Larissa Ham August 6, 2012 The Age Steve Wright, executive director of the Franchise Council of Australia said that while he noted the internet could pose a concern for franchisees, it was more likely to open up new avenues for selling. YOU spend thousands of dollars on a franchise, only to discover your franchisor is about to sell the same products or services online. How would you feel? Worried no doubt. It’s an issue the sector is grappling with, as franchisors seek to move with the times without stepping on their franchisees’ interests. ”Franchising’s a classic one because over time the idea of a geographical territory could become superfluous,” said the deputy chairman of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Dr Michael Schaper. ”What happens when you’ve got a commodity you need to physically distribute but you don’t need a face-to-face presence … what happens to the franchisees? ”Even if…

Aug 03, 2012 CSNews CHICAGO — As convenience retailers look to a future with smaller stores and a rapidly changing consumer, challenges and opportunities abound, Renee Sang, senior director, Global Customer Innovation Network, at Accenture, said in the AWMA C-Metrics Convenience Industry Outlook Forum’s opening session. “Retailers are saying their store footprints are going to get smaller,” she said, noting the challenges this portends for operators as they manage product assortment to maximize profit from those small store spaces. At the same time, she said consumers are increasingly becoming tech savvy and using applications (apps) on their smartphones to make buying decisions, both through price and product comparisons and by following recommendations of friends in their social network that can be accessed simply by using the phone to scan a barcode. Today’s consumer, Sang explained, is always online, so it is possible to leverage that trend to engage them to…

Terry McCrann July 24, 2012 Herald Sun WOOLWORTHS CEO Grant O’Brien has challenged his political and regulatory masters to look to the future and not to the past, in their approach to his company, to supermarkets and the retail industry overall. In doing so he has also very directly challenged himself on the same basis, as he has to grow Woolies into that uncertain and increasingly volatile future. That’d be a tough ask at the best of times for a company with $55 billion of sales in the latest year — well over $2000 for every single Australian, easily the biggest in Australia and more than double those of Telstra. Just to grow at a pretty modest 5-6 per cent a year requires Woolies to add the equivalent of a Myer, Australia’s biggest pure department store chain, to its sales base every year. And these are not the best of…

July 24, 2012 The Age Online shopping is expected to make up 6.3 per cent of total retail sales by the end of the year as more than half of Australian consumers purchase goods on the web, a survey shows. The PwC and Frost and Sullivan Global Retail and Consumer report shows a record 53 per cent of Australian consumers aged above 15 years are now buying online. Online shopping growth was likely to be stimulated by the entry of more online retailers, manufacturers communicating directly with consumers, more product expansion and the growth of mobile commerce. The report predicted clothing, footwear, jewellery and fashion accessories would enjoy the most growth over the next five years. PwC Global retail & consumer advisory leader Stuart Harker said online shopping was now mainstream and Australian retailers were under significant pressure to reset their business models. “Like retailers in the US and UK…

July 23, 2012 MICHAEL M. GRYNBAUM Claims of tyranny. Calls for more freedom. And a banner with a Statue of Liberty-like figure triumphantly holding aloft a large soda cup, complete with straw. The American soft-drink industry arrived at City Hall on Monday to protest the Bloomberg administration’s proposed restrictions on sales of big sugary drinks. While appeals to populism and patriotism were rampant, the topic of obesity received only an occasional mention. The industry, which has a reputation for deep pockets and aggressive lobbying, has been collecting petitions and running radio advertisements against the plan, which is to be discussed on Tuesday at a public hearing by the New York City Board of Health. The hearing is scheduled to begin at 1 p.m. at the headquarters of the city’s Department of Health and Mental Hygiene in Long Island City, Queens. A vote is expected in September. At the rally on…

July 24, 2012 The Age PayPal wants to let shoppers use its service when buying in-store in Australia. The battle for the consumer wallet is set to intensify with global payment behemoth PayPal eyeing partnerships with local offline retailers. PayPal is in talks with a handful of large Australian retailers about introducing its pay-anywhere technology, which would blend online, mobile and in-store buying through a single customer identity and account. The e-payment option available through an app for Android and iPhones, would allow customers to bypass eftpos machines and credit card companies at point of sale, paying directly from their PayPal account. The eBay-owned company would not name the Australian retailers but said they were household names. The US-based company recently inked a deal to provide pay-anywhere services to 15 large US retailers including Toys R Us, Home Depot, Foot Locker and Nine West. “We are in talks with them…