News

Net sales for the fourth quarter rose 19.7 per cent to $US72.38 billion, beating the analyst average estimate of $US71.87 billion. AP

Amazon chief financial officer Brian Olsavsky said on a call with reporters that the situation in India is "a bit fluid right now" but remains a good long-term opportunity.

For years, investors have given Amazon a green light to sink money into new endeavours: warehouses and data centres around the world, a studio near Hollywood, research on artificial intelligence. Through these bets, Amazon has lured people to shop online and enterprises to ditch their hardware for the cloud.

Though the company is still marching ahead, challenges have arisen, particularly in markets outside the United states.

The company forecast net sales of between $US56 billion and $US60 billion for the first quarter, missing the analyst average estimate of $US60.77 billion, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

"I am absolutely exhausted," the flamboyant and outspoken businessman told PS exclusively as news that his eponymous cosmetics empire had been placed into voluntary administration began to reverberate, casting a cloud over hundreds of jobs and stores across the country.

Famed for his theatrical fashions and designer handbags as much as he is for his hard-nosed business acumen, Perdis, who is based in Athens with his wife and business partner Soula Marie and their four daughters, flew into Sydney on Wednesday ahead of Thursday's announcement.

He is no longer involved in the day-to-day running of the business which bears his name, but is advising administrators Worrells Solvency and Forensic Accountants as they seek to find a buyer.

While he agreed the news was not good, he remained defiant that the business he had poured his life into remained a healthy, ongoing concern, but conceded it may be a future without him at the helm.

He blamed poor retail conditions and an emerging "corporate feudalism" that favours large global corporations for his company's current predicament.

"And I am absolutely sick and tired of having bankers, consultants, leasing advisers and landlords milking me for money ... to be honest I am feeling a little bit liberated too," Perdis said.

Perdis added he had been trying to find a buyer or investor in his business for the past 18 months and said there were several interested parties, but that the empire he built into a national and international brand had to be "right sized".

"That means cost-cutting ... yes, it is going to be painful, but that's the only way for it to survive," he said.

"This is a lap band for the business ... and in a big way.

"I blame a lot of factors, from greedy landlords who will not allow us out of leases and who then charge us 'de-fit' costs on the stores ... that's cost me $3.5 million alone. The malls are dead, there's no foot traffic, everyone's buying cosmetics online but the landlords don't want to hear about it.

"The bank wanted me to hire a consultant, which we did. That cost me another $600,000 and it's done f--- all. The retailers want to bring in global brands into their stores, but that means a local Australian brand like mine cannot compete.

"Just over half our stand-alone stores ... around 25 ... will have to close, that's over a hundred jobs."

Perdis said he hoped a buyer would be found, or an investor, and that he would be keen to stay with the business as a creative director or consultant.

He estimated the company's "enterprise value" at between $35 million and $45 million, but admitted the business had suffered significant blows in recent times, including his acrimonious departure from Myer over Christmas, which knocked a $13 million hole in the brand's revenue.

Last year he launched his brand into the huge Priceline discount pharmacy chain, and said the retailer has remained one of his most ardent supporters.

"The last 18 months have been very tough trading conditions, when we moved into the USA it rendered our business in Australia anaemic ... all the money was going to America," he said.

In 2015, Perdis pulled out of America to refocus his business on the Australian market, which at the time he said had a $120 million annual turnover.

"I never intended to end up in this position," he said. "But I remain incredibly proud of what we achieved."

Gen Z consumers prefer to buy from businesses that offer both online and in-store experiences, according to a WP Engine study.

Gen Z shoppers, born between 1996-2010, said they prefer businesses to have an online presence and a physical storefront and about 62 per cent have said an online-only company is not less trustworthy than a solely brick-and-mortar business.

The study, which explores three key aspects of Gen Z’s relationship with digital: Being Online, Buying Online and Building Online, also indicates that about 63 per cent of Gen Z consumers are more likely to buy from a company that contributes to social causes while, conversely, 54 per cent of Baby Boomers said it didn’t matter.

“Gen Z is well on its way to becoming the largest generation of consumers by the year 2020,” said Mark Randall, Australia/New Zealand country manager at WP Engine.

“This will have profound implications for marketers and brands who, to effectively engage Gen Z, must embrace new technologies, experiment with new forms of communication, and internalize the nuances in how Gen Z seamlessly blends the analog and digital worlds.”

The study shows that more than half, 55 per cent, of Gen Z consumers are dependent on the internet and can’t comfortably go more than four hours without it.

But, despite Gen Z’s eagerness to access the web using new methods and different devices, they still show a clear preference for a company’s website over a mobile app when making purchases, the survey shows. This held true across all generations, with Baby Boomers leading at 89 per cent, followed by Gen X (87 per cent), Millennials (80 per cent), and Gen Z (75 per cent).

About 70 per cent of Gen Z consumers worry that their online actions, including social media posts and past purchases, will affect job offers and 49 per cent believe their online reputation will determine their dating options. WP Engine said perhaps that’s why Gen Z is fiercely committed to authenticity when considering the brands they use and buy.

