Aussie brands unite to take on global retail behemoth in a weekend shopping event to entice consumers

Aussie brands have united to take on global retail behemoth Amazon in a four-day shopping event promising to save consumers big bucks.

Australia’s biggest retailers have united to take on online global retailers, launching a four-day shopping event to rival competitors like Amazon.

Since 2011, Amazon has invested more than $15b across its businesses in Australia, establishing mass distribution warehouses across the nation.

Centres in major Australian cities have created thousands of jobs, with the foreign owned company employing a workforce of about 7000 people and thousands more in construction to build the huge warehouses.

Amazon Australia operations manager Sandra McNeil said in a statement the investment would expand Amazon’s operational footprint to provide customers with more variety and faster delivery.

An Amazon warehouse in Ravenhall. The company has invested about $15bn to expand its operations in Australia. Picture: Supplied

Research conducted by Roy Morgan found 7.9 million Australians aged 14 and over shopped at Amazon at least once during the last financial year.

The number of Australians shopping at the online retailer increased by more than 1 million people from the previous year.

In the same period, Roy Morgan found Australian retailers such as David Jones and Target lost between five and seven per cent of its customers.

“On average Australian Amazon shoppers are purchasing six times a year on the platform – almost as frequently as Kmart customers shop at Kmart (with an average of 7.5 times)” a spokesman from Roy Morgan said.

“A large proportion are high-frequency customers, with 3 in 10 Amazon shoppers making a purchase seven or more times over a 12-month period.”

Research by Roy Morgan has found 7.9 million Aussies over 14 have shopped at Amazon at least once during the last financial year. Picture: Supplied

Roy Morgan also found Amazon had plans to expand into “big box retail” offering Australian consumers furniture and large electrical items when it opened a purpose-built warehouse in Sydney in 2026.

There were also indications the online retailer was planning to take on the “ultra-cheap” retail market selling non-branded products that would be available for less than $30 and shipped directly from China to consumers.

Roy Morgan head of retail research Laura Demasi said at a time when Australian retailers were battling it out for a share of dwindling disposable incomes Amazon’s continued growth was impressive and signalled a big change in the landscape.

“The disruptive power of Amazon has been under appreciated in recent years, but this kind of growth trajectory puts all Australian retail brands on notice – especially now given its upcoming expansion into big box retail and the ultra-cheap market,” she said.

“If Australia is on track to mirror the US trend, where Amazon accounts for an incredible 37.4 per cent of all online spend, our retail landscape could look quite different in coming years.”

Bunnings is one of the retailers that is part of Wesfarmers subscription based program that was setup to offer value to consumers across some of Australia’s biggest retailers. Picture: Supplied

Australian-owned Wesfarmers is one of the nation’s largest listed companies that operates some of the nation’s biggest retailers such as Bunnings, Kmart, Target, Officeworks, Priceline and catch.com.au.

The company recently launched a new membership program called OnePass to offer exclusive priced deals on thousands of products for a fee.

The program is similar to offerings from other online retailers like Amazon, which provides members of Prime exclusive access to online shopping events.

Wesfarmers OneDigital managing director Nicole Sheffield said they operated in a dynamic retail environment which was always changing, and they were always looking for ways to improve the customer experience.

Ms Sheffield said one way they could do that was through a subscription-based program that would give Australians more value and build value across their suite of brands.

Catch.com.au is taking part in the OnePass program that is offering its members a four day shopping event with access to exclusive deals. Picture: Supplied

“The great thing for us is that OnePass is underpinned by brands that Australians trust,” she said.

“Bunnings and Kmart are repeatedly the most trusted brands voted over and over again above any other brands in Australia.

“For us it is about continuing to build on that trust and just offer Australians great value.”

Ms Sheffield said the expansion of foreign companies like Amazon in Australia had made local retailers operate better.

She said global giants had entered the Australian market and showed it was possible to deliver next day, provide great value and import global products to Australia quickly.

Inside one of Kmart’s online distribution centre. Picture: Supplied

“Australians win and consumers are savvy, but it is on us to keep them shopping with us,” she said.

“Australians love Australia and they are inherently loyal but at the same time they love a good deal.

“It is incumbent on us not to just rest on our trusted brands but actually deliver great value, and that is what we are always focused on.”

Ms Sheffield said they noticed OnePass immediately resonated with consumers because they could see the value in what they were being offered.

“The take up has been fantastic, and we have seen when people become a OnePass member they shop a lot more,” she said.

Melbourne mum Angelique Oliver lives 30 minutes from the nearest shopping precinct and has immediately seen the value in Wesfarmers OnePass program. Picture: Supplied

Melbourne mum Angelique Oliver recently became a member of the program, she lives 30 minutes from the nearest shopping precinct and has two young children.

Ms Oliver said within two months of becoming a member she noticed the savings and living so faraway from shops made it easier to buy items she used everyday.

“Getting out had become this whole day out, I feel like we live in the country but we still live in Melbourne would you believe.

“It was like we had to do a big day trip out to the city to go and buy something, when you put an hour on the drive into the equation it was quite a lot of time and effort.

“When it is all these brands you use daily it was a no-brainer.”

Ms Oliver said buying from Australian retailers through OnePass meant she knew what she was buying, rather than purchasing an unknown item from overseas.

“You know it will be Australian measurements and it won’t mix up inches with centimetres, if there is a problem you can just walk into the shop and speak to a real person.

“Everyone is having a really hard time with this cost of living crisis and the best thing we can do is to support the Australian economy by buying Australian.

“That will help us all really, why would we send our money overseas.”

Originally published as Aussie brands unite to take on global retail behemoth in a weekend shopping event to entice consumers