Sales

Supermarket giant Coles has agreed to fork-out more than $200,000 in back-pay for ten trolley collectors, conceding its employment practices were vulnerable to exploitation and underpayment.

The banking industry is set to face new competitive disruption as it scrambles to preserve its stake in the growing mobile payments market. New figures show that worldwide mobile payments are expected to increase by nearly 61 per cent to 47 billion transactions by 2015.

The Australian dollar has dropped on the back of a lower than expected increase in retail sales, with purchases taking a dive for department stores and household good retailers.

The nation’s competition tsar has highlighted shortcomings with the proposed grocery industry code intended to limit unfair practices and establish clear conduct guidelines in the sector.

The Australian publishing industry has pushed back against a proposal to remove restrictions that have long shielded local manufacturers and distributors yet limited access to cheaper books for the reading public. One of the more controversial proposals in the recent draft review of competition policy was its recommendation to lift parallel import restrictions on books, […]

The competition watchdog has initiated proceedings against supermarket giant Woolworths, alleging it mislead customers over the safety of a range of products including chairs, matches and deep fryers.

The figures are startling: some $10 billion of fresh Australian produce ends up in the bin because it is ‘too ugly’ to sell.

Some entrepreneurs have a knack for innovative business ideas, but lack the key management skills needed to get their idea off the ground and turn it into a viable reality. The truth is that entrepreneurs will be forced to learn this skill or, alternatively, they will need to employ someone to do it. The day-to-day […]

The Australian Taxation Office will audit more small businesses after new figures suggest the shadow economy is preventing about $25bn each year from being spent on the nation’s schools, hospitals and vital infrastructure.  The figures, cited in News Corp Australia papers, point to a growing problem with business owners not declaring cash payments – a […]

Businesses must adapt to the decline of the cash-based economy with more customers increasingly preferring electronic transactions to simple cash payments. Similarly, cheque payments are also on a quick decline with their use dropping 13.3 per cent in 2013 as compared to 12.5 per cent in 2012. This represents a drop of 224 million cheques […]

New figures show the business community is struggling and remains reluctant to hire staff following the May federal budget.  The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s most recent Business Expectations survey found that key indicators — namely those measuring sales, profits, investment and employment — were grounded in negative territory. The general business conditions index […]

The Australian wine industry has not been without difficulties in recent years. But Tasmania has increasingly been attracting investment from some of the sector’s major players.

Growth in the farmers’ market model has seen the introduction of new safeguards and strict quality assurance mechanisms in South Australia.

Most Australian SMEs are not prepared for the switch to chip and PIN based card payments according to new research commissioned by PayPal Australia.

The competition watchdog is attempting to smash open an alleged egg cartel, claiming farmers in the $1.7bn industry were encouraged to manipulate profits by artificially decreasing supply.

The fortunes of one Tasmanian business have risen to international prominence on the growing popularity of a small purple bear, popularised in China and Hong Kong, thanks to a unique marketing strategy.

According to the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry’s most recent small business survey, investment in plants and equipment has dropped to its lowest level in five years. In addition, investment in buildings and structures is also on the slide.

It’s a new method of pizza delivery, and one small business owner says it has the potential to save him on delivery costs.  Dan Gold, owner of the newly established MELT Pizza located on Melbourne’s Chapel Street, has opted to use ride sharing app UberX to deliver his Napoli-style woodfired pizzas to customers. Mr Gold […]

A new retail index tracking weekly sales will give business owners the ability to better measure their performance and adapt to changing market conditions.

Websites and social media are top SME marketing priorities, while PR and SEO come last.