Retail

IKEA will open a third store in Sydney in 2014/15, in the north-western suburb of Marsden Park.

Your Friday Entrepreneur Fix this week features the namesake of the Lorna Jane activewear retailer, Lorna Jane Clarkson. She tells Dynamic Business how she’s managed to build a solid retail chain when many others can’t seem to keep their heads above water.

With Christmas less than eight weeks away, retailers have received a much-need confidence boost with the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) reporting retail turnover rose 0.4 percent last month.

The title of the biggest Ikea in the Southern Hemisphere has been stripped from the Springvale outlet and claimed by the new Sydney store, which officially opened for business today.

New statistics show 1 in 4 local consumers support the idea of a ‘try-on’ retail fee, designed to steer consumers away from trying goods in-store before buying them online.

Woolworths CEO Grant O’Brien has announced the company will create 10,000 new retail jobs by the end of the financial year, as the business recruits staff to work in new stores and distribution centres.

Harvey Norman’s revenue fell 3.8 percent in the three months to September 30, with its Australian, Kiwi, Slovenian and Irish franchises generating sales of $1.48 billion.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) cut interest rates by 25 basis points yesterday, taking the cash rate down to 4.5 percent in time for the all important Christmas season.

Your Friday Entrepreneur Fix this week features Colette Hayman, the retail queen behind Diva and Colette Accessories.

Kaeho.com.au is taking on its international competitors by allowing customers to order a range of clothes in different sizes to try on at home, before returning any items they don’t like for free.

Could we soon be living in a world where nobody carries cash? Visa boss Vilpin Kair explains the latest in contactless and online payment technology and how it affects businesses.

Australians are increasingly embracing a sophisticated digital lifestyle, with more than a quarter of consumers now reporting that they use smartphones for online shopping.

A national product safety program has seen over 95,000 unsafe products recalled or removed from sale in just six months, and 100 retailers issued with warnings.

MasterCard registered over one million ‘Tap & Go’ contactless transactions in August, a sign that local consumers are responding to the new payment technology.

Consumers are saving at levels not seen since the 1980’s, leading the retail sector to brace for a dismal Christmas. In the current climate of lingering economic uncertainty, businesses are feeling increasingly cautious about the traditionally anticipated holiday boon.

A greater ability to sell things online and the ongoing shaky economic climate has led to a global surge in shoplifting and employee theft.

Aldi and Coles have come out on top amongst the big supermarket chains in customer service, with Aldi leading the field with a 92 percent approval rating from shoppers.

Ruslan Kogan has asked JB Hi-Fi to remove its “Always Cheapest Prices” slogan, in response to what he said was an admission by the CEO and chairman earlier this week that prices are cheaper online.

PayPal says new estimates show e-commerce will account for $37.7 billion worth of spending by 2013, as retailers begin to wake up to opportunities presented by the internet and invest more in online strategies.

In the eyes of customers, it’s small businesses that are winning the service stakes, with over 81 percent reporting a belief that SMEs place more emphasis on looking after customers than do large businesses.