Retail Therapy

Investing in digital infrastructure

Victor Dominello, NSW Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government is well regarded in the tech and innovation space and joins Retail Therapy to share his insights and experience leading the NSW State Government’s digital strategy for a number of years.
In this episode, Victor and ARA CEO Paul Zahra discuss:
Leading government through digital innovation
The evolution of the Service NSW app and its importance during Covid-19
Streamlining government services
National priorities when it comes to data, tech and innovation
Collaboration between government and start-ups
What’s next for Victor, in his life post-politics
Learn more about American Express: https://www.americanexpress.com/au/merchant/accept-amex-cards.html 
ABOUT THE ARA: The Australian Retailers Association (ARA) is the oldest, largest and most diverse national retail body, representing a $400bn sector that employs 1.3 million Australians. Learn more: retail.org.au
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Current state of the Australian tech sector

We're kicking off Season 4 of Retail Therapy with a scene-setting conversation with Kate Pounder, CEO of the Technology Council of Australia.  
 
Kate has led the Tech Council since it was founded in August 2021 – it is the peak body representing Australia’s tech sector, and its membership includes the likes of Atlassian, Google, Microsoft, Amazon Web Services, plus many more.   
 
New and transformative technologies continue to support the retail industry's growth and evolution - and we have launched this season to help retailers navigate this space. This chat with Kate gives great insight into the current landscape of the Australian innovation agenda and the key challenges that lie ahead of its biggest opportunities, particularly around digital skills shortages.  
 
In this episode Kate and Paul Zahra discuss: 
The priorities for the Tech Council heading into the new year
Key opportunities for the innovation agenda in Australia 
The role of startups in the Australian retail landscape
How tech can address skills shortages 
Technology and sustainability - the next frontier 
Learn more about American Express: https://www.americanexpress.com/au/merchant/accept-amex-cards.html 
ABOUT THE ARA: The Australian Retailers Association (ARA) is the oldest, largest and most diverse national retail body, representing a $400bn sector that employs 1.3 million Australians. Learn more: retail.org.au
Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Season 4 Trailer: Tech and Innovation

Welcome to Season 4 of Retail Therapy, brought to you by American Express.  
The ARA is the oldest, largest and most diverse national retail body, representing a $400 billion sector that employs 1.3 million Australians... the largest private sector employer in the country. 
This season we will be focusing on tech and innovation within the retail industry. 
We will be talking to retailers who are utilising new and transformative technologies to support their business, as well as deep dive into the stories of start-ups who are taking the lead on retail innovation.  
We’ll also hear from Government and representative bodies who will outline the support available for those looking to innovate.  
We’ve got a great line-up of guests... all passionate and experienced innovators we’re sure you’ll love.   
For more information about the Australian Retailers Association, head to our website retail.org.au.  
Thanks for listening, and we can’t wait to share Season Four with you.  
Learn more about American Express: https://www.americanexpress.com/au/merchant/accept-amex-cards.html 
ABOUT THE ARA: The Australian Retailers Association (ARA) is the oldest, largest and most diverse national retail body, representing a $400bn sector that employs 1.3 million Australians. Learn more: retail.org.au
Follow us on LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Christmas special: Looking to Christmas and beyond

Today we welcome Craig Woolford, Senior Research Analyst at MST Marquee to the Retail Therapy podcast to round out our Christmas bonus season.
 
Craig's 20 years of experience in analysing the retail, food and beverage industries has resulted in becoming an incredibly trusted resource among institutional investors, media and industry journals alike. We’re excited to chat with Craig about what the retail industry can expect this Christmas trading period and beyond to 2023.  With his wealth of experience, Craig shares the most current insights and tips for retailers, providing his critical opinion on how to ride the record spending predicted this Christmas trading period through to next year. Plus, he shares opportunities for retailers to combat the slowdown in growth predicted to happen at some point during 2023.  In this episode we cover: 
The latest data and impact on company profits 
November trade results, stats and trends 
Where consumers money is being spent 
Comparison in Christmas trade in 2021 v 2022 
Why he’s confident consumers will spend big this Christmas 
Ideas to counteract lower sales in 2023 
Businesses that sell online can send smarter and save time and money with Australia Post's MyPost Business. Learn more: https://auspost.com.au/business/shipping/mypost-business?cid=web:4036366:bus:ap_-_mypost_business:LK20221031012 

Christmas special: Seasonal trends and consumer spend

Introducing the insightful Gary Mortimer, Professor of Marketing and Consumer Behaviour at QUT Business School and Chair of the ARA Consumer Research Committee.
 
When it comes to research and consumer trends, Gary really knows his stuff. With over 12 years’ experience, he’s got the scoop on the latest and greatest gifting ideas, consumer attitudes to sustainable gifting and waste during the Christmas season, plus the surprising ways technology is being used to aid in-store purchases around the world.
 
With sales targeted to reach $64 billion in the coming weeks, Gary predicts the biggest trend in 2022 will be the shift back into physical retail. He shares all the numbers and stats on what consumer spending looks like in our latest episode of Retail Therapy.
 
