ARA supports Boxing Day trade in NSW
The Australian Retailers Association supports NSW retailers opening their doors this Boxing Day, despite union opposition.
Last year was the first year all retailers in NSW could trade on the Boxing Day public holiday. Previously, trade on December 26 had been restricted to tourist precincts such as the Sydney CBD.
“Boxing Day is possibly the busiest day of the trading year, and retailers should have the opportunity to trade and give staff the chance to work if they wish to,” ARA Executive Director Russell Zimmerman said. “It isn’t compulsory to work, under NSW legislation.”
Shoppers set for festive splurge
Australia’s shoppers are expected to make 1.5 billion transactions between this weekend and the end of January’s post-Christmas sales, peaking at around 85,000 transactions per minute, according to research from Tyro Payments.
Shoppers will spend up to $100 billion over the six weeks, with some retailers relying on sales in this period for 60 per cent of their yearly revenues.
“At a time of 24-hour retail trade during the busiest time of the year, it’s critical that Australians have access to reliable 24-seven banking,” Tyro Executive Director Jost Stollmann said. “Competition from international online retailers is fiercer than ever, so Australians need to be confident in their bank’s ability to rise to the challenge of this golden season.”
Toll introduces first pop-up delivery hub
Toll Group has launched a consumer-to-consumer parcel-delivery service, with the opening of pop-up delivery hubs in selected Westfield shopping centres.
The service is aimed at helping consumers skip queues and access competitive pricing for fast domestic parcel deliveries. The pop-up delivery hubs will be open seven days a week at centres in Bondi Junction (Sydney), Doncaster (Melbourne) and Carindale (Brisbane).
Woolworths to label Australian pork
Woolworths has introduced Australian Pork’s pink ‘PorkMark’ logo across its entire own-brand ham-on-the-bone range, which the retailer says will help to support pig farmers in Australia over Christmas.
Woolworths says it sold 3.7 million kg of Australian ham at Christmas in 2015, and is expecting ham to be the most popular meat choice for festive celebrations this year. The PorkMark appears on a range of Christmas hams across Woolworths stores nationally, including:
- Ham Hickory Smoked Gourmet Half.
- Woolworths Half Leg Ham.
- Woolworths Full Leg Ham.
- Woolworths Double Smoked Half Leg Ham Bone In.
- Woolworths Gold Free Range Leg Ham.
- Woolworths Gold Free Range Quarter Leg Ham.
More paying with debit
Shoppers in Australia are looking to debit and EFTPOS cards, rather than credit cards, to pay for their Christmas gift shopping in 2016, according to research from the Retail Council.
Cash payments are also declining, with only 20 per cent of surveyed shoppers saying they would rely on the once traditional payment method for their shopping in 2016.
“This year, 40 per cent of Aussies will reach for their debit cards at the tills while doing their Christmas shopping, compared with 35 per cent planning to use credit,” Retail Council Acting CEO Steve Wright said. “In 2015, credit use was around 37 per cent, and debit only 32 per cent.”