Tag: Retail

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.

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.

Local business owners are feeling pessimistic about seeing revenue rises during the upcoming Christmas season, as many express doubt the economy will improve any time soon.

Rhondalynn Korolak blogs about standing out in a marketplace where imitations are plentiful.

“If you continue to compete based on price alone (or intangible claims), 99 percent of your customers will continue to assume that you are not the real deal either.”

Online entrepreneur Ruslan Kogan has issued a challenge to his big bricks and mortar retail competitors, in the belief he delivers Australia’s cheapest electronics.

Stuart Bennie looks at the retail revolution, and whether it’s happening thanks only to the internet.

“The revolution is far deeper than internet sales. Technology is providing the shopper with a raft of options previously unthinkable.”

It’s impossible to ignore that the local retail environment is struggling to make ends meet, as local consumer behaviour shifts and retailers look to international suppliers in an effort to circumvent local wholesalers and manufacturers.

One can easily describe the current retail market as “it was the best of times; it was the worst of times”. On one hand, retailers are being slammed from a number of directions, but on the other, internet activity has doubled in the last 4 years and will directly contribute $70 billion to the economy within 5 years.

Poor performance has led Harvey Norman to decide to axe the Clive Peeters and Rick Hart brands, with seven stores to be closed and a further 16 to be converted into Harvey Norman or Joyce Mayne formats.

The retail industry received the surprise news yesterday that Premier Retail will close 50 of its stores in Australia and New Zealand and cut staff numbers, as part of new CEO Mark McInnes’ efforts to return the business to profitability.