As
headwinds continue to dominate the retail sector key player, Myer’s, is
struggling and its retail strategy is under review.
Special
sales events became an overused tool for Australian retailers particularly department
stores. Myer was one of the drivers in discount sales as once a year and twice
a year sales became “any excuse” sales and customers developed an expectation
that you didn’t buy anything without a red sticker.
Myers more
recent strategy was to wean consumers off sales and concentrate on value
brands, They invested a lot of money in the Sass & Bide and Topshop fashion
brands with Topshop Australia recently calling in the administrators, and Sass
& Bide struggling to meet brand expectations.
Write
downs on those two key components and the cost of implementing their new
strategy is expected to impact heavily on their 2017 bottom line and Myer’s
share price has tumbled as a result. After trading at a high of $1.46 during the year, Myer's share price was down to $0.75 on Friday.
Myer
insists that they will be sticking to their new strategy, but twice failing to
reach market expectations this year has many commentators questioning their approach.
Retailing is certainly a tough game right now.