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  • Long wait times driving bad CX experiences

    Long wait times driving bad CX experiences

    Nine out of 10 customers say a bad experience with a company impacts their future buying decisions, with 42 percent saying it stops them buying from a brand altogether, according to new research by customer service software company Zendesk.

    The firm’s Quantifying the Business Impact of Customer Service in Australia Report found that companies that fail to deliver quality customer service experiences may be losing loyal customers, as well as sales.

    “Businesses are always competing to offer the latest and greatest products or services,” said Zendesk ANZ managing director Amy Foo. “But what is often overlooked is how quality customer service remains to be a cornerstone of business success.”

    “What this data suggests is that businesses can no longer afford to overlook the importance of delivering consistent excellence in customer service.”

    The research also found that customers are four times as likely to remember an unfavorable experience compared to a positive one for as long as two years, dramatically impacting a customer’s desire to return to a store.

    Some customer service lowlights include being expected to wait too long or failing to have an issue resolved at all. Highlights, on the other hand, include fast service and not having to explain an issue multiple times.

    “Providing positive experiences can mean the difference between poor, short-term and positive, long-standing customer relationships,” Foo said.

    “This inevitably has a significant impact on sales and revenue in the long-term.”

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  • The Body Shop launches plastic recycling Endeavor

    The Body Shop launches plastic recycling Endeavor

    Beauty and body care retailer The Body Shop is stepping up its sustainability efforts with the launch of its new recycling scheme that helps consumers recycle their empty packaging. The new initiative, which will launch in Australia on June 10, allows customers to return their empty bottles, jars, tubs, tubes, and pots in The Body Shop stores for recycling.

    The scheme, established in partnership with recycling company TerraCycle, was introduced in the UK, Canada, and France on May 10. It will be introduced in Germany soon.

    In a bid to tackle plastic pollution, the global personal care brand has also announced it plans to purchase 250 tonnes of community-trade recycled plastic from Bengaluru, India, and use them in nearly three million 250ml haircare bottles by the end of 2019.

    According to The Body Shop, it has already started using community-trade recycled plastic in 250ml haircare bottles in partnership with Plastics for Change and soon, the retailer said it will include its bestselling Ginger Shampoo. The bottles will contain 100 percent recycled plastic, excluding the bottle caps.

    Fifteen percent of that will be community-trade recycled plastic; the remainder will be recycled plastic from European sources.

    “The Body Shop will increase the amount of community trade Recycled plastic over time,” the retailer said. “Working with a start-up company and small waste picker communities means starting small and scaling up in a responsible and sustainable manner.”

    This move marks the start of a wider ambition for The Body Shop, which is to introduce community-trade recycled plastic across all plastic used by The Body Shop within three years.

    The company said over the course of three years the program will scale up to purchasing over 900 tonnes of community-trade recycled plastic and help empower up to 2500 waste pickers in Bengaluru.

    The retailer’s new campaign uses experiential marketing to tell people about the plight of waste-pickers in India and how it aims to help them by paying a fairer price for their work.

    “They will receive a fair price for their work, a predictable income and access to better working conditions,” The Body Shop announced. “They will also get help in accessing services such as education, financial loans and healthcare services, and the respect and recognition they deserve.”

    As part of their campaign, The Body Shop has commissioned a portrait of a female waste-picker made from 1500 recycled plastic items hand-collected by waste-pickers in Bengaluru. The installation was on display in London’s Borough Market from May 10 to 11.

    “As a company, we’ve always had the conviction to stand up for our principles when it comes to helping empower people, especially women while protecting our planet,” said Lee Mann, Global Community Trade manager for The Body Shop.

    “Our new partnership with Plastics for Change and our other partners will not only help support waste pickers but also champion plastic as a valuable, renewable resource when used responsibly.”

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  • SM Retail Achieves Small Profit Boost

    SM Retail Achieves Small Profit Boost

    SM Retail has achieved a first-quarter profit increase of 5 percent to P2.7 billion (US$51.7 million).

    Retail revenues in the first three months rose by 13 percent year-on-year to P79 billion, while sales from specialty retail stores grew by the same percentage to P19.6 billion.

    As at the end of March, SM Retail had 2385 stores, comprising 63 department stores, 1388 specialty retail stores, 57 SM Supermarkets, 53 SM Hypermarkets, 194 Savemore, 52 WalterMart, and 578 Alfamart stores.

