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Online shopping

Yesterday

Woolworths boss Amanda Bardwell speaks at the ACCC hearing on Tuesday.

Woolworths suppliers put on ‘holiday’ for price pushback, ACCC hears

The competition regulator’s public hearings have been told some producers did not receive any orders from the supermarket if they refused to drop prices.

  • Carrie LaFrenz

This Month

Kristy Bannister

Small retailers give a ‘hard no’ to Black Friday and the big sales

Dr Dough Donuts boss Kristy Bannister says discount blitzes like Black Friday do more harm than good for smaller retailers by creating “unsustainable” expectations.

  • Gus McCubbing
Koala founders Mitch Taylor and Dany Milham in the early days of the business.

Milkrun founder Milham returns to his roots at Koala

Koala co-founder Dany Milham will return to the chief executive role at the online furniture retailer he created in 2015, as it booked an annual profit.

  • Paul Smith

October

Cynthia Scott has navigated Zip Co back towards growth after rising interest rates in 2022 crunched the company’s valuation.

Zip banks on interest rate cuts as transaction volumes soar

The buy now, pay later group has endured a difficult two years and returned to growth, particularly in the US, where the majority of sales are processed.

  • James Eyers
Mark Coulter CEO of Temple & Webster has tuck to full year margin guidance. 

Temple & Webster sales growth slows

The online furniture retailer is the latest to show sales momentum is slowing this half.

  • Carrie LaFrenz
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eBay isn’t as fun as it used to be. It’s less an auction site now, and more an online marketplace.

Ebay struggle’s to stay relevant

It’s become just another online marketplace, as the auctions that once added to the thrill of the chase now make up a small fraction of transactions.

  • Ben East
Foot Locker vice president Asia Pacific, Natalie Ellis, in the new store in Melbourne Central.

Foot Locker goes all in on basketball with new Melbourne mega-store

The American sporting giant is hoping to grab the attention of a generation of shoppers who have more choices than ever for where to buy their sneakers.

  • Carrie LaFrenz
Dale Smedley (left) and Shaun Trevillian (right) are two former tradies who have built Golf Gods into a business generating sales of $6 million a year.

Ex-tradies go from zero to $6m by swinging for young golfers

Online retailer Golf Gods takes the “Happy Gilmore” approach to its line of offbeat clothing that aims to take the stuffiness out of the game.

  • Simon Evans
JPMorgan has done a deal with Quest to enter “merchant acquiring” in Australia where it will compete with major banks for retailers.

JPMorgan enters Australian payments as competition heats up

The world’s largest bank said it would start offering “merchant acquiring” services in Australia, in the latest threat to major banks’ payments margins.

  • James Eyers

September

Google plans to roll out AI Overviews in Australia very soon.

Google to test its artificial intelligence-powered search in Australia

Known as AI Overviews, the change is the biggest to the platform in years. But news publishers and e-commerce sites fear it could leave them out in the cold.

  • Sam Buckingham-Jones
Anthony Scali has big ambitions for his family’s furniture retailer.

Nick Scali wants to conquer Britain. Does it stand a chance?

The ASX-listed furniture retailer has made a big bet on the United Kingdom, where plenty of big Australian companies have come unstuck.

  • Hans van Leeuwen and Carrie LaFrenz
Rajneen Aroro wants to further her studies at Harvard.

What this exec has learnt from becoming a CEO at 29

In 2022, Rajneen Arora was the GM of Best Gift Group when the hospitality gift card company fielded a buyout offer. The deal was contingent on Arora becoming its chief executive.

  • Sally Patten
Cettire’s reclusive founder, Dean Mintz is buying shares again.

Cettire’s Dean Mintz rewards the faithful

Not much is known about reclusive Cettire founder Dean Mintz. But it’s clear the man reads his reviews.

  • Myriam Robin

August

The cost of paying with a credit card has come under considerable scrutiny as the prevalence of surcharges increases.

Mastercard argues cash costs more than card in bid to stymie fee limit

A Boston Consulting Group report commissioned by the global payments giant has found there are plenty of “hidden” costs to using cash, which could be reduced.

  • James Eyers
Brad Banducci has run Woolworths for eight years. He presented his last financial update on Wednesday.

Woolworths loses ground to Coles after tumultuous year

The major retailer recorded a slight fall in underlying profit, which were all but wiped out by a big write-down in its New Zealand business.

  • Updated
  • Carrie LaFrenz
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The founder of digiDirect Shant Kradjian has snapped up online book seller Booktopia where he plans to add 100 jobs.

Booktopia emerges from administration after sale to digiDirect

The company was once worth $400 million. The founder of digiDirect says he intends to invest in the business to turn around its poor performance.

  • Carrie LaFrenz
Temple & Webster CEO Mark Coulter.

Temple & Webster bucks retail slump, shares soar

The online furniture retailer’s shares have jumped 23 per cent after it achieved almost $500 million in sales by expanding its market share.

  • Carrie LaFrenz
Conveyor belts cut the number of kilometres walked by warehouse staff from 14 to 1.5 a day.

Crowded field down to one as Booktopia emerges with new owner

DigiDirect, a privately held electronics retailer, has all but won a McGrathNicol-led sale process, which kicked off when the bookstore collapsed in July.

  • Sarah Thompson, Kanika Sood and Emma Rapaport
Afterpay co-founder Nick Molnar.

Nick Molnar to step up at Block, will report to Jack Dorsey

On the three-year anniversary of Afterpay’s blockbuster sale to Block, its founder Jack Dorsey has promoted Nick Molnar to head of sales.

  • James Eyers

July

n 2020, there was a global rush to secure masks to try to restrict the spread of COVID-19 – some of the results were far from satisfactory.

Importers got rich on COVID masks; the shipment’s still on the dock

When COVID-19 erupted around the world, the race was on to secure masks and gowns. Middlemen were in lucrative taxpayer deals, even one which went awry.

  • Liam Walsh and Neil Chenoweth

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/online-shopping-1mqs