Peak retail industry body the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) has advised that, after very slow November Christmas sales, the stimulus package and lower interest rates helped Christmas sales skyrocket in the last weeks of December to meet early projections of $37 billion nationally in retail sales. Food retail was not surprisingly at the top of the tree as consumers got into the festive spirit. In fact, food sales accounted for more than one third of retail sales over the period. According... ...Read more »

A new report has suggested discount supermarkets will continue to make inroads in the retail sector, while Australia’s Woolworths and Coles both made it comfortably onto the list of the world’s largest 250 retailers. As the global economy shifted in 2007 from relatively strong growth, to deceleration and on to modest recession in early 2008, consumers cut back on their spending and turned to discount retailers in ever increasing numbers, according to the report, 2009 Global Powers of... ...Read more »

Peak retail industry body the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) has advised against an overreaction to the low 0.1 percent increase in November 2008 retail trade trends and remained optimistic growth would begin to return to the sector by April 2009, with significant recovery expected through the September 2009 quarter. The data beat expectations, with food retail again leading the way. ARA Executive Director Richard Evans said retail trade growth for November (NSW - 0.2%, Vic 0.6%, Qld 0.1%,... ...Read more »

The launch of a new seafood website last month provides retailers with the ability to showcase their stores as places where consumers are guaranteed to get what they are paying for. The website lists seafood shops, restaurants and supermarkets which have committed to use approved national fish names standard on all seafood they sell, eliminating the possibility of cheap fish being sold at a higher price under the guise of an exotic name. The fish names standard applies one authorised name to each... ...Read more »

Britain’s leading supermarkets have agreed to a 50 per cent reduction in the number of carrier bags given out by spring next year. The government agreement with the British Retail Consortium (BRC) covers seven of Britain’s major supermarket chains. The reduction will be compared to the base year of 2006 when around 13 billion bags were used by consumers in the UK. The number of bags saved by spring next year, if the target is met, through this agreement would fill 60 Olympic-sized swimming... ...Read more »

New research released in the December ARA Australian Retailers Index revealed a five percentage point jump in confidence among SME retailers, after consistent falls in confidence levels since November 2007.Australian Retailers Association Executive Director Richard Evans said the December ARA Australian Retailers Index showed marked improvement for SME retailers with increases in key economic indicators, but warned the retailers’ attitudes were still being affected by ‘gloom and doom’... ...Read more »

The number of Australian and New Zealand organisations that are planning to freeze staff levels or cut back has trebled since March, according to management consulting firm Hay Group’s latest Global Employee Pay and Staffing Survey. Seventeen per cent of the Australian and New Zealand firms polled said they would cut jobs, while 27 per cent plan to keep employee levels steady. Fifty-three per cent of may change previously-established budgets to increase base salaries in 2009, while 24 per... ...Read more »

The world’s largest retailers are set to get much bigger over the coming five years as developing markets like Brazil and China spur growth. IGD’s latest report, Global Retailing: Preparing for Change, also predicts that the world’s third largest retailer, Tesco, will grow at a faster pace than French retailer Carrefour to see it claim second spot by 2012, with forecasts suggesting a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11% and 7% for Tesco and Carrefour respectively between 2007... ...Read more »

Retail sales jumped in the month of October, increasing by 0.7 per cent - which was well above expectations. The ABS data came out hours before the Reserve Bank of Australia decided to cut rates by 100 basis points, reducing the cash rate to just 4.25%. “The Australian economy has been more resilient than other advanced economies, but recent data nonetheless indicate that a significant moderation in demand and activity has been occurring,” RBA Chairman Glenn Stevens advised. “With... ...Read more »

Peak retail industry body the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) said new research released today in the ARA Retail Christmas Expectations Survey showed retailers are cautiously optimistic about trading during the holiday season, with 43% expecting sales to be the same or better than last year’s record trade. ARA Executive Director Richard Evans said the ARA Retail Christmas Expectations Survey indicated over 59 per cent of those retailers who were optimistic about the 2008 Christmas trading... ...Read more »