Virtual
Reality in Retail - the much hyped technology where you wear those bulky eye
goggles to immerse yourself in virtual reality (let's call it made-up reality)
has often been touted as having uses in retail.
The
most obvious applications might be sampling an overseas holiday or driving a
new car. But US homewares giant, Lowes (partners with Woolworths in ill-fated
Masters launch in Australia), has introduced VR in store so customers can
experience, wait for it.....tile grouting. Yes, according to an article in
SmartCompany, customers go through a 20 minute VR experience that shows how to
tile their bathroom. Takes a bit of the shine off VR doesn't it?
US
Employment Figures Please
It
is difficult to underestimate the importance of a healthy US economy and this
week's employment figures have strengthened the expectation that there will be
an interest rate rise in the US soon.
Job
numbers went up by 235,000 in February, reducing unemployment to 4.7% and
signalling overall health in the economy. More Americans were looking for jobs
and 58,000 new construction jobs were the highest in a decade.
Chinese
Tourism To Rescue Australian Retail
According
to Sky News, the increase in overseas tourists, particularly Chinese holiday
makers, is set to rescue Australian retail from poor local buying
conditions.including high levels of household debt.
Chinese
tourists spend over $1.4billion per year in Australia and that is set to
quadruple over the next decade according to Sky News.
Total
tourism expenditure (domestic and international) topped $130billion in 2015/16
and 40% of that was spent on retail.
Interesting
Facts -
1.
For the first time ever, Americans drank more bottled water than soda soft
drinks in 2016.
2.
UK retailer, John Lewis, has reduced its staff bonus to 6%, the lowest in 63
years. Traders may need to reconsider their own staff bonuses.