Australian retail sector in big trouble in 2020

It began early on January 7 when it was disclosed department store Harris Scarfe was set to close 21 stores across five countries over only one month after the retailer had been placed in receivership in December.

Only days later, McWilliam’s Wines, the nation’s sixth-largest wine company that’s been run by the same family for over 140 years, announced it had also appointed voluntary administrators.

Subsequently, it was popular video game retailer EB Games’ turn, together with the company confirming it was shutting at least 19 shops throughout the country in weeks. At the same time, fashion store Bardot is also likely to close 58 shops throughout the country by March.

Dr Mortimer stated there was an element of what he calls “lazy retailing” among some of those companies that had dropped lately.

Dr Mortimer stated a variety of fashion and footwear manufacturers were wrongly hoping to rely on their longevity in the marketplace or heavy discounting to ride out the higher competition.

Dr Mortimer reported that in 1983, Grace Brothers, currently Myer, published an advertisement promoting a radical new concept: two sales only each year.

It is becoming the norm nowadays, and clients have become conditioned never to pay full price.