Woolworths acquires online store MyDeal

Woolworths Group has defended its proposed acquisition of MyDeal.com.au, indicating it would provide the company with greater choice and better value for its shareholders.
MyDeal’s founder and CEO Sean Senvirtne would retain a 20 percent stake in the company.
The battle for online retailers is heating up after Woolworths revealed it would acquire a majority stake in MyDeal for $243 million.
The acquisition is part of Woolworths’ efforts to expand its online presence. It launched its Everyday Market platform last September. It features a variety of goods and services, such as baby items and electronics.
Woolworths said that the acquisition would help the company expand its online presence. He noted that MyDeal would also enhance the company’s offerings in the areas of general merchandise and furniture.
While the company’s Australian food business is a core part of its operations, it was also possible to expand its offerings by acquiring complementary businesses, such as those in the general merchandise and furniture sectors.
The logic behind Woolworths’ acquisition of MyDeal.com.au, which is regarded as the fifth-largest online retailer in Australia, has been questioned by analysts.
The company had struggled to generate returns from its non-food businesses and the acquisition was seen as a tacit acknowledgement that the company’s food business had not been performing well.
In 2016, Woolworths ended it’s mismanaged expansion into the home improvement industry by selling and writing off its EziBuy online business.
In December, Woolworths made a final bid of $850 million for the Australian pharmaceutical industry’s Priceline Pharmacy. However, it was eventually dropped by the company in January.
The company’s management team will retain a 20 percent stake in the company. The company, which has over a thousand vendors, has over a million active customers. In addition to serving the food industry, the company also has a strong presence in the home improvement and furniture sectors.
Despite the high price of the offer MyDeal plans to support the deal. The board of directors of MyDeal unanimously recommended the deal.
The decision to allow Woolworths to purchase a large portion of the company’s shares has also raised the prospect of the deal going through.
Woolworths are continualy looking at other business areas to grow revenue. This includes their Woolworths Insurance brand that has been growing in market share. You can get a great deal at Woolworths Insurance with a Everyday Insurance coupon.

Continual lockdowns are affecting retailers

The Australian share market is on track to close lower after oil prices spiked to a three-year high. This has caused another drop in retail sales.
Retail sales fell for a third straight month in September, largely due to the effects of the carbon tax.
The number of people in lock down due to the nation’s growing drug epidemic has continued to drop, which has affected retailers’ sales.
The retail sector accounts for almost 18 percent of Australia’s gross domestic product and is expected to continue experiencing weakness in the coming month.
NSW, Victoria, and the ACT experienced falls in the level of restrictions in the quarterly ABS survey.
In contrast, states that did not have lockdowns performed well, with South Australia and Western Australia enjoying strong rises.
The latest figures from the Bureau of Statistics show that retail turnover in NSW fell 3.5 per cent in August, its lowest level in almost five years. Victoria’s decline was also significant, with turnover dropping 3 per cent.
The NSW government is expected to ease restrictions on vaccinations in the coming weeks, as the number of people getting jabbed has increased significantly.
Over the past couple of years, the rise of online sales of food has become more prevalent. From fine dining restaurants to take-away food shops, the trend is becoming mainstream. The closure of many physical stores across Australia has led to massive falls in several industries.
Stores like HelloFresh have been continually performing well with strong sales due to the lock down. Get a HelloFresh coupon to save when you start your HelloFresh subscription4.

Mirvac entices online retailers

Mirvac is big in property and it’s focus in the near future is to make a larger investment in online retail. To achieve this, it’s taking a two pronged approach. The first is that they are offering online retailers a more flexible rental option in their shopping centres with short leases and flexible rental options. The second is that the company has decided to make an investment into a fashion tech start-up.
This focus has prompted Mirvac to develop two new business strategies with the intention of encouraging online only retailers to open up shop in their centres. The short leases and flexible rental options allows online retailers to introduce their products to new customers that may not have seen them online in the first place without the expensive long term commitment.
The new business strategy gives Mavic the ability to reshape their retail mix allowing them to adapt to changes in consumer shopping behaviour. It allows them to generate new and exiting business by giving an easy entry for online retailers to get exposure in a physical store format.
Online stores do not have the skills in setting up a physical store with many businesses only geared towards an online shopping environment and not understanding how retail leases work. Mirvac has tried to make this easier with a modular setup option for store fit outs and includes all the fitting and fixtures (including POS) to allow them to run.
Online only retailers like Esther & Co have done well online with a physical store a logical next step. Use a Esther promo code to save on your order today at Esther.

Rent relief for retailers as online jumps

Retailers are under pressure at the moment, especially those that have large retail spaces. The Covid pandemic has brought a lot of pain to these retailers with forced closures by the government and those that can open have non existent foot traffic meaning they might as well close anyway.

Some retail stores have requested rent relief from their landlords and others like Sussan Group are refusing to open at all unless landlords are willing to dramatically reduce their rent. There are also some retailers who are not opening their doors and refusing to pay any rent altogether.

Shopping centers are now reporting that foot traffic is slowly increasing with restrictions easing across the country. At the peak of the pandemic, traffic dropped over 13 per cent causing a lot of suffering for retails and causing them to decide whether it was worthwhile staying open.

Despite the rise in foot traffic, many retailers are hesitant to open as they still do not believe they will be able to cover the costs of labor and rent, even with the Government job keeper stimulus. Many stores are waiting to ensure that there is consistent sustained foot traffic to ensure they can absorb the costs of starting up again.

Those in a good position are online stores with most not requiring for expensive retail rent. Stores like Echt are continuing to perform well and with a Echt discount code they are gaining lots of new customers.

Books are popular during the lock down

During the coronavirus outbreak, the world has been forced to spend a lot of time isolating at home. With this isolation and the lack of ability for people to do their usual social outings, people are turning to traditional ways to keep themselves busy. Some of the things people are doing include gardening, things around the house and reading books. In fact, one in three people are reading more than before and it is one of the most popular past times since lock down started.

It turns out, younger people who are aged between 18 and 24 are turning away from the traditional past times and turning to reading at a huge rate, 45%.

With this renewed interest in reading, book sales have naturally risen as a result. Before the lock down was imposed, book sales had risen 6% with paperback fiction rising 35% week on week. One of the biggest online book stores, Book Depository reported a massive increase in sales and Waterstones reported a massive 400% increase in online sales.

Not only are book stores reporting roaring trades, libaries are also feeling the heat of new found interest with many councils reporting increases of 100’s of percent.

For great deals on your favourite book, visit Book Depository and get access to the world’s biggest range of books. Use a Book Depository coupon to save on your purchase.

 

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