    The figures were included in the quarterly report of SM Investments, which boosted its profit by 26 percent to PHP10.7 billion (US$205 million).

    The gains reflected improved sales from the retail business as well as its property and banking activities.

    Consolidated revenues during the period were up 15 percent year-on-year to PHP109 billion ($2.1 billion).

    “We continued to deliver double-digit growth to both our top and bottom line in the first quarter,” said SMIC president Frederic DyBuncio. “Performance was strong across our businesses, particularly for our banks.”

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  • Burger King slammed for ‘racist’ ad promoting Vietnamese burger

    Burger King slammed for ‘racist’ ad promoting Vietnamese burger

    The clip shows several people tying and failing to eat a burger with large, red chopsticks. A caption accompanying the video read “Take your taste buds all the way to Ho Chi Minh City with our Vietnamese Sweet Chilli Tendercrisp.”

    The video, shared by Maria Mo via the account @mariahmocarey, has received more than 2.7 million views. Mo told that she shared the clip as she was tired of large corporations portraying Asians in an offensive manner.

    “I could not believe that such a concept was approved for such a big, well-known company. It says a lot about what kind of demographics they must employ across the board for their ads.”

    Other social media users were quick to slam the fast foot retailer for making fun of a utensil that has been used across Asia for thousands of years.

    Viet Thanh Nguyen, the Pulitzer Prize-winning Vietnamese-American novelist, shared the clip with the comment “What’s worse, this ad or using chopsticks in your hair?”

    The advertisement was later removed from all of Burger King NZ’s social media platforms.

    Respond to the controversy, Burger King released a statement, saying: “The ad in question is insensitive and does not reflect our brand values regarding diversity and inclusion. We have asked our franchisee in New Zealand to remove the ad immediately.”

    Burger King New Zealand’s Chief Marketing Officer James Woodbridge expressed regret.

    “We are truly sorry that the ad has appeared insensitive to our community. We have removed and it certainly does not reflect our brand values around diversity and inclusion.”

    Burger King entered the Vietnamese market in 2011 but has struggled to win over local consumers. The firm hoped to have 60 outlets in the country by 2016, but as of 2018 had only 11.

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  • Joy City reveals management Revamp

    Joy City reveals management Revamp

    Hong Kong property company Joy City has revealed new management appointments and the departure of its CFO.

    Two new deputy GMs have been appointed: Song Bingxin and Guo Fengrui.

    Song, 49, joined Cofco Corporation, Joy City’s controlling shareholder, in 1994. From December 2016 to April this year, she was deputy GM at Grand Joy Holdings.

    Guo, 50, served as GM of the operations management from February 2015 and acted as the GM assistant from April 2019 at Grand Joy Holdings.

    At the same time, CFO Xu Hanping has ceased her role “due to work reallocation”, according to a stock exchange filing by Joy City.

    “Ms Xu confirmed that she has no disagreement with the board and there is no matter in relation to her cessation as the CFO that needs to be brought to the attention of the shareholders of the Company,” the statement read, before expressing gratitude for her service.

    Zhang Jianguo, 53, has been appointed as her replacement. He joined Grand Joy Holdings in 1994 and most recently served as CFO at Grand Joy Holdings.

    All the changes took effect on April 26.

    The Joy City management team now comprises Zhou Peng (GM), Yao Changlin, Song, Guo and Li Wenyao as deputy GMs and Jianguo as CFO.

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  • Walmart trials new Online Store Format

    Walmart trials new Online Store Format

    Supermarket retailer Walmart has launched a new technology called Intelligent Retail Lab (IRL) that allows it to monitor its physical stores more efficiently and keep costs under control.

    The retail giant is testing this new technology, which includes artificial intelligence-enabled cameras, interactive displays and a massive data centre, in its 50,000-square-foot neighborhood market grocery store in Levittown, New York.

    According to IRL CEO Mike Hanrahan, the location is one of Walmart’s busiest stores and has more than 30,000 items and this allows them to test out the new technology concept in a real-world environment.

    “We’ve got 50,000 square feet of real retail space. The scope of what we can do operationally is so exciting,” Hanrahan said.

    IRL is set up to gather information about what’s happening inside the store through an array of sensors, cameras and processors. It has a combination of cameras and real-time analytics that will automatically trigger out-of-stock notifications to internal apps that alert associates when to re-stock, detect the products on the shelf and compare the quantities, among others.

    Hanrahan said the first thing this equipment will help the team focus on is product inventory and availability. In short, the team will use real-time information to explore efficiencies that will allow associates to know more precisely when to restock products, so items are available on shelves when they’re needed.

    “Customers can be confident about products being there, about the freshness of produce and meat. Those are the types of things that AI can really help with,” Hanrahan said.

    Walmart said with its new IRL technology, customers can trust that the products they need will be available during the times they shop.

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  • Asians show greater propensity amongst global consumers in new technology adoption

    Asians show greater propensity amongst global consumers in new technology adoption

    Asians have emerged as the most enthusiastic adopters of new and innovative technology products globally. The latest findings released by GfK from the first of its kind study—the New Tech Adoption Index (NTAI)1, highlights Asia’s prominence in driving global new technology advancement; with the region’s high demand fueling growth of overall product category in majority of the region’s market by at least 35 percent in both volume and value terms in the past year.

    GfK unveiled detailed findings of their first ever study conducted around the New Tech Adoption Index, which provides a relative measure of the inclination by Asian consumers towards adopting technology and consumer products with advanced features or technology.

    The NTAI leverages GfK’s proprietary point-of-sales data to specifically analyze new consumer technology take-up across over 250,000 products in the consumer durables and technology industry across nine Asian and six key European markets. New consumer technology products categorized into four main baskets2 —Fun, Comfort, Freedomand Essential are analyzed accordingly, including hardware items and those with software-led features such as Ultra HD/4K and Gaming (Fun), Smart Appliances (Comfort), True Wireless, Wearables and AI Speaker (Freedom) and Screen sized larger than 5.5” for Smart + Mobile Phones (Essential)

    “To be competitive, more and more brands are introducing products with innovative features or functionality. In order to succeed in their innovation efforts, it is important for brands to understand where they can find their greatest potential of early adopters, who can then create a network effect for their products,” said Vishal Bali, Managing Director for Client Solutions and Innovation, APAC. “The New Tech Adoption Index can help brands identify these markets, and even pinpoint the specific cities and regions within each market.”

    New Technology Adoption: Different Shades of Asia

    GfK reported a wide ranging spectrum of NTAI between 46 and 146 for the nine Asian markets, highlighting the vast differing levels of new technology adoption in the region.While showcasing the rise of key markets in new tech adoption, it also reveals the fact that the region is home to some of the laggards in this area. The top three markets with the highest overall NTAIs are China (146), Singapore (134) and South Korea (128), while India (46) and Indonesia (67) took their positions at the opposite end of the scale.

    “The New Tech Adoption Index indicates a market’s propensity in new technology adoption based on how much higher or lower their calculated index is positioned from the baseline of 100. We see an obvious trend of market clustering among the developed and developing markets, whereby NTAIs are higher for the more mature markets, and lower for emerging ones,” observed Bali.

    A deeper dive into the Asia’s NTAI reveals that 24 of the total 70 cities evaluated in the study showed above average readings, with the 8 top cities all hailing from China (NTAI range:161-196) —led by Beijing (196) and Shanghai (193). Eight of Korea key cities followed next (NTAI range: 147-156) with Seoul (156), Chungcheong (156) and Inchon (153) showing the highest new tech adoption propensity within this market. Most diverse market within Asia is Indonesia ranging from 33 to 118 with Botabek being the city which sees the highest level of new tech adoption.

    Composition of the index analyzed by the four baskets reveals significant variations from country to country. Asia is clearly a “mobile first” region, which is why the Essentialcategory is the main driver of NTAI across the region. Unique market traits take center stage when it comes to adoption of new tech products for the other categories. For instance, NTAI for the Freedom category is led by Vietnam where the local populations are generally younger, while the mature markets of Korea, China and Singapore exhibit higher NTAIs for the Fun category due to their greater spending power. It is interesting to note that new technology adoption in Comfort category is only significant within Developed Asia.

    New Technology Adoption Index: Asia versus Europe

    GfK also did a comparison of new technology adoption trends between East (Asia) and West (Europe). Amongst the six European markets, the four which have indices reflecting higher propensity in new tech adoption are Great Britain, Spain, Italy and Germany, although their ranking still lag behind four of Asia’s markets. In addition, the gap between the highest and lowest NTAIs is much narrower, in comparison, for European countries—ranging from 80 to 111.

    Another notable difference between the two regions is the higher share of Fun, Freedom and Essential categories existing in the European region, whereas Comfort is practically a nonexistent category here.

    Bali added, “The wide variation of new tech adoption in Asia as compared to Europe continues to lend credence to the notion that there is no one Asia, but it is in fact a complex fabric of distinct countries. And the complexity deepens when we consider sub-national characteristics.”

    Implication for Brands in Asia

    GfK’s NTAI study also highlighted the distinct traits of Asian consumers that set them apart from the rest of the world. For instance, evidence from various GfK reports reveal that Asian shoppers tend to be less loyal, more experimental, and are growing in sophistication when it comes to making purchase decisions thereby making the markets in Asia an ideal haven for new product test marketing.

    GfK Asia’s NTAI offers a view on the market’s receptivity to new consumer technology products and help businesses make crucial decisions pertaining not just to market selections to launch innovative new products, but also provide valuable market intelligence that can help brands in their product conceptualization process to ensure that the new tech product features will go down well with their target market.”

    According to findings from another GfK study, nearly two in every three (64%) respondents surveyed in Asia said that they are less loyal to any one brand—a seven percentage point jump from two years ago. In comparison, the proportion of respondents in US and Europe who shared the same sentiments were significantly lower.

    “However, a one-size-fits-all strategy will not work for Asia’s highly diversified and fragmented marketplace,” emphasized Bali. “Instead, focusing on pivotal factors such as perfecting their distribution and pricing strategies across different cities and channels, and gaining a good grasp of their different consumers’ needs and adoption behaviors, will significantly up the success rate of new technology brands in the consumer tech and durable space.”

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  • Suppliers call on ACCC to investigate retailers

    Suppliers call on ACCC to investigate retailers

    Suppliers have called on the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to investigate whether retailers are complying with the Food and Grocery Code of Conduct,following a turbulent few weeks in which major brands were withheld from supermarket shelves.

    In early April, some of Australia’s favourite pet food brands like Whiskas, Pedigree, My Dog and Dine as well as Uncle Toby’s cereals vanished from shelves around the country in what appeared to be an ongoing price war between supermarkets and suppliers.

    The ACCC said in a statement that it “is aware of the issues and is assessing the matter”.

    The ACCC’s code of conduct contains rules relating to grocery supply agreements, payments, termination of agreements, dispute resolution and a range of other matters. It is a voluntary code, under the Competition and Consumer Act, and therefore only applies to retailers or wholesalers that have elected to be bound by the Code, something that Woolworths, Coles, Aldi and About Life have done.

    While the code requires both retailers and suppliers to act “in good faith”, there may be grounds for a retailer to delist a product that is withheld by a supplier or unobtainable for an extended period of time.

    Industry sources told that this area is open to potential abuse as most suppliers do not have enough market data to argue their case.

    The ACCC invites suppliers to report alleged breaches of the Act or Code and has also made submissions to a recent review of the Food and Grocery Code.

    A spokesperson for Woolworths told that its team members are trained to comply with all the requirements of the code of conduct.

    “We treat our obligations under the Food and Grocery Code very seriously and train our teams to comply with its requirements in all our dealings with suppliers,” a spokesperson for Woolworths said in a statement.

    “If a supplier has concerns with any aspect of our conduct, there are a range of channels available, including anonymous reporting lines, for those to be raised and properly investigated.”

    “While we will always endeavour to limit increases to the cost of groceries for Australian families, we have reached agreements with many suppliers to pay many millions more for the products they supply to us in recent times.”

  • Singapore retail sales plunge due to Chinese New Year

    Singapore retail sales plunge due to Chinese New Year

    Singapore retail sales plummeted 10 per cent year on year in February – but the sudden drop was largely due to the timing of Chinese New Year celebrations.

    After excluding motor vehicles from the figures, sales dropped by a slightly higher 10.7 per cent.

    Chinese New Year fell in the middle of the month last year, and early in the month this year, resulting in a shifting of some seasonal spending back into January this time around. Figures combining January and February sales in both comparable periods were not released.

    According to Statistics Singapore, sectors such as food retailers, apparel & footwear, supermarkets & hypermarkets, department stores, furniture & household goods, and medical goods & toiletries registered declines in retail sales of between 10.4 per cent and 24.8 per cent this year.

    Sales of watches & jewellery, optical goods, and books fell by between 7.2 per cent and 9.2 per cent.

    Statistics Singapore estimated total retail sales in February this year at $3.3 billion, with online retail sales comprising about 5 per cent of those.

    Sales of food & beverage services decreased 2.3 per cent year on year. The total sales value of food & beverage services in February was estimated at $855 million, compared to $875 million in February last year.

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  • Mountain Designs relaunches witch New E-commerce Platform

    Mountain Designs relaunches witch New E-commerce Platform

    Australian adventure brand Mountain Designs has officially relaunched, with a new e-commerce website sporting the brand’s full range.

    Spotlight Group chief executive of leisure brands Chris Lude said the business was committed to maintaining its 45 year heritage.

    “We are dedicated to ensuring the iconic Mountain Designs brand remains Australian owned, operated and designed,” Lude said.

    The relaunched brand also offers a renewed range, with the business having redeveloped 14 of its best sellers, as well as newly designed apparel and gear.

    “Adventure is in the Mountain Designs DNA, and the new range will continue to provide quality, technical, multi-functional gear that people know and love,” Lude said.

    Acquired in early 2018 by Spotlight Retail Group for an undisclosed sum, Mountain Designs confirmed it would offer a selection of goods, including thermals, apparel and equipment, within the Spotlight-owned Anaconda chain.

    Prior to being acquired by Spotlight Retail Group, Mountain Designs had been shuttering its bricks-and-mortar locations to focus on a purely online model to create a more sustainable platform for the business moving forward.

    During this period, the brand’s website was also closed to facilitate this shift, remaining offline until earlier this week.

    Spotlight Retail Group has recently indicated a larger push into the New Zealand market amid a larger revamp of its brands, with craft retail chain Spotlight to open a Christchurch flagship later in the year.

    It remains to be seen if this initiative extends to Anaconda or Mountain Designs – both of which operate solely in Australia.

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  • China’s Coffee Consumption Keeps Growing

    China’s Coffee Consumption Keeps Growing

    China’s coffee craze has gained pace with the growth rate in consumption on premise 25 per cent higher last year.

    According to research from Mintel, China’s on-premise coffee market value reached RMB64.7 billion (US$9.6 billion) last year, up 7.5 per cent on the year prior, when the growth rate was 6 per cent. It is predicting growth to resume to 6 per cent annually from this year until 2023.

    However, while sales by value are thriving, Mintel estimates that the number of on-premise coffee house outlets shrank by 2 per cent as fewer new stores opened than closed. But that is half the decline of a year earlier.

    “Like many industries across China, the on-premise coffee market is not immune to the influence of New Retail,” said Belle Wang, associate food and drink research analyst at Mintel.

    “The quick expansion of New Retail coffee businesses across the country has stimulated more coffee consumption among consumers, resulting in strong sales volume. With the growing momentum of New Retail coffee shops, and an increasing number of international and domestic brands entering the market, consumers today have more options when it comes to coffee. As such, the industry will see positive growth rates over the next two years.

    “However, this growth will slow down, largely due to Chinese consumers’ traditional behaviour of drinking tea and the country’s thriving tea shops,” said Wang.

    Mintel expects positive volume growth in the next two years, at 0.6 per cent from last year to this year and a further 1.2 per cent between this year and next, to reach an estimated 74,000 coffee houses by 2020.

    Convenience versus traditional

    When it comes to choosing where to get their caffeine fix, more Chinese consumers today are purchasing coffee from convenience stores than traditional coffee house chains. Mintel’s research reveals that 52 per cent of Chinese consumers (survey sample of 3000) buy coffee at convenience stores compared to just 44 per cent who purchase it from a traditional coffee-house chain.

    About 23 per cent of consumers who drink on-premise coffee at least once a month have done so at new retail coffee houses.

    “Our research shows that more on-premise coffee users get their coffee from convenience stores than from traditional chain coffee houses. This is perhaps due to Chinese consumers associating convenience stores with a full range of breakfast options. Convenience stores are also viewed as easily accessible and more affordable. Given this upward trend, other coffee vendors could introduce unique features, like providing various food and coffee pairings, in order to compete,” said Wang.

    “While New Retail coffee is experiencing a lot of growth at the moment, consumer engagement remains low – partially because they are still relatively new. However, there is an opportunity for New Retail coffee houses to catch up in terms of popularity by offering aggressive discounts and delivery service.”

    That said, big discounts alone will not be sufficient, as discounting is neither the best nor a sustainable strategy for a long-term business plan. There needs to be other merits such as offering healthy mix-and-match meal deals,” Belle added.

    Latte the top choice

    Mintel’s research reveals the favourite coffee beverages consumed in China’s coffee craze. More than half of on-premise coffee consumers order lattes (54 per cent) or cappuccinos (52 per cent). These are followed by mocha (45 per cent), Americano (38 per cent), flavoured coffee (36 per cent), espresso (26 per cent) and cold-brew coffee (23 per cent).

    A relatively new concept in China’s coffee craze is coffee mixed with plant-protein milk, with 22 per cent of on-premise coffee consumers ordering it.

    “Lattes and cappuccinos are the most popular drinks in coffee houses as they are generally very palatable due to their creamy texture and rich dairy flavour. Furthermore, as they are usually widely available, they are often a first step into coffee appreciation,” said Wang.

    “Once consumers fully appreciate these basic beverages, they are more likely to try non-milk based drinks, like an Americano or cold brew coffee. However, only offering basic coffee selections makes it difficult to stand out in the homogenous coffee marketplace and attract more coffee consumers.

    “As such, coffee houses can take inspiration from tea shop drinks by making their offerings more visually appealing and ‘instagramable’ in order to draw attention and pique consumer interest,” Belle concluded.

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  • Tokyu Hands Singapore to open at Jewel Changi

    Tokyu Hands Singapore to open at Jewel Changi

    Tokyu Hands Singapore will open its fourth store – at Jewel Changi – next week.

    Set to open on the 17th, the Japanese homewares retailer’s newest store in the city will feature new corners offering a selection of products based upon the trading patterns of Tokyu Hands Singapore’s existing stores.

    Each corner will feature a mix of Japanese designs considered “cool” in Singapore.

    A new section Straight up Health will feature pelvis-correction products, with actual devices available for customers to try on.

    “Travel’s Best” is a new corner which provides a collection of products aimed at travellers, along with outdoor accessories. The area offers products designed to make travelling more enjoyable.

    The Tokyu Hands Singapore store opening will feature a Japanese calligraphy performance and workshop by Malik Bin Mazlan, and a Kokuyo Exhibition, introducing Kokuyo products for a limited time.

    The retailer’s already popular Love Writing corner is being expanded with a collection of writing instruments, notebooks with superior-quality paper, and a curated range of other stationery items.

    The Tokyu Hands Singapore Jewel Changi store’s design focuses on the Japanese concept of Kodawaru, which the company says is used to “express careful pursuit, cultivation, approaches, and sensitivity to things one likes”.

    Tokyu Hands Singapore has three other stores: in Jurong East, on Orchard Road and at Suntec City.

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  • Woolworths Heads First in Taking on Kaufland

    Woolworths Heads First in Taking on Kaufland

    Woolworths and Aldi have increased their share in Australia’s grocery market, while Coles and IGA have slipped slightly, according to the latest research from Roy Morgan.

    Woolworths remains Australia’s top grocery retailer, increasing its share of the market to 34 per cent in 2018, up 1.4ppts, while a newly independent Coles now has a share of 27.6 per cent of the total grocery market, down 1.6ppts on a year ago.

    Aldi grew its grocery market share to 11.4 per cent in 2018, up 0.5ppts from a year ago, while Other Supermarkets outside the ‘big four’ such as Foodland and Foodworks have increased their share to 9.1 per cent, up 1.2ppts. IGA’s grocery share was down 0.4ppts to 7.1 per cent.

    Woolworths’ dominance in key fresh food categories has helped its strong lead. The retailer holds the largest market share in dollar terms for fresh meat, fresh deli, fresh bread and fresh fruit and vegetables ahead of Coles, Aldi and IGA supermarkets. The big two currently dominate Australia’s fresh food markets holding over 50 per cent of each of the fresh food markets.

    Michele Levine, Roy Morgan CEO, said Woolworths’ impressive performance places it in a strong position to deal with the entry of German hypermarket Kaufland into Australia’s more than $100 billion grocery market.

    “The demerger of Coles Group from industrial conglomerate Wesfarmers in the December quarter of 2018 means Australia’s second largest supermarket chain now has the opportunity to refocus on its core business ahead of the imminent arrival of German retailer Kaufland,” Levine said.

    Kaufland is following in the footsteps of fellow German retailer Aldi with plans to open six hypermarkets in Victoria over the next two years and more stores Australia-wide in the future.

    Levine also expects the anticipated rollout of ‘Amazon Fresh’ in the Australian grocery market in the near future to further disrupt the market. The online retail giant launched a food and grocery segment (excluding fresh food) late last year.

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  • Walmart partners with Google for voice shopping

    Walmart partners with Google for voice shopping

    US retail giant Walmart and tech company Google have collaborated on voice technology to assist customers with grocery shopping.

    Starting this month, Walmart Voice Order will allow consumers to order groceries through Google Assistant by saying, “Hey Google, talk to Walmart”.  Google Assistant will then follow the orders directly and add grocery items to their Walmart Grocery cart.

    “We continue to innovate for the future and look to technology to make great services even better in the future. Introducing: Walmart Voice Order,” said Tom Ward, senior vice president, Digital Operations, Walmart US.

    “With the new voice ordering capabilities we’re building across platforms with partners like Google, we’re helping customers simply say the word to have Walmart help them shop … literally.”

    “Best of all, customers can be extra confident that we can quickly and accurately identify the items they are asking for with the help of information from their prior purchases with us. The more you use it, the better we’ll get,” added Ward.

    When shoppers say “add milk to my cart,” the Google Assistant will add the specific milk brand the customer usually buys, meaning there is no need to continually repeat the brand, volume and whether it’s a low fat or whole milk.

    Shoppers can use Walmart Voice Order on Smart Displays like Google Home Hub, Android phones, iPhones, watches, etc.

    “We know when using voice technology, customers like to add items to their cart one at a time over a few days – not complete their shopping for the week all at once. So, this capability aligns with the way customers shop. We can’t wait to hear what they think about it and how it’s making shopping easier for them,” Ward explained.

    Walmart, Amazon competes in the US grocery sector

    Walmart’s latest move comes in light of Amazon’s plans to slash prices at Whole Foods Market and to give major discounts to Amazon Prime members. Amazon also offers voice-activated shopping using its own Alexa-enabled devices, which dominates the US smart speaker market, with 67 per cent market share in 2018.

    “We still don’t see a lot of people shopping and buying with smart speakers yet, but this may change if more lower-cost models begin to incorporate screens. We’re also likely to see people doing more things with their voice assistants as they find their way into cars and other home-based devices,” said analyst Victoria Petrock.

    There are still a minimum number of shoppers who are using speakers to shop. Voice commerce in 2018 accounted for approximately 0.4 per cent of US e-commerce sales. Analysts expect it to increase in the next few years.

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  • Newly revamped Sunshine Plaza To Welcome Retailers Again

    Newly revamped Sunshine Plaza To Welcome Retailers Again

    A number of retailers have opened their first stores in Queensland at the newly revamped Sunshine Plaza, which this week celebrated the completion of its $440 million redevelopment.

    The centre’s redevelopment has added over 34,000sqm of additional retail space, expanding it from 73,000sqm to over 107,000sqm.

    The redeveloped shopping centre has welcomed the region’s first David Jones store with over 8000sqm floor space, a 6500sqm Big W, H&M, Sephora, Lululemon, Kathmandu, JB Hi-Fi, Mecca, Seed Heritage, Sheike and approximately 60 other specialty stores.

    The shopping centre’s new high ropes course, outdoor children’s play areas and Cornmeal Promenade dining options are scheduled to open by mid 2019.

    Sunshine Plaza is owned jointly by the GPT Group and Australian Prime Property Fund Retail and is managed by Lendlease. GPT and Lendlease commenced with the expansion of the centre in 2016 and was initially scheduled to be completed before Christmas 2018. But, according to GPT, it has been delayed stating it has been impacted by significant wet weather during the third period.

    “Locals and Queenslanders living further north will no longer need to travel to Brisbane for all their shopping and lifestyle needs — it’s all here, located in one of Australia’s most desirable tourism destinations; the Sunshine Coast,” said Gary Horwitz, Lendlease managing director.

    Sunshine Coast Mayor, Councillor Mark Jamieson said the expansion of Sunshine Plaza represents a significant capital investment in the region and for the retail industry.

    “The calibre of retail outlets will encourage our residents to shop within our region and spend locally,” Jamieson said.

    “Our residents and visitors now have more retail options locally, as well as access to a substantial number of new employment opportunities. This is great news for our economy and great news for our community.”