Are members-only supermarkets the future of grocery?
Alibaba is expanding its membership-driven hypermarket chain Store X, bringing together its best practices from online and offline shopping, as it seeks to capitalise on China’s burgeoning middle class. Two new stores opened last week, offering a supersized format of Alibaba’s Freshippo supermarkets to paying members. For RMB258 (US$40) a year, members can avail of […]
Fear and Greed asks Ben Willee more about Sports Rights
In this ‘Fear and Greed’ business podcast, Adam Lang speaks to Ben Willee, General Manager and Media Director at Spinach about the potential for tech giants like Amazon to enter the market for Australian sports broadcast rights. Listen to Ben speak here: Check out the podcast & transcript here: Fear and Greed – Interview: Ben Willee […]
Is it time for the return of homemaker centres?
In 2019, research by Morgan Stanley noted that shoppers were migrating away from homemaker centres and the big box retailers that flog their goods there. The reason, according to the global investment bank, was that shoppers had less time to travel to homemaker centres. Instead, they preferred to bundle all their errands into one convenient […]
Analysis: Is Ikea ready to become a lifestyle brand?
On Thursday, Ikea will be launching a limited edition 10-piece clothing and accessories range in Australia, both online and in-stores. Could this be a publicity stunt or the beginnings of the Swedish furniture giant expanding into a lifestyle brand? Ikea’s Efterträda collection debuted in Japan last year, then was released in Singapore, Thailand and South […]
Big tech is going after sports rights in the US. Will we be next?
Amazon has made a play for NFL rights adding to its growing collection of international sports. Could Aussie codes be next in the tech giant’s sights and are fans going to make the jump from free-to-air to watch? Ben Willee explores the question. There are two inarguable facts in this world: We’re a bona fide […]
Analysis: Is boring large format retail finally over?
The pandemic has a lot to answer for, but the need for large-format (or big-box) retailers to shake up their business models isn’t one of them, given they were already feeling the winds of change before the world was turned upside down. In 2019, Morgan Stanley found that only three out of 22 Australian big-box […]
Why Coles, Woolies, Dan Murphy’s are ready for the next Facebook smackdown
Facebook’s decision to demonstrate its market power by shutting down every page on its network that shared news content sent shockwaves across multiple industries, and not just in this country. If you’re not already, you should be paying attention. While most retail brands might have escaped the wrath of the social network this time, they […]
What Facebook pulling news content in Australia means for advertisers
In Australia, Facebook has gone nuclear in response to the government’s News Media Bargaining Code. Spinach’s Ben Willee on what all this means for advertisers. For the past 10 months, Australian media owners have been holding their breath as the government went into battle with the tech giants over the use of the news content […]
Traditional media fights back
In this ‘Fear and Greed’ business podcast Ben Willee, our General Manager and Media Director, talks about the state of the ad market and gives his predictions about what could happen in 2021. Listen to Ben speak here: Listen to the full podcast episode here: Fear and Greed – What the Commonwealth Bank’s results tell […]
JB Hi-Fi and Super Retail: Here’s why they killed it in 2020
Last month’s reveal of JB Hi-Fi and Super Retail Group sales and earnings forecasts for the first half of 2021 was gobsmacking for many in the retail business. JB Hi-Fi expects its profits to be up by 86.2 per cent with its appliance brand The Good Guys on track to deliver a knockout 142 per […]