Books –
Digital Detox boosts sales – Sales of e-books fell around 17% in UK and USA
during 2016 while sales of physical books, particularly paperbacks, rose around
7%.
Digital
detoxing is put as one of the reasons for consumers embracing a physical book on
the shelf and in the hand rather than on a screen.
There is
also a view that price has a lot to do with consumers choices. Many consumers
don’t see why they should pay the same price for a digital book over a physical
version that will hang around for years and not get lost in the next hard drive
crash.
Meanwhile
Amazon have announced the opening of another physical bookstore in New York.
Woolworths
Report Strong Quarter.
Woolworths
3rd quarter sales rose as its Australian supermarket division jumped
over 5% compared with 2016. Commentators said that the rise was on the back of
discounting and not much improvement was expected in profit margins. Woolworths
continues to work on rebuilding its Big W brand with more losses expected in
the second half of the financial year.
Changing
Patterns of City Worker Spending.
An
excellent article in the Age this week captured the changing patterns of city
worker spending including the astonishing revelation that an average spend on
lunch for city workers is $15 - $20. That would buy you a few Boreks! This article
is worth a read - http://www.theage.com.au/business/retail/city-workers-shopping-eating-frenzy-sees-melbourne-cbd-spending-swell-to-3b-20170427-gvtt84.html?btis
TK Maxx
Starts Aussie Assault
“Off-line”
retailer TK Maxx opened 6 stores in Melbourne last week, another 8 in
Queensland on the weekend and 7 in key Sydney locations in the past few days.
TK Maxx
specialise in one off and end of line well known brands at big discounts.