In an economic environment where cost-of-living pressures are high, retailers focused on keeping prices consistently low are winning favour with consumers.
IKEA Australia chief executive Mirja Viinanen intends to lower some furniture prices. She can’t say exactly when or which items, but wants to make this clear: it won’t be in the form of a flash sale or a temporary “prices locked-in” period.
The chief of the Swedish-born furniture giant’s local business says customers are responding to the combination of affordability and functional design. It has the numbers to back it up: sales lifted by nearly 5 per cent for the 2023 financial year, even as Australians traded down and curbed spending. Excluding the early settlement of a loan with its parent company, the local business booked $53.3 million in profit.
According to consultancy RetailOasis strategist Emma Easton, the shift boils down to the basic principles of trust and reliability. “Consumers … are more hesitant and reluctant to believe retailers’ discounts and deals,” Easton said. These promotions are squarely in the regulator’s sights. Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said the watchdog would beIt’s not that discounting is no longer attractive. Far from it: Australians still love a good bargain. Last year’s Black Friday sales were a key period for retailers , though it pulled forward some Christmas shopping.
Electronics retailers JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman were both forced to cut more deals in the back end of last year, with both reporting aLouise Kennerley
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