Blog

Peter Sheppard When I was learning the required retail skills in the 70’s, 80’s and 90’s, they were quite different from today. If stock was 80 per cent correct and balanced, 80 per cent of locations were in the right place, 80 per cent of your customers were...

OPINION | Peter Sheppard Independent Pharmacy has been under siege for as long as I can remember from various angles including significant reduction in PBS payments, discounters, supermarkets, on-line…. all resulting in sales and margin pressure, along with rising...

Brian Walker “Your intellect may be confused, but your emotions will never lie to you.” - Roger Ebert “You will love this product it has two semiconductors!” Or, “it’s made from 80 per cent cotton!” Or, “It has a quality guarantee of 12 months!” It’s about as...

Benedict Brook WHILE competitors are struggling, JB has posted record earnings. Insiders say it has the special sauce needed to beat Amazon. JB HI-FI chief executive Richard Murray can be forgiven for being pleased with himself today. At a time when retailers, from...

Brian Walker The thing is, I don’t want to be sold to when I walk into a store. I want to be welcomed.   - Angela Ahrendts, Senior Vice President of Retail at Apple Inc. As I write this, Apple have announced a market capital valuation of US$1 trillion. Perhaps to put...

The lead up to the launch of Amazon Australia sent the retail industry into disruption. Retail Doctor Group has tracked shifts in consumer perceptions and behaviours prior to and following Amazon's launch to provide industry leading insights: • 1 in 3 Australians have...

Stuart Marsh Health-focused fast-food chain Sumo Salad is still searching for a buyer after the business went into voluntary administration late last month. The Sumo Group, which boasts a network of 85 franchise stores, called in Ferrier Hodgson partners Morgan Kelly...

Alexis Carey AMAZON has spruiked its Aussie launch as its most successful ever. But these official documents tell a very different story. WHEN Amazon launched in Australia with much fanfare in December, it didn’t take long for the company to start touting its success....

OPINION | David Kindl For all the investments made by retailers into their back-end logistics, are we getting the customer-facing areas right? Aussie retailers are dealing with many issues in 2018. There is growing competition from online retail, overseas retailers...