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…
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…
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…
Wage growth has slowed in the last quarter, with pay rising at just 2.9% over the last 12 months to August, down from 5.1% in the 12 months to May, a new survey shows. The survey of 1200 households, conducted…
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…
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 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…
Interim Director, UWA Public Policy Institute; Associate Professor & Programme Co-ordinator (Masters of Public Policy), The University of Western Australia