RETAIL TRADE – AUSTRALIA

Christmas sales hope after November slip

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 18 : 11-Jan-17

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that retail spending in November 2016 was 0.2 per cent higher than October in seasonally-adjusted terms. Economists had expected growth of 0.4 per cent in November, after sales rose by 0.5 per cent in October. Meanwhile, economists note that anecdotal evidence suggests that retail sales improved in December.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, CAPITAL ECONOMICS LIMITED, RBC CAPITAL MARKETS, JP MORGAN AUSTRALIA LIMITED

Festive joy for Myer, JB Hi-Fi

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Original article by Jessica Gardner
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 : 6-Jan-17

Australian retailers recorded solid sales during Christmas. Citi analysts have found that department store Myer and electronics retailer JB Hi-Fi performed particularly well. Wesfarmers’ Target and Harvey Norman used discounting to entice shoppers to their stores. In their 2016-17 profit estimates, Citi analysts are optimistic about Myer and pessimistic about OrotonGroup and Specialty Fashion.

CORPORATES
MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, JB HI-FI LIMITED – ASX JBH, HARVEY NORMAN HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX HVN, TARGET AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, GOOD GUYS, CITI AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, OROTONGROUP LIMITED – ASX ORL, SPECIALTY FASHION GROUP LIMITED – ASX SFH, COLES GROUP LIMITED, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES

Sales boom the perfect gift for Myer boss

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 21 : 20-Dec-16

Myer CEO Richard Umbers is confident sales at the group’s stores will be strong in the final week before Christmas. Personalised gift options are particularly popular among shoppers. Umbers hopes these gifts will be as popular as in 2015 when 450,000 shoppers bought personalised jars of Nutella before Christmas.

CORPORATES
MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, DAVID JONES LIMITED, GPT GROUP – ASX GPT, PAYLESS SHOES PTY LTD, FERRIER HODGSON AND COMPANY

Woolworths smashes ACCC on suppliers

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Original article by Sue Mitchell
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 7 : 9-Dec-16

Federal Court judge David Yates agreed with Woolworths that the retailer’s "Mind the Gap" scheme was of "ordinary nature" of doing business. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission accused Woolworths of unconscionable conduct, but Justice Yates found that Woolworths did not contravene section 21 of the Australian Consumer Law. Australian Food & Grocery Council CEO Gary Dawson said the decision could lead to more companies requesting money from suppliers.

CORPORATES
WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN FOOD AND GROCERY COUNCIL, NATIONAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA

Australians yet to embrace online grocery shopping

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 7-Dec-16

Roy Morgan Research’s latest State of the Nation Retail Spotlight report revealed that Australian grocery buyers made more than 2.5 trips per week to supermarkets in 2015-16, or 1.95 billion trips for the year. And despite the ever-increasing popularity of online retail, the vast majority of Australians continue to do their grocery shopping in-store rather than online. A Roy Morgan Single Source survey, which was carried out in the year to June 2015, found that 26% of Australians agreed that "I’d consider doing some of my grocery shopping on the Internet in the next 12 months". However, just 3% of grocery buyers did their supermarket shopping online in any given four-week period during the following 12 months. Admittedly, this is an increase on 2011 (when it was 1.4%), but it is unlikely that there will be a mass exodus to online grocery shopping any time soon.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, AUSSIE FARMERS DIRECT, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, CATCH GROUP PTY LTD, GROCERY RUN, INDO-ASIAN GROCERY STORE

The ‘retailtainment’ effect: Aussies made 90 million more trips to the shops last financial year!

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 5-Dec-16

In the 12 months since Roy Morgan last focused on the retail industry in a State of the Nation report, there have been some striking changes in the way Australians shop, both in terms of their motivations and their behaviour. Perhaps the most surprising of these is the resurgence in retail visitation. The latest retail-themed State of the Nation reveals that Australians made 90 million more trips to bricks-and-mortar stores in the 2015/2016 financial year than they did in the year before that. For several years, Australians have been making fewer visits to retail outlets, as increasing numbers turned to online shopping for its convenience and (often) cheaper prices. But while bricks-and-mortar visitation is still well down on five years ago (by some 100 million trips, despite our growing population), it has shown signs of a turnaround more recently. Over the last financial year, Aussies made a combined 1.43 billion trips to department stores and discount stores, hardware stores and homeware stores, clothing stores, music stores and newsagents: an increase of 90 million trips on the 2014/2015 financial year. This increased customer traffic is at least partly due to the growing ‘retailtainment’ trend, where stores are working to enhance their customers’ shopping experience with an entertainment element – an on-site cafe or an in-store DJ for example – to lure them away from the computer screen and into a physical retail space.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED

Penalty rate cuts will not save jobs: Citi

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Original article by Anna Patty
The Age – Page: 23 : 1-Dec-16

Per Capita’s Tim Lyons says a report from Citigroup shows that retailers would not hire additional staff if penalty rates are reduced. The report concludes that retailers are likely to pass the benefits of lower penalty rates on to their shareholders in the form of higher returns or by cutting prices for consumers. It also notes that the enterprise agreements of many listed retailers have expired, and suggests that they are not renewing the agreements due to expectations of a reduction in penalty rates.

CORPORATES
CITIGROUP PTY LTD, PER CAPITA AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ACTU, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, JB HI-FI LIMITED – ASX JBH, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED, BIG W DISCOUNT STORES, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, JUST GROUP LIMITED, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED, TARGET AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NATIONAL RETAIL ASSOCIATION LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP

Penalty rate cuts will not save jobs: Citi

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Original article by Anna Patty
The Age – Page: 23 : 1-Dec-16

Per Capita’s Tim Lyons says a report from Citigroup shows that retailers would not hire additional staff if penalty rates are reduced. The report concludes that retailers are likely to pass the benefits of lower penalty rates on to their shareholders in the form of higher returns or by cutting prices for consumers. It also notes that the enterprise agreements of many listed retailers have expired, and suggests that they are not renewing the agreements due to expectations of a reduction in penalty rates.

CORPORATES
CITIGROUP PTY LTD, PER CAPITA AUSTRALIA LIMITED, ACTU, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, JB HI-FI LIMITED – ASX JBH, WESFARMERS LIMITED – ASX WES, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED, BIG W DISCOUNT STORES, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, JUST GROUP LIMITED, KMART AUSTRALIA LIMITED, TARGET AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NATIONAL RETAIL ASSOCIATION LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, AUSTRALIAN CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY, THE AUSTRALIAN INDUSTRY GROUP

What’s in store for The Store? Fairfax readers spend big in the $2.6billion online retail clothing market

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Nov-16

As detailed in Roy Morgan’s latest State of the Nation report, Australia’s online shopping market is now worth an estimated $41.3billion per year. In the 12 months to September 2016, the Cross-Platform Audiences for Fairfax’s three leading mastheads were all more likely than average to shop online – and spent more when they did. The result is that Fairfax readers contribute far more than their fair share to the online shopping market. Some 21% of Australians (aged 14+) read the "Sydney Morning Herald" in print and digital, but this audience contributes 33% of all money spent online. Likewise, 15% read "The Age", but 20% of online shopping dollars come from them. Meanwhile, 7% read the "Australian Financial Review", but their value to the online shopping market is almost double, at 13%.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, THE STORE

State of the Nation 26: Australian Retail Industry

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Original article by Roy Morgan Research
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 25-Nov-16

Roy Morgan Research CEO Michele Levine has presented the latest State of the Nation Report, with a special Spotlight on Australian Retail. The State of the Nation Report looks at the "invasion" of overseas retailers like H&M, ALDI, Costco, Zara – and in 2017 online giant Amazon, the battle for the online shopping dollar across a range of categories, the vital importance to retailers of properly identifying their customers and the desire of many consumers to have an increasingly "frictionless" retail experience. Levine says that although overall spending on discretionary commodities declined slightly, by 2%, over the past year, retailers are in fact more confident about the future now than they were a year ago – although it appears this very confidence is helping to attract more and more international retailers to "attack" what they perceive as the "rich pickings" available in Australia.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN RESEARCH LIMITED, HENNES OCH MAURITZ AB, ALDI EINKAUF GMBH & CO OHG, COSTCO WHOLESALE CORPORATION, ZARA, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, UNIQLO COMPANY LIMITED, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED, DELIVEROO, FOODORA, UBEREATS, WOOLWORTHS LIMITED – ASX WOW, COLES SUPERMARKETS AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, DICK SMITH HOLDINGS LIMITED, MASTERS HOME IMPROVEMENT AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET