DJs boss Scott Fyfe is optimistic about Spring racing carnival and consumer spending

David Jones boss Scott Fyfe sees customer purse springs loosening, and hopes to capitalise with a re-imagined in-app loyalty program.

David Jones chief executive Scott Fyfe thinks shoppers will be closer to normal buying habits for this year’s Spring carnival. Picture: Luis Enrique Ascui

David Jones boss Scott Fyfe says the up-market department store will release its new mobile shopping app next month, with the retailer also upbeat about the upcoming Spring racing carnival.

The launch of its new app comes as Myer’s new chief executive, former Qantas loyalty boss Olivia Wirth, is likely to use her expertise in the area to ramp up Myer’s customer loyalty scheme Myer One to signal a new and more intense loyalty battle between the nation’s leading department stores.

David Jones will then in early 2025 build in loyalty to the mobile app to bond itself closer to the shopper, compete better on customer loyalty with Myer and offer shoppers a strong reason to visit its stores.

Following a recent overseas visit of other famous department stores, David Jones management is warming to the idea of customer loyalty schemes which also offer in-store ‘experiences’, rather than just points to spend on items, taking a close look at iconic British retailer Selfridges and its loyalty strategy.

Meanwhile, the chief executive of the 186-year old David Jones department store said many Australians were “now living with the cost of living pressures” which have been present in the economy for a number of years, and were prepared to spend up for the racing carnival as well as Christmas.

Mr Fyfe told The Australian both Mother’s Day and Father’s Day had generated good sales bumps for the business and this momentum should lead into a stronger Spring racing carnival performance, as already witnessed at its Sydney stores over the past few weeks.

“Without doubt we have seen economic headwinds hit the customers, what we can see at David Jones is that when there are events they will come and trade with us, so Mother’s Day was really good, Father’s Day was good. So, we are really optimistic about Spring racing,” he said.

“We think customers will trade into spring racing this year and Sydney is already showing promising signs, we had a very good week in the Elizabeth Street (Sydney) store and some of our stores around Elizabeth Street, and New South Wales, particularly on mens and women’s fashion, new fashion that we have launched.”

He said the sales momentum into spring was looking better than for the same time last year.

“This time last year was definitely a time for shoppers controlling their purse strings, they were buying a shirt rather than buying a complete outfit, we think this year that people now are living with the cost of living pressures so we look forward to them buying complete outfits from us.”

His more optimistic outlook for the Spring racing carnival and Christmas comes amid worsening conditions for discretionary retailers and especially those in the fashion and apparel categories.

In recent weeks Country Road Group, which owns brands such as Country Road, Mimco and Witchery, and which was a former stablemate of David Jones, reported that its sales for the first eight weeks of fiscal 2025 had slid 11 per cent.

This month The Australian reported that a range of fashion labels owned by Solomon Lew’s Premier Investments had also struggled to book sales growth. Premier’s Portmans brand had recorded a 10 per cent fall in sales for the winter half, Just Jeans (the largest of the five Premier apparel brands) booked a 0.4 per cent sales fall and Jacqui E had a sales drop of 8.3 per cent.

Other retailers to suffer from slowing or negative sales include luxury fashion and apparel marketplace Cettire, jewellery chains Lovisa and Michael Hill, and footwear chain owner Accent Group.

‘We think customers will trade into Spring racing this year and Sydney is already showing promising signs,’ says David Jones boss Scott Fyfe. Picture: Sam Ruttyn

Speaking to The Australian on Wednesday night after the relaunch of the David Jones menswear offer at Melbourne’s Chadstone shopping centre, Mr Fyfe also said the chain’s new mobile shopping app would be unveiled in October as part of its bigger push into customer loyalty, taking the fight to Myer and its leading Myer One loyalty program.

“Two things we are going to launch. We are going to launch a customer app at the end of October, so that will be a new way for us to connect with customers, we will have push notifications and we will have customers opting in to app functionality which will accelerate our digital offer.

“We have actually tested that app internally and it has done really well.

“And then in early 2025 we will build loyalty into that, so watch this space as we have a great proposition coming.”

It comes as Mr Fyfe, who leads the David Jones business which was bought by private equity firm Anchorage Capital Partners for $100m two years ago, continues to invest in its stores to refresh the offer.

This includes a refurbishment and rejuvenation of its menswear offer at the David Jones store in Chadstone, which is the department store’s third largest store in terms of turnover.

Mr Fyfe will oversee an investment of $250m in the David Jones business over the next three years, of which $100m will be invested in its stores to ensure that by 2027 more than 42 per cent of its store footprint (stretching across 40 outlets) will be refurbished.

Meanwhile, $75m will be directed towards updating and expanding the chain’s digital offerings across online and smartphone apps.