Retailers warn over Facebook voucher scam

Asher Moses November 20, 2012 The Woolworths gift voucher scam page. Fake Woolworths, Coles and Harvey Norman gift vouchers are circulating on Facebook in what the retailers warn is a scam designed to collect personal information. The $400 or $500 vouchers have spread quickly because of what appears to be endorsement from Facebook friends. Complicating matters is the fact the retailers often have real gift voucher competitions running on their official pages. “Please be aware there are some possible email, survey, website and Facebook scams currently circulating using the Woolworths name and logo,” a Woolworths spokesman said on Tuesday. There’s also a Harvey Norman version… “These ‘phishing’ scams illegally imitate well-known brands to try to collect customers’ personal information.” The scams direct people to a website, for instance Woolworthsfree.net or harveynorman.org, offering free gift vouchers to those who follow three “simple steps”. The site has a counter that appears to…

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Australia Post in fight for letterbox of the future

Asher Moses November 21, 2012 The Age Digital Post Australia … a screenshot of its mailbox with dummy company names and logos due to its secrecy around launch partners. A war is being waged over the future of the humble letterbox, with Australia Post at loggerheads with high-tech joint venture Digital Post Australia (DPA). Both are betting that Australians will gravitate to digital mailboxes, which allow users to receive and pay bills, communicate with their providers — such as banks, telcos, electricity networks and financial services firms — and store important documents such as passports and birth certificates. This is the problem with putting all of your identity eggs in the one basket. Nigel Phair, security expert They will be accessible anywhere in the world from PCs, tablets and smartphones and can support payments directly from the mailbox, with users automatically notified when they have new mail or their bills…

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How to avoid retail’s mass vanishing trick

Michael Baker will be a presenter at the AACS Convenience Leaders Summit on Thursday 29th November Michael Baker November 21, 2012 The Age Charing Cross Photo owners Daniel Caillau and Hai Yan Yang have undertaken a massive transformation of their business to survive in changing times. Photo: Supplied It’s still early days for the technology revolution transforming the retail industry, but the changes have already placed many kinds of small businesses under immense stress. Bookstores, movie rental stores and photo shops have been notable casualties of changes in the way people ‘consume’ entertainment. Many of these kinds of stores have just disappeared from both suburban strips and shopping centres. Ten years ago if you went to your nearest regional shopping centre you would, on average, have been able to choose between three photo shops. Now you are likely to see no more than one. In smaller centres you would be…

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Plain Packaging for Tobacco starts 1st December 2012

Jeff Rogut Despite representations from AACS and other small businesses and organisations, the Government has chosen to ignore submissions requesting a more reasonable timeframe for the introduction of plain packaging for Tobacco products. Many retailers will remember this I am sure when the next election comes around. From December 1st 2012 all Tobacco products must be sold in plain packaging which also features the new expanded health warnings. There are fines of $220,000 for retailers who breach the regulations and sell products which are not in new packs from December 1st i.e. “From 1 December 2012, if you buy, sell, offer for sale or otherwise supply tobacco products in Australia that do not comply with the plain packaging or new health warning requirements, significant criminal or civil penalties may apply.” Information on the new regulations is available at: http://www.yourhealth.gov.au/internet/yourhealth/publishing.nsf/content/ictstpa#.UFqrM7LiZEM if you are unsure about your obligations as a retailer. You…

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Merrill Lynch says margin squeeze puts Woolies at risk

Blair Speedy November 26, 2012 The Australian RETAIL giant Woolworths has rejected suggestions that it is relying on price cuts from suppliers to prop up earnings, after a report from Merrill Lynch warned that it might be at risk of earnings downgrades if manufacturers were unable to cut prices any further. Merrill Lynch analyst David Errington warned that Woolworths’ earnings were under threat from increased labour, electricity and rent costs, as well as a slowdown in productivity improvements, which the company was attempting to offset by squeezing suppliers for lower prices. “The risk to food retailers’ gross margins, in particular Woolworths’, is when suppliers can no longer provide improved trading terms — that is, when the well is dry in terms of being able to provide the retailers with increased rebates,” Mr Errington said. “Our view is that this time is fast approaching, given the parlous financial condition many suppliers…

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