The disastrous building collapse in Bangladesh’s capital of Dhaka which has killed hundreds of ill-fated garment workers and wounded thousands, has finally shone some well-needed light into the murky business…
Four-year-old Ar Zin stared at my bag. He knew there was something special inside.
The classroom full of 30 Burmese refugee children was so hushed that I could each child’s breath, and Ar Zin’s eyes…
David Jones' 40% full year profit slump shows time is running out to embrace the sort of technology shoppers clearly want.
AAP
David Jones' 40% full-year profit plunge sends a very clear message to the Australian retail sector: if you want to perform you need to reform.
Such reform means a number changes to aspects of a retailer…
Australians love shopping online: so retailers must get to grips with the concept.
AAP
By Scott Ewing, Swinburne University of Technology and Julian Thomas, Swinburne University of Technology
Australians are among the most enthusiastic online shoppers in the world.
Our most recent survey, published in the CCi Digital Futures report, The Internet in Australia 2012, has found a quarter of Australian…
Prominent signage of unit pricing could help consumers make more informed choices about their grocery shopping.
AAP
In the confusing world of brands, package sizes, advertising and price promotions, what can help consumers make informed choices? Unit pricing – the price per standardised unit of measure introduced in…
Entrenched monopolies in Australia’s retail sector have made shopping malls a bland experience, particularly compared to malls in China.
Pondspider
Why are retail sales in the doldrums, or headed online? To me, it’s in part because Australian shopping malls are bland, uninteresting containers of branded chain stores and the same old franchises offering…
Is the “waterbed effect” – where manufacturers attempt to recoup discounts given to large retailers by raising prices for smaller competitors – an issue in Australia?
AAP
When a major retailer uses its countervailing power (or “market muscle”) to negotiate better terms from suppliers, should policy makers be concerned?
In Australia, the debate has focused on dairy farmers…
Dick Smith has been vocal about Woolworths selling his former electronics business – but his arguments don’t stack up.
AAP
Entrepreneur Dick Smith has been very vocal in the past few days about the prospect of his namesake retail business falling into “foreign hands”. Despite him selling the electronics chain to Woolworths…
Protests such as the Occupy movements are no longer considered fringe as consumer resistance goes mainstream.
AAP
Traditionally, the work of marketers has been to encourage the shopper to buy. For decades, marketers have focused on understanding, segmenting, or empirically dissecting a product or brand’s existing…
Christmas retail performance hasn’t been pretty this year.
The lead up to Christmas inevitably draws our attention to the actions and performance of retailers. This December there have been very few tales of cheer.
Major players such as JB Hi Fi, Billabong and…
The claim of “free to roam” is being challenged by the consumer regulator.
Christmas is coming, which means consumers are out looking for great deals to fill stockings and feed the family. And for retailers and manufacturers, the temptation to add “spin” to their marketing is…
An abandoned shopping mall in Harvey, Illinois, once the scene of the car chase in iconic movie The Blues Brothers.
Flickr/Kenfagerdotcom
The shopping mall – it’s an essential part of American culture – the quintessential US shopping experience. And Australia isn’t far behind. More and more of us are ditching local stores for the convenience…
Melbourne’s myriad laneways are at one turn dark and lifeless cul-de-sacs, and at another, splendid window-front galleries. Exhibits of colourful ceramics, velvet tiers of artisan jewellery and delicate…
Small retailers are doing it tough and need more government support.
The rise in internet-based retailing has inevitably generated debate on the future of bricks-and-mortar shops, and the shopping centres that accommodate them.
Despite some pundits predicting the death…
The budget shopper is alive and well – but what of the “ethical” shopper?
AAP/Woolworths
In 1954, American consumer behaviour academic, Gregory Stone identified four different types of consumers.
Consisting of 150 in-depth interviews, Stone’s research found there was an “economic” shopper…
Sex shops are venturing out into the High Street.
Paul Maginn
Cities are fizzing with opportunities to experience sex and sexuality. While sex usually takes place in private spaces, it is never really out of our minds. Unconsciously we “know” that it is taking place…
Despite grim predictions, shopping malls will still exist in 2050.
fleskw
AUSTRALIA 2050 – Making predictions about the future is always good fun.
Despite the pretensions of many social futurists who wax lyrical with certainty about what will happen, and how we will work, live…
The Productivity Commission’s report gives the retail sector plenty to think about.
AAP
Amid the panic that gripped the global markets over past few weeks, there have been some further signs that Australia’s retail sector is in the midst of its own crisis.
Along with a sales slump for department…
Despite bleak predictions, bricks-and-mortar retail does have a future.
AAP
The news that clothing and footwear chain Colorado is to close its doors will no doubt be greeted as further proof of bricks-and-mortar retail’s imminent extinction.
Coupled with Small Business Minister…
Woolworths' Masters chain is set to challenge Bunnings' market dominance.
Flickr/beeep
Woolworths has unveiled details of its plan to launch an assault on the $42 billion Australian hardware and home improvement market with its Masters store brand, raising the prospect of a new chapter in…
Global fashion sensation Zara has opened its first Melbourne store after launching in Sydney in April, and if local retailers aren’t gearing up for a fight, they should be.
For its Australian debut, Zara…
