Are
you confused by reports that Australian’s are spending more than ever while
retail sales in major Australian retailers are declining? Well you are not
alone and an article in Smart Company has identified some of the culprits who
are pinching the retail dollar.
Tech companies like Apple and
Microsoft take a huge slice of the spending pie. Apple’s recently released new
iPhone range has had the cash registers ringing across all Apple stores and the
volumes are huge. And it is not just the phone hardware, but the spending on
telco’s accounts like Telstra and Optus that takes money away from traditional retailing.
Gaming is a thriving form
of entertainment and the release of the latest edition of popular gaming title,
Grand Theft Auto, drew sales of $800m in one day across the US and Europe. That
is $800m in ONE day. Add in some new gaming consoles and some more blockbuster
game titles before Christmas and the impact on overall spending is very high.
Then
of course we have mortgage repayments.
Now we know that house prices have been on the rise and the amount of money
that banks have been prepared to lend is huge. Add in a desire by Australians
to reduce their debt and increase their savings, and we can see why other areas
of spending have suffered.
And
what about energy costs – electricity
and petrol. They are going up by leaps and bounds and taking our spending
ability with them. And the list goes on.
At
the end of an article like this it is normal for the writer to identify ways of overcoming the
problems raised...................
.............................................................................................................Hmm............................................Well.....................................
Aaaaah...................... Nope! Nothing comes to mind, certainly no quick
fixes. What do you think? How do we turn around retail spending?