In this episode Paul and Gary discuss:
Trends this Christmas compared to previous years
Sales predictions for the next six weeks
Speed v price, what consumers really want
How technology is changing the in-store experience
His take on the next buy now pay later solution
The hot gifts and gift categories for 2022
Businesses that sell online can send smarter and save time and money with Australia Post's MyPost Business. Learn more: https://auspost.com.au/business/shipping/mypost-business?cid=web:4036366:bus:ap_-_mypost_business:LK20221031012 

Christmas special: ’Tis the season to shop early

Season's Greetings! We're pleased to welcome Gary Starr, Executive General Manager, Customer & Commercial, Australia Post to the ARA Retail Therapy podcast this week.
Australia Post plays an integral role in supporting retailers through this busy trading period and in this bonus episode, Gary gives us an overview of the state-of-play for the postal service this Christmas.
This episode covers:
Predictions for e-commerce volumes this year
The impact of severe labour shortages across the country
Lessons learned from the Covid years
Key cutoff delivery dates retailers and consumers need to be aware of
The impact of technology on our supply chain and customer experience
Businesses that sell online can send smarter and save time and money with Australia Post's MyPost Business. Learn more: https://auspost.com.au/business/shipping/mypost-business?cid=web:4036366:bus:ap_-_mypost_business:LK20221031012 

Christmas Special: Spending predictions and retail trends

Season's Greetings!
 
We're pleased to welcome Fleur Brown, Chief Industry Affairs Officer at the Australian Retailers Association, to the Retail Therapy podcast this week. 
 
The holidays are fast approaching and retailers are in preparation mode for the Christmas shopping rush. There’s lots of challenges facing our industry in terms of supply chain and staff shortages, but plenty to be optimistic about from a sales point of view. 
 
At the ARA, we’re fortunate to have an incredible network of strategic partners and that’s allowed us to produce the most comprehensive Christmas insights in our history. We explore these insights, plus more, in this first episode of the Christmas Special Series for 2022. 
 
This episode explores: 
Consumer spending forecasts from Roy Morgan
The impact of rising inflation and interest rates
Black Friday - are consumers shopping earlier?
Staff shortages in the retail sector, as well as supporting industries
Businesses that sell online can send smarter and save time and money with Australia Post's MyPost Business. Learn more: https://auspost.com.au/business/shipping/mypost-business?cid=web:4036366:bus:ap_-_mypost_business:LK20221031012 

The sustainable edit

Joining us for Episode 11 of Retail Therapy Season 3, is Jaana Quaintance-James, Chief Sustainability Officer at the Global Fashion Group, parent to THE ICONIC – a well-known online fashion retailer in Australia and in New Zealand.  
Jaana has been working in the sustainability and ethical fashion space for many years now, working at David Jones and as a consultant, assisting organisations with their sustainability objectives. She was destined for a career based on her social justice, equity and fairness values, evident even in early childhood.  
In this episode we discuss:  
 What drives Jaana to work in the sustainability space  
 How consumer attitudes are shaping fashion  
 THE ICONIC Considered, a sustainable shopping edit  
 Circularity, business and consumer responsibilities   
How the brand is reducing its carbon footprint 
Leadership and stakeholder engagement  
Consumer engagement increases and impact  
Strategic priorities for fair and ethical sourcing 
A big thank you to AWS for supporting this season of the podcast. AWS is how you can have a sustainable business. Find out how AWS can help: https://pages.awscloud.com/aws-sustainability-transformation.html  

The era of re-commerce

Climate-conscious husband and wife team Dean Jones and Audrey Khaing-Jones are co-founders of GlamCorner, an online designer fashion rental service – described as the Netflix of fashion. After 10 years of running their first sustainably focussed fashion business, they continue to dedicate their lives to reducing the environmental impact of the industry.  
This year the duo also launched RELOOP, a service platform that allows customers to re-commerce their items. It’s a re-commerce marketplace where customers can buy, sell, recycle or repair their favourite premium fashion items.   
From meeting in accounting class to building a B-Corp company with 130 employees, Dean and Audrey are a formidable force when it comes to making designer fashion accessible to everyone while keeping sustainability at the forefront of every business decision.  
In this episode we cover:  
The idea that kick-started GlamCorner  
RELOOP, their new circular fashion tool  
Unpacking the importance of re-commerce  
The stark truth about textile landfill 
Start-ups winning the environmental stakes 
The changing consumer attitudes towards fashion 
Why sustainability leadership is critical  
Are the days of the big wardrobe over? 
The role of business in educating the community  
What it takes to be B-corp certified 
A big thank you to AWS for supporting this season of the podcast. AWS is how you can have a sustainable business. Find out how AWS can help: https://pages.awscloud.com/aws-sustainability-transformation.html  

Investing in our future

Our next podcast guest is Leilani Weier, Head of Responsible Investments at Rest, a strategic partner of the ARA. 
This season, we’ve been chatting about sustainability and climate change, how community attitudes have changed and what organisations are doing in their transitions to net-zero emissions. This also extends to superannuation companies like Rest. We think you’ll be intrigued to hear their story, the depth to their responsible investment initiatives and the stark truth around retirement savings if the world doesn’t act on climate change now.  
Join Paul and Leilani as they discuss the risk priorities in the superannuation and sustainability space, what it takes to focus on ethical investing, actually listening and responding to what members want and creating sustainable retirement savings.  
Explore topics:  
How Rest creates an ethical investments portfolio 
Deep dive into Rest’s 2050 net zero roadmap  
The who, what why of responsible investing 
The industries not to invest in 
A super fund’s approach to a sustainable future
The possibility of a low carbon future
Tools to get the most out of your Rest membership 
A big thank you to AWS for supporting this season of the podcast. AWS is how you can have a sustainable business. Find out how AWS can help: https://pages.awscloud.com/aws-sustainability-transformation.html