pepkor intends to open 10 Debenhams stores in Australia under a franchise agreement with the UK retailer.

CORPORATES
PEPKOR, DEBENHAMS RETAIL PLC, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, HARRIS SCARFE HOLDINGS LIMITED, DAVID JONES LIMITED, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Kaufland bid a shock to industry veteran

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Original article by Simon Evans
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 10-Oct-17

Businessman Roger Drake says Australia’s supermarket sector is the most competitive it has been in four decades. Competition is set to intensify with confirmation that Kaufland will enter the local market. It recently paid $A25m for a 3.6-hectare site in Adelaide, and Drake says he had expected the German group’s first store to be in Sydney or Melbourne. Drake notes that independent greengrocers appear to have been hit harder by Aldi’s entry to the South Australian market than the Foodland stores that he owns in the state.

CORPORATES
KAUFLAND STIFTUNG & CO KG, ALDI STORES SUPERMARKETS PTY LTD, FOODLAND AUSTRALIA LIMITED, DRAKE FOODMARKETS, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED, BIG W DISCOUNT STORES, CBRE PTY LTD

Myer leads David Jones for satisfaction

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 9-Oct-17

A Roy Morgan Single Source survey has found that department store group Myer had a customer satisfaction rating of 88.6% in August 2017, ahead of David Jones on 85.1%. Myer has improved its customer satisfaction rating by 2.4% points over the last year, while David Jones showed a decline of 1.5% points. A year ago, David Jones had a satisfaction rating of 86.6%, marginally ahead of Myer (86.2%). The survey also shows that David Jones has its highest customer satisfaction rating among "Pre-Boomers" (those aged 71+) with 89.7%, compared with 87.6% for Myer. Meanwhile, Myer has its highest satisfaction rating (91.0%) among "Generation X" (aged 42 to 56), compared with 86.5% for David Jones.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, DAVID JONES LIMITED

Daigou retailer sells well on ASX debut

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Original article by Jessica Sier
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 25 : 6-Oct-17

So-called "daigou" retailer AuMake performed strongly on its sharemarket debut on 5 October. AuMake, which raised $A6 million from the issue of shares at $A0.08 each, traded as high as $A0.235. Founders Joshua Zhou and Lynn Zheng own 17 per cent of AuMake, while CVC is its biggest institutional investor. AuMake currently has six stores in Sydney and generates over $A13 million a year in revenue.

CORPORATES
AUMAKE INTERNATIONAL LIMITED – ASX AU8, CVC LIMITED – ASX CVC, ITM CORPORATION LIMITED, AUGEND LIMITED, TITAN ENERGY SERVICES, WECHAT, BELLAMY’S AUSTRALIA LIMITED – ASX BAL, THE A2 MILK COMPANY LIMITED – ASX A2M