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Boxing Day retail sales as frantic as ever in face of online competition Myer crash and post-Christmas crush both signs of traditional retail strength
(35 minutes later)
There’s nothing quite like the January summer sales, which kicked off on Boxing Day, to ignite Australian retail. This season, experts predict that sales will skyrocket to $15m in the four weeks post-Christmas, up 5.6% on last year.There’s nothing quite like the January summer sales, which kicked off on Boxing Day, to ignite Australian retail. This season, experts predict that sales will skyrocket to $15m in the four weeks post-Christmas, up 5.6% on last year.
There are those that will have you believe the traditional images of Aussie shoppers queuing for hours before storming the doors at opening time – as they did in droves in Sydney from 5am on 26 December – could be a thing of the past as the war continues to rage between online and bricks and mortar stores. According to the annual World Internet Project, online purchases by Aussie consumers grew by more than 46% from 2011 to 2013.There are those that will have you believe the traditional images of Aussie shoppers queuing for hours before storming the doors at opening time – as they did in droves in Sydney from 5am on 26 December – could be a thing of the past as the war continues to rage between online and bricks and mortar stores. According to the annual World Internet Project, online purchases by Aussie consumers grew by more than 46% from 2011 to 2013.
Yet, if you take the Myer online debacle, which saw the department store’s website crash on Christmas Day and remain down for over a week, one could conclude that Australians have not entirely been seduced by online shopping. While the failure of an equivalent website overseas (say, John Lewis in the UK) would cause uproar and millions of dollars would be lost in revenue, Myer chief Bernie Brooks said online sales equated to just 1% of Myer’s annual turnover and that “there will be no impact at all on our profitability or our overall sales.”Yet, if you take the Myer online debacle, which saw the department store’s website crash on Christmas Day and remain down for over a week, one could conclude that Australians have not entirely been seduced by online shopping. While the failure of an equivalent website overseas (say, John Lewis in the UK) would cause uproar and millions of dollars would be lost in revenue, Myer chief Bernie Brooks said online sales equated to just 1% of Myer’s annual turnover and that “there will be no impact at all on our profitability or our overall sales.”
By their own admission, the Myer meltdown was due to technical problems – tech experts, including big guns at IBM, worked around the clock to resurrect it and the store’s reputation – and not an inability to cope with record sales volumes. The store did attempt to appease frustrated online shoppers with free shipping. But was the failure a symptom of a lack of foresight, as far as internet shopping was concerned?By their own admission, the Myer meltdown was due to technical problems – tech experts, including big guns at IBM, worked around the clock to resurrect it and the store’s reputation – and not an inability to cope with record sales volumes. The store did attempt to appease frustrated online shoppers with free shipping. But was the failure a symptom of a lack of foresight, as far as internet shopping was concerned?
"Myer, like a lot of Australian retailers, realised about two years ago they could not continue to ignore ecommerce. And like a lot of others they rushed to get a site up and running. The Christmas Day crash was due to anxious Boxing Day sale shoppers looking for bargains on a platform that was done quickly and cheaply to get to market,” says Stephen Kulmar, founder and strategist of marketing consultants Retail Oasis."Myer, like a lot of Australian retailers, realised about two years ago they could not continue to ignore ecommerce. And like a lot of others they rushed to get a site up and running. The Christmas Day crash was due to anxious Boxing Day sale shoppers looking for bargains on a platform that was done quickly and cheaply to get to market,” says Stephen Kulmar, founder and strategist of marketing consultants Retail Oasis.
Spotting an opportunity to outclick their rival, David Jones immediately cashed in on the crash, offering further reductions on online-only sales items, a move, according to chief executive Paul Zahra, designed to “reward our online customers for their loyalty and patronage”.Spotting an opportunity to outclick their rival, David Jones immediately cashed in on the crash, offering further reductions on online-only sales items, a move, according to chief executive Paul Zahra, designed to “reward our online customers for their loyalty and patronage”.
“David Jones, although very, very late to market with their multichannel answer, appear to have more rigorously tested [the platform] and therefore have a more stable platform,” says Kulmar. But the fact remains that while David Jones reports about 1.5m visits to its site as it undergoes a massive end of year sales clearance, there are still plenty of shoppers trawling their halls and bricks and mortar stores around the nation in the hunt for a bargain.“David Jones, although very, very late to market with their multichannel answer, appear to have more rigorously tested [the platform] and therefore have a more stable platform,” says Kulmar. But the fact remains that while David Jones reports about 1.5m visits to its site as it undergoes a massive end of year sales clearance, there are still plenty of shoppers trawling their halls and bricks and mortar stores around the nation in the hunt for a bargain.
“There’s a real energy and atmosphere around Boxing Day sales, and its US equivalent – the Black Friday Thanksgiving Day sales. People assume it is not as busy as in the past because of online sales, but sales are strong,” says Australian Retailers Association executive director Russell Zimmerman, who believes the instore experience is still preferred by many consumers.“There’s a real energy and atmosphere around Boxing Day sales, and its US equivalent – the Black Friday Thanksgiving Day sales. People assume it is not as busy as in the past because of online sales, but sales are strong,” says Australian Retailers Association executive director Russell Zimmerman, who believes the instore experience is still preferred by many consumers.
Personal shopper Eva Timbs couldn’t agree more. While she regularly trawls international sites like shopbop.com and barneys.com both to keep abreast of the latest trends and hunt for a bargain, she says that for her and her clients, “it’s hard to beat the thrill of finding that something special on the rack. And really you do have to try it on.” Yet whether that attitude holds firm in Australia amid the global trend towards shopping online remains to be seen.Personal shopper Eva Timbs couldn’t agree more. While she regularly trawls international sites like shopbop.com and barneys.com both to keep abreast of the latest trends and hunt for a bargain, she says that for her and her clients, “it’s hard to beat the thrill of finding that something special on the rack. And really you do have to try it on.” Yet whether that attitude holds firm in Australia amid the global trend towards shopping online remains to be seen.
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