RETAIL/CONSUMER GOODS

Darrel Lea, Australia’s largest comfort food retailer, was placed Monday in voluntary administration, putting 700 jobs at risk in the process.

Hundreds of Coles warehouse employees in Somerton, Melbourne went on strike on Monday over work conditions. The striking workers, who initially numbered 300, are protesting the unequal treatment compared to other Coles warehouse facilities from the firm that manages the warehouse.

Manufacturers have accused supermarket giant Woolworths of bullying them into cutting their costs and prices or else be banished from the shelves.

While the Opposition, the New South Wales government and some businesses such as bakery chain Brumby's are blaming the carbon tax for rise in prices, Australia's retail industry is rejoicing because the carbon compensation caused the sector's growth rate to hit a two-year high.

Technology is really changing the lives of consumers the world over. Among the technological innovations that Australians could look forward to in the future that would make life easier for them is not falling in line at supermarket check-out counters.

With less than a week before the Gillard government starts the collection of the $23-per tonne carbon tax, the Opposition is using all means to discredit the tax. The Coalition strategies include tapping small Australian businesses to post fliers that apologises to customers for hiking their prices on account of the carbon tax.

Gordon Merchant, founder and biggest shareholder of troubled surfwear retailer Billabong International, announced on Tuesday it is open yet again to accepting takeover bids for the company. Billabon shares dived 47.5 per cent into a massive whirlpool after coming out of a trading halt since Thursday.

After the price war on fresh produce between supermarket giants Coles and Woolworths, industry observers are anticipating another price battle, this time on hardware items. The price war could be the result of Metcash's purchase of Mitre 10.

Australian consumers should anticipate another round of marketing war between the country's supermarket giants as Woolworths (ASX: WOW) disclosed plans to boosts its market share of fresh food to 36 per cent from the current 28 per cent.

After chopping the overnight cash rate by 50 basis points last week, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has trained its sight this time on credit card surcharges imposed by merchants.

Although both Australian retailers David Jones and Myer registered sales slump in the last quarter, the two are bent on recovering lost ground by offering hefty discounts for their mid-season clearance sale which begin Wednesday or a day ahead of the sale opening by department stores.

Major Australia's retailers such as David Jones and Myer continued to suffer from the weak consumer confidence. David Jones reported on Thursday a 2.9 per cent dip in sales to $399.8 million for the three months to April 28. Myer last week registered a 2.1 per cent decline in third quarter like-for-like sales.

Wesfarmers is optimistic for the current financial year that the company plans to open 19 Coles stores and refurbish 400 outlets in the coming months.

Coles and Woolworths's battle with global food giant Heinz may have subsided, but the two Australian supermarket giants are facing another war this time. Not another price war between the two competitors, but public perception which at this time is not kind towards the use of cheap, foreign labour.

The latest NAB Online Retail Index released on Tuesday showed that in the year to April demand for products such as household appliances and electronic device dipped 5 per cent. However, for the same period, housewives online spending grew by 20 per cent.

An analysis by Bank of America (BofA) showed that Australian retailer David Jones would be a good buy for now following the drop in company shares at its lowest level since the global financial crisis.

More changes are taking place in Australia’s embattled retail industry as Centro Retail Australia sold half of its stakes in three premium shopping centres, while Retravision Southern is teetering towards administration.

If 2011 was a bad year for Australian retailers, the industry should not expect an improvement for 2012 since new research shows that Aussie consumers plan to hold tighter to their purses this year.

Retailers are hoping that Australians would spend some of their budget handouts on shopping to lift the industry.

Australians continue to show a change in their drinking preference as they drank less alcoholic drinks and beer, and more of spirits.

Westpac Banking Corporation reported on Thursday first-half net profit of $3.07 billion for the six months to March 31. While it is a 25 per cent decline compared to the same period a year ago, the slump was mainly due to a one-off tax consolidation following Westpac's purchase of St George.

In a bid to get a larger cut of the supermarket pie, grocery giant Coles revamped its flybuys loyalty programme that offers faster rewards or cash discounts and no expiry dates.

New Zealand dairy giant Fonterra has justified adding permeate in its blue-topped milk, saying it is meant to standardise protein levels and not to cut costs to maintain a competitive price as recent news reports have hinted.

Choice, a consumer watchdog, took the cudgels for plus-size women on Thursday by asking retailers to widen the range of clothes available to large females. The group said because of limited choices, these kinds of women have to buy online or at chain stores.

Hardware chain Bunnings Warehouse announced on Friday that it would create 6,000 jobs in Australia over the next three years as part of its $1.5-billion expansion plan. That would involve the setting up of 85 new stores across the country which would also create more than 11,500 construction jobs.

While many Australian businesses would want to gain greater access to ecommerce through mobile devices, many of these firms lack the knowledge and infrastructure to reach their target market.

Cooper Brewery Chairman Glenn Cooper called for new laws to stop the duopoly in the supermarket industry and protect local owners of farmlands. He specifically blamed Woolworths and Coles, which have engaged in a price war to the detriment of Australian farmers

Australian customers are getting back at the big four lenders by giving it lower satisfaction ratings after the banks unilaterally increased their mortgage rates despite two decisions by the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) to keep the overnight cash rate unchanged at 4.25 per cent.

The positive leads from global markets led by the rise in the U.S. equities Friday have not provided enough boost to prop up the sentiment in the Australian stock market early on Monday.