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EDITOR’S LETTER ETDITOR’S LETTER he second wave of transmissions and consequent lockdown in Victoria is a confronting reminder of how present COVID-19 remains in our environment and the reality that we face and adapt to daily. It’s critical that we all maintain the safety and wellbeing of staff and customers, mitigate risk through the supply chain, the supermarket shelf and workplace, and ensure regular communication and dissemination of information. It continues to be a challenging time all around, so reaching out is important, or checking in with others that might be doing it tough. The ACCC proposes, under its draft determination, to allow supermarket operators to continue working together until March 2021 to ensure the continued supply of food and groceries, allowing coordination between supermarkets when working with manufacturers, suppliers and transport and logistics providers. The Australian Institute of Petroleum and major oil refineries will also be allowed to continue to cooperate on measures to ensure the security of fuel supplies under a proposed authorisation from the ACCC. The retail industry continues to collaborate and adapt with agility according to the changing environment, responding to the requirements of shopper needs and the continued rollout of new stores and innovative concepts. Coles has accelerated its transformation with the launch of its coles&co digital channel, a new experience offering ‘best specials’ alongside exclusive content to inspire customers with new products, tips and recipes. Another example of a retailer’s speed-to-market response is Caltex’s trial offer in the Caltex Foodary shop on the Uber Eats app, making available ‘essential’ pharmaceutical products across Australia, except in NSW, in under 30 minutes. Metcash Group CEO Jeff Adams discusses in these pages the collaborative effort from its teams to respond to retailers in affected communities during the crises, as well as the group’s outlook and growth strategies. Also in this issue, Foodland Supermarkets CEO Franklin dos Santos says the independent retail network continues to evolve and become more sophisticated and more in tune with shoppers and its suppliers. He also underscores Metcash’s investment in a new DC that will provide growth for the Foodland brand. In this month’s Retail World 360 we introduce national media figure Steve Price as a regular contributor as he discusses clever and successful brand marketing on reality TV. ShopAbility underscores keeping the value/price equation at the forefront of promotional messaging and activation as key to growth. The Australian Institute of Packaging outlines five actions for organisations to incorporate and make them better stewards in aligning sustainable packaging design. These are just a few of our new column contributors to Retail World 360, covering a wide variety of topics, inspiration and direction for innovative and creative ideas. Don’t miss out. Join our community and subscribe to our weekly eNewsletter! We hope you enjoy this issue of Retail World magazine, and we look forward to working with you and conveying the news and insights to our readers, community and the broader industry. We love hearing from our readers, whether it be feedback or just an insight on what’s happening in their world, so feel free to write in. Lorna Gloria Guest Editor 4 RETAIL WORLD AUG, 2020