Another week has come and gone in the retail world, and with it we are one week closer to Christmas 2018. In last week’s NRR we outlined five key areas that retailers of all shapes and sizes should pay close attention to in order to maximise Christmas sales. In the past we have also discussed […]
It’s hard to believe that we are now less than two months away from Christmas. The difference between a good Christmas and a bad Christmas can be crucial to the viability of a retail business. A strong festive season can not only provide a strong injection of profit, but also help a small business weather […]
Written by Sooraj Sidhu and Lindsay Carroll, NRA Legal According to recent analysis by global job search platform Indeed, 67% of Christmas job opportunities in Australia are created in the retail sector to help serve the Christmas shopping frenzy. Last year, Australians spent in excess of $26 billion during the month of December which would […]
December 2017 retail sales data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) has revealed that Australians splurged a record $47.5 billion during the 2017 Christmas period. The figures closely align with the pre-Christmas forecasts made by peak retail industry body the National Retail Association (NRA), who predicted $48 billion in sales over Christmas. […]
Hard to believe that we’ve already reached Boxing Day in what has been a bumper Christmas for the Australian retail sector. We’re forecasting this Christmas trade period to be the biggest ever and I’m pleased to say that we’re predicting today’s Boxing Day sales to also be a record-breaker! In total, we’re calculating Aussie’s to […]
As we enter the final week before Christmas, I will keep it nice and brief for this week’s CEO column. The Australian retail sector is again on track to record the highest level of sales for the Christmas trade period. We have forecast $48 billion to be spent nationally in retail sales throughout this period, […]
There has been more in the media this week about retail stores doing it tough and some having to close up shop. While we love to celebrate the retail success stories in this industry, we know that behind every one, there are countless others that don’t turn out so rosy. There’s no denying it’s a […]
Time-poor shoppers who’ve left knocking over their Christmas lists until the last minute will be able to shop till they drop right up until Christmas Eve, after Westfield today rolled out extended, state-wide trading hours. Scentre Group Regional Manager Richard Heinz said hundreds of thousands of people would flock into Queensland’s Westfield shopping centres over […]
With consumers gearing up to spend big over the Christmas period and summer holidays, retailers are busy preparing themselves and employing young workers to assist over the coming weeks. But are you aware of the laws around young workers? It is certainly not the case that you can pay your young employees at trainee rates, […]
That time has arrived once again – we are officially in ‘pre-Christmas trade’! As we all know, that can mean frantic attempts keep clothes on hangers rather than change room floors; clearing tried-on footwear again and again and again; helping indecisive gift-buyers find that special something; and the never-ending carols loop (that sends your staff […]
The National Retail Association (NRA) has today predicted consumers are on track to drop a hefty $48 billion on festive cheer, during the busiest time of year for the nation’s retailers. NRA CEO Dominique Lamb said despite sluggish retail spending, Aussie retailers will be run off their feet from next week through to December 31. […]
Two weeks ago I wrote to you about the New South Wales Government’s reforms to gift cards, extending the minimum validity period to three years. As I said at the time, the NRA was not supportive of the changes, but we understood the government’s motivation in terms of protecting consumers and helping them to maximise […]
The SMH this week reported that consultancy firm McKinsey has forecast the volume of freight passing through Australian cities is projected to increase 40 per cent by 2050, driven in part by ecommerce. With the added weight of Urban Futurist Stephen Yarwood’s predictions online retail could fast-tract autonomous transport, it’s easy to feel a sense […]
This week we saw the NSW Government pass its laws extending the minimum lifespan of gift cards from one year to three years. I know from speaking to many members that this will cause headaches in a range of areas – from accounting for unused cards on your balance sheets through to regulatory red tape […]
Steve Austin and the Retail Panel are back with more insights into the retail industry! In the latest podcasts we hear from the likes of NRA CEO Dominique Lamb, Christine Moody, Catherine Michael, Gary Mortimer and Jessy Cameron. Major online retailer to launch in Australia before Christmas One of the world’s biggest retailers has it’s […]
Last week the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released its retail trade figures for the month of December 2016 and the results demonstrated that the National Retail Association was close to spot-on with its Christmas trade period projection. In November, we forecast that for the Christmas trade period – which encompasses half of November and all […]
The recently released NAB Online Retail Sales Index for November 2016 has shown that Australian consumers splashed around $21.4 billion over the 12 months from November 2015 to November 2016. As usual, there was a significant boost in original sales for November 2016, due mainly to seasonal factors such as the beginning of the Christmas […]
Many of you may have been watching the media closely around the Christmas and New Year period especially in relation to what we can all expect within retail in 2017. It has been reported that Australian retailers would rather forget 2016, with a “trolley full of famous names including Dick Smith, Pumpkin Patch and Masters […]
by Ben Desir, Workplace Advisor, NRA Legal How did you do? Did you manage the mad dash for last minute Christmas gifts? Chances are you brought on a number of casual members of staff to help deal with the Christmas rush. It’s also likely that a few of these casuals really stepped up to the […]
Boxing Day has lived up to being retail’s event of the year with increases seen in each state and territory across the country. Nationally, consumers have spent around $2.28 billion nationwide in the Boxing Day sales, which is up from $2.19 billion on last year. We have certainly seen economy-wide spending increases in recent months […]