Consumer Sentiment Falls – consumer confidence has fallen to
its lowest level since Malcolm Turnbull took over as PM although it is still
4.3% higher than in January 2015.
More International
Retailers For Australia – 39 of the world’s top 250 retailers are already in
Australia and more are coming. Debenhams and Reiss clothing have announced
expansion into Australia while existing businesses like Uniqlo, Zara, H&M,
and Costco are planning new outlets.
Part of the
attraction of Australia is our relatively stable economy, significant
discretionary spending, strong demand for international brands, a market focussed
on shopping centres and therefore easy to quantify, and our proximity to the
full Asian market.
A spokesperson for
Deloittes has suggested that Chinese retailers could become part of the rush to
Australia.
Aldi Private Brands
Are Tops – recent research suggests that 65% of Australians prefer private
label groceries over big name brands with Aldi being chosen as the preferred
provider of white bread, butter and eggs.
The Council of
Small Business is questioning the survey results and suggests that customers
want quality, diversity and a good price not necessarily no labels.
Burger Pop-up Wows
Customers – the recent In-N-Out Burger pop-up in Sydney demonstrated the value
of this type of promotion with customers queuing from dawn until midday for the
pre-advertised limit of 300 burgers. There is a saying in retail that nothing
makes a product more desirable than short supply and that seems to be what is
being adopted here. Add in a big dose of social media promotion and this is one
pop-up that worked extremely well.
Aftermath of Masters
Announcement – a survey last November found that around 50% of Australians over
14 shopped at Bunnings while just 7.7% shopped at Masters. No doubt that was
just one of the pieces of information that led Woolworths to announce it was
exiting the embattled home improvement concept.