RETAIL TRADE – AUSTRALIA

Temu & Shein’s Australian customer base keeps growing -as more Australians continue to trade down in the first half of 2024 in response to the cost-of-living crisis

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 7-Aug-24

New data from Roy Morgan capturing the annual shopper base of these ultra cheap online disruptors shows that 3.8 million Australians aged 14+ have shopped at Temu at least once in the last 12 months, while 2 million have bought from Shein at least once. The research also shows that 80% of Temu shoppers and 76% of Shein shoppers are repeat customers; many are also high frequency buyers, with 48% of Temu shoppers having bought from it four or more times over the last 12 months, compared with 42% of Shein shoppers. Meanwhile, Roy Morgan estimates that Temu and Shein together had close to $3 billion in annual sales in the 12 months to June 2024 – $1.7bn for Temu and $1.1bn for Shein.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, TEMU, SHEIN

Amazon Australian adds 1.1 million new customers to its customer base; now 7.9 million Australians shop on Amazon ramping up its status as a threat to all Australian retailers

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 30-Jul-24

As many retail brands struggle to maintain sales and acquire new customers amid the cost-of-living crisis, Amazon continues to buck the trend by growing its annual customer base by 1.1 million people in the 12 months to June 2024. Research from Roy Morgan shows that 7.9 million Australians aged 14+ now shop on Amazon at least once a year, up from 6.8 million in the year to June 2023. David Jones (-5%) and Target (-7%) have lost the most customers over the last 12 months compared to the previous year, while Big W and Myer are in neutral territory. JB HiFi is the only other retailer to have gained customers, with an increase of 300,000 in the current year. A large proportion of Amazon shoppers are high-frequency customers, with 3 in 10 making a purchase seven or more times over a 12-month period. A mix of all Australians are shopping on Amazon; however, an even split between men (50%) and women (50%) sets Amazon apart from most of its peers which tend to skew towards women. More than half of Amazon’s shoppers are aged 25-39, and its shoppers are more likely than the average Australian to come from higher income households (3 in 10 shoppers live in $200,000+ income households).

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED

Dutton’s retail break-up plan ‘madness’: Kennett

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Original article by Tom McIlroy
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 1 & 4 : 3-Jul-24

The Coalition proposes to introduce legislation that would force companies in certain sectors to divest assets if they are found to have abused their market power. The divestiture powers would specifically target grocery and hardware retailers with annual turnover of more than $5bn, which would include Coles, Woolworths and Bunnings. The proposed laws have been criticised by former Victorian Liberal premier Jeff Kennett and Business Council of Australia CEO Bran Black. The introduction of divestiture powers was also rejected by former Labor MP Craig Emerson in his recent review of the food and grocery code of conduct.

CORPORATES
LIBERAL PARTY OF AUSTRALIA, COLES GROUP LIMITED – ASX COL, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED, BUSINESS COUNCIL OF AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY

Myer outlines expansion plan with Just Jeans, Jay Jays buy

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Original article by Kylar Loussikian
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 14 : 25-Jun-24

Premier Investments’ chairman Solomon Lew would become the biggest shareholder in Myer Holdings if a proposed deal to acquire the former’s Apparel Brands division proceeds. Myer has approached Premier Investments with the all-scrip deal, which would result in the department store group acquiring brands such as Just Jeans, Jay Jays and Portmans. Premier would in turn distribute the Myer shares to its stockholders. Myer’s executive chair Olivia Wirth says it is looking at both organic and inorganic investment opportunities.

CORPORATES
MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, PREMIER INVESTMENTS LIMITED – ASX PMV, APPAREL BRANDS, JUST JEANS PTY LTD, JAY JAY’S JEANS WAREHOUSE PTY LTD, PORTMANS PTY LTD

Bargain-savvy shoppers to splash $10 billion on EOFY sales

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 5-Jun-24

Australian shoppers are tipped to spend $10.1 billion on mid-year/end of financial year sales in 2024, which is up $800 million (8.6%) from 2023, as retailers showcase their mid-year and tax-time promotions in a bid to entice cash-strapped shoppers. The research by the Australian Retailers Association in collaboration with Roy Morgan shows that 27% quarter of Australians (6.2 million people) will participate in the sales, which is 1% higher than last year. They will each spend an average of $1,638 (up $22 per person from 2023); 35% plan on spending more than last year, 43% plan on spending the same and 22% plan on spending less. The ARA-Roy Morgan Snap SMS survey was conducted with an Australian-wide cross-section of 3,301 Australians aged 18+ on 17- 23 May.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION, ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Rates pressure, costs keep lid on retail sales

