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 followed…
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’s…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
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…
Interim Director, UWA Public Policy Institute; Associate Professor & Programme Co-ordinator (Masters of Public Policy), The University of Western Australia