Electrical retailer, Retravision, have gone into receivership and the reasons expounded in smartcompany.com.au this week make interesting reading.
It is actually the buying group, not individual retailers, that have failed. Retravision is run as a co-operative which is thought to be one of the problems. Co-operatives are seen as a mix of consensus and independent thought which is not as focused as the franchise model. Franchises are more customer oriented than supplier oriented. This might explain why retailers like Forty Winks and Auto Barn have moved from co-operative to franchise models.
Another problem for Retravision was internet marketing. Their "no price - call the store" model just doesn't cut it with their competitors full price/stock level exposure. Add in little factors like extreme price deflation in electrical goods, and competition from rental companies, and you can see why Retravision has struggled. Tough times indeed.
