Canât help to think that Woolworths should offload its NZ supermarket arm. Certainly a distraction having that business over the ditch.
Vacuum cleaner retailer Godfreys has gone into voluntary administration.
No surprises there. They would be better going online only and build the business from its existing name , bit like Dick Smith.
Iâd expect many more retailers to fall over the coming year or two. Those that are in discretionary that only target one specific market. My local fishing store just shut, a safety store also gone.
Apparently closing 200 stores asap.
400 stores to remain with a new buyer. (If they can get a buyer)
Godfreys had 600 stores?
Nine reported this evening that 54 stores will close in the next two weeks, resulting in almost 200 staff losing their jobs. Saving the remaining stores and employees will depend if there is a buyer.
I believe itâs only 154 company owned store and 23 franchise stores.
Godfreys has that same feeling as a matress store - something built around a once or twice a decade purchase, and likely killed by the move to bagless vacs killing their old printer ink model.
Some of the stores have absolutely gigantic footprints, though I suppose they must just own the land themselves and just have very little overhead? Iâd expect though the small ones in shopping strips are the ones most likely to go, as they likely are rented spaces with higher cost bases.
I could imagine that as the only real reason for a buyer - that thereâs a lot of store locations you could likely do something else with - depending on whatâs close. I donât see the brand and concept of store sticking around long term.
I think Countdown more than Pak NâSave/New World has been hurt by the WFH surge in the last few years, as well as the move from mall trading which seems to be happening a lot in NZ currently.
Only time Iâve ever been in one is to get cleaning fluid for a steam mop. Otherwise theyâre depressing relics.
Outdoor Supacentre pays $300k penalty for spam breaches
Four-wheel drive and camping accessory retailer Outdoor Supacentre Pty Ltd (trading as 4WD Supacentre) has paid a $302,500 penalty for sending more than 83,000 marketing text messages in breach of Australian spam laws.
An Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) investigation found that between December 2022 and May 2023, Outdoor Supacentre sent 81,698 text messages to recipients without their consent and 1,575 texts to customers who had previously unsubscribed.
ACMA member Samantha Yorke said Australians are becoming increasingly frustrated about receiving commercial promotions from companies without their agreement.
âBusinesses have a responsibility not to send unwanted spam and also to respect peopleâs wishes when they ask to stop receiving these messages,â Ms Yorke said.
In the 11 months prior to opening its formal investigation, the ACMA sent 5 spam compliance alerts to Outdoor Supacentre after receiving consumer complaints.
âThe alerts serve as a warning that businesses may have compliance issues with their e-marketing systems, so itâs disappointing that Outdoor Supacentre didnât take the opportunity to adequately address the problems before we had to step in,â Ms Yorke said.
The spam rules require businesses to have consent from consumers to receive e-marketing messages. Messages must also contain an unsubscribe function. When a business receives an unsubscribe request, it must be actioned within five business days.
In addition to the financial penalty, the ACMA has also accepted a three-year court-enforceable undertaking from Outdoor Supacentre, committing it to appoint an independent consultant to review its compliance with spam rules and to make improvements where needed. Outdoor Supacentre must also report regularly to the ACMA.
âAny business that conducts e-marketing needs to follow the rules and the way you do that is by regularly reviewing your processes to ensure they remain within the law.â
âOutdoor Supacentre used a third-party provider for elements of its marketing processes, but companies canât outsource their compliance obligations,â Ms Yorke said.
This action follows recent enforcement taken against other companies that have breached the spam laws, including Kmart, DoorDash, Ticketek and Uber.
Enforcement of the spam unsubscribe rules is one of the ACMAâs compliance priorities and over the last 18 months businesses have paid more than $12.5 million in penalties for breaches of the spam rules.
The supermarket is trailing a new colour-coded system marking Card-Only check outs in grey and Cash and Card tills in a bright green.
Wow! This makes news. Usually thereâs someone asking anyway. WW should fix the payment options - it takes too slow to load the gift card section, it automatically chooses âCARDâ then select âother optionâ it loads and then says "cancelling payment methodâ and then circles back to the options⌠then it loads gift card. A slow and painful process! By scanning your gift card, it should auto by pass all tenders and go straight to asking for your PIN.
Also compared to Coles, you need to ensure thereâs enough credit otherwise it cancels and then usually requires someone to âoverride the systemâ to let you scan again⌠UGH! Coles just takes the balance if its not sufficient and then asks for another payment method.
Everday pay solves all those issues, it links your rewards card, gift cards and bank card all in one app. It uses your gift card credit first then pays the rest with your bank card if not enough to cover it.
This is what WW donât get. Why should people have to use another separate app just to make it easier to shop there? They could easily solve all these issues without making people use another app.
They âgetâ it perfectly fine but itâs all about data harvesting and then presenting you with offers etc to spend more.
Regarding the self serve checkouts, there are usually more âcard onlyâ machines than the âcash onesâ, which i understand. But one thing that annoys me, is that when these checkouts are quiet, that people who use cards (and not use cash out) still use the cash-only machines. I am âold styleâ and still use cash, so when i go to these self-serve checkouts, i have to line up behind these people, and wait patiently, for them to finish, so i can use cash.
This is what the rewards card does. You donât then need to go and build a separate app and convince people to by in.
In a world of apps and digital-first customer experiences, yes you do.
Not everyone carries around a physical card, most people (of a certain age) carry a smartphone.
Everyday Pay is a nightmare. There is a known bug that when you press âpaymentâ it wipes all gift cards connected to your account, including any bank account funds also, then errors and reverts back to the payment screen. Took 2 months to get my gift cards back and a refund. They ceded itâs a known issue but they donât have a fix yet.