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 4 : 29-May-24

Data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that retail sales rose by just 0.1 per cent in April, after falling by 0.4 per cent in March. The seasonally adjusted data also shows that retail sales increased by 1.3 per cent year-on-year in April. UBS chief economist George Tharenou say younger Australians and people with mortgages are primarily reducing their spending, while this is being offset by increased expenditure by older people and households that have no debt. Tharenou adds that the ongoing weakness in retail sales will make it less urgent for the Reserve Bank to increase the cash rate; he still expects an interest rate cut in February.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS, UBS HOLDINGS PTY LTD

Four-day week for Woolworths workers

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 3 : 8-May-24

The Shop, Distributive & Allied Employees’ Association has backed a proposal to enshrine the right to a four-day working week in a new enterprise agreement for Woolworths employees. The proposed deal would allow full-time staff to compress their 38-hour working week into four shifts comprising 9.5 hours each. Bernie Smith from the SDA says staff who opt for a four-day week would be required to work up to four weekend shifts over a four-week period. The enterprise agreement will cover about 130,000 workers, who will vote on the proposed deal in coming weeks.

CORPORATES
WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW, SHOP, DISTRIBUTIVE AND ALLIED EMPLOYEES’ ASSOCIATION

Distrust replaces trust for Coles and Woolworths – and it’s just the beginning

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 8-May-24

Amidst a massive cost of living crisis, calls for an inquiry into allegations of price gouging and heightened media coverage of profit announcements, trust for Australia’s supermarkets has been decimated. Coles has plummeted 221 places from its December 2023 ranking as Australia’s 5th most trusted brand to become the 9th most distrusted brand (on a 12-month rolling average to March 2024). Woolworths has in turn dropped 32 places from its December 2023 ranking as Australia’s 2nd most trusted brand to become the nation’s 34th most trusted brand in March. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says we have been tracking trust and distrust of brands in Australia for more than seven years, but we have never seen a reputational crash as dramatic as Coles and Woolworths. This is in direct contrast to the soaring reputational trust that they gained during the pandemic. Roy Morgan’s data reveals even more dramatic declines in the coming months; its best estimate is that it will take the two supermarket brands at least two years to recover from such a dramatic reputational crash, and only if they can develop and execute a data-driven recovery strategy that is built on much more than PR and spin.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, COLES GROUP LIMITED – ASX COL, WOOLWORTHS GROUP LIMITED – ASX WOW

Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards: Australia’s winning retailers announced

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 8-May-24

The annual Roy Morgan Customer Satisfaction Awards were awarded in April, and the 16 winners in the retail categories range from many popular and well-known Australian brands to multi-national US retail names. The 13 repeat winners were led by Myer as Department Store of the Year for a ninth straight year, Bunnings Warehouse as Hardware Store of the Year for a seventh year in a row, and Rebel as Sports Store of the Year for the ninth consecutive year. The new category of Online Retailer of the Year was awarded to technology giant Amazon, which won eight monthly awards to run away with the category for its first win. The other first-time winner was Big W, which won Discount Department Store of the Year with a perfect record of 12 straight monthly wins in 2023. Both Amazon and Big W had average customer satisfaction in excess of 90%.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, BUNNINGS GROUP LIMITED, REBEL SPORT LIMITED, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, BIG W DISCOUNT STORES

Coles to expand its private label offering

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Original article by Eli Greenblat
The Australian – Page: 13 & 19 : 1-May-24

Coles Group has reported that its total sales rose by 3.4 per cent to $10.03bn in the March quarter. Its supermarket division’s sales were up 5.1 per cent to $9.07bn, with sales of private label grocery products rising by 8.8 per cent to $3.1bn. In contrast, its liquor store division’s sales fell by 1.9 per cent to $786m. Coles CEO Leah Weckert says cost-of-living pressures weighed on liquor sales during the quarter, but also help boost sales of ‘home brand’ grocery products. Weckert adds that Coles is responding to the latter trend by expanding its range of private label products, including the more premium Coles Finest range.

CORPORATES
COLES GROUP LIMITED – ASX COL