According to the study, 75 per cent of Gen Z shoppers trust a company more if the images they use are not photoshopped and 85 per cent trust a company more if they use actual customers in their ads.

“Gen Zers are empowered, connected, practical, empathetic self-starters who want to stand out and make a difference in the world,” said Jason Dorsey, president at The Center for Generational Kinetics.

“They merge the human and digital experiences – it is all one combined reality for them. They are fuelled by technologyengagement and value uniqueness, authenticity, creativity, shareability and purpose. And they look for that from the world around them.”

The Center for Generational Kinetics was commissioned by WP Engine to conduct the study.

Temple & Webster CEO Mark Coulter says the online retailer's maiden interim profit and strong sales growth is encouraging given the housing market downturn. Daniel Munoz

Gross margins rose to 44.6 per cent from 44.2 per cent, boosted by better terms from suppliers and stronger sales of private label products, while operating costs as a percentage of sales fell 6 per cent, helped by more efficient marketing spend and well-controlled fixed costs.

As a result, the contribution margin improved to 16.5 per cent from 16.1 per cent, within the target range of 15 to 17 per cent.

January trading had started strongly, with sales up more than 40 per cent.

Temple & Webster finished the half-year with cash of $11.5 million and no debt and is confident of delivering a full-year profit.

The Australian furniture and homewares market is worth about $13.6 billion, but online penetration is estimated to be only about 4 per cent, according to Euromonitor, compared with 13.7 per cent in the United States and 14.2 per cent in Britain (in 2017).

Temple & Webster believes online penetration will rise as online-savvy millennials start buying furniture and homewares and as new market players such as Amazon accelerate the shift from bricks and mortar stores to e-commerce.

The company is expanding its range in all key categories and adding new categories such as DIY products (flooring, window coverings, sinks, taps) and small appliances.

It is also expanding its private label offering to improve margins and further differentiate its range. Last year, for example, it launched a premium paint range, Colour by Temple & Webster, in partnership with Taubmans owner PPG Industries.

The online retailer is building its B2B business and is considering expanding into New Zealand, launching a pilot program.

Temple & Webster shares have more than doubled over the last 12 months, reaching $1.32 in November and exceeding the December 2015 issue price of $1.10.

Ruslan Kogan's Kogan.com had record sales over Christmas but iPhone sales were down significantly. David Rowe

Apple's sales globally have been hit by lengthening iPhone replacement cycles in China and elsewhere. On January 3, the company issued its first negative pre-earnings release in 15 years largely because of weaker sales of iPhones in China.

The negativity towards Apple was brought home to Chanticleer this week when a chief executive of a local company with annual revenue of $3.5 billion said he was "sick" of Apple and was going to return to devices running on Google's Android platform.

The positive sentiment towards the stock was helped by the company's statement that gross margin for the first half of 2019 was broadly in line with the first half of 2018.

Kogan shares have fallen more than 60 per cent since hitting a record high in June last year. The company is forecast to have revenue growth this year of about 11 per cent, a growth rate that does not warrant the extreme price earnings multiples applied before the stock collapsed.

Street Talk understands Webjet's board, led by John Guscic, got together in December to talk about how much they thought the business was worth if the listed company pursued a sale.

It is understood Webjet and its bankers at Goldman Sachs received indicative views on the company's valuation last month from prospective buyers, which were then discussed at the pre-Christmas board meeting.

Webjet did not respond to requests for comment before publication.

It is not clear if talks with any parties have progressed further or if any were granted due diligence on the back of this board meeting. Sources said the process had not been formalised, and had in fact slowed down in recent weeks to accommodate a couple of new tyre-kickers.

Still, it is understood Herbert Smith Freehills and MinterEllison have come on board as legal advisers to Webjet, showing the digital travel firm is taking inbound interest seriously.

Uniqlo, describe by some as a "department store killer", reported at a before-tax profit of $9.7 million, up from $7.5 million last year, the documents show.

Uniqlo is ubiquitous in its native Japan and has found success across the globe with its range of affordable basic fashion items, like cashmere jumpers, button-down shirts and lightweight down jackets.

As social media platforms have evolved into full-blown communication channels, more brands are relying on these platforms to reach their target audiences.

Consumer attention is scattered across various social platforms, not to mention apps and other online diversions. Brands that hope to capture consumers’ attention and dollars need to keep in touch with how their audiences utilize these platforms. The bottom line is that, as trends evolve on social media, so must the corresponding marketing.

With the start of a new year, it’s time to look into the crystal ball of emerging trends on social media. What is going to influence social media users? What does this mean for brand marketing? And what do we need to be aware of to stay current and relevant in 2019?

Here are the top 10 social media trends to keep an eye on in the new year.

1. Rebuilding trust in social media platforms.

Social media platforms continue to grow annually -- in fact, Facebook has more than 2 billion active users each month. However, the picture isn’t entirely rosy. Consumer confidence in social media is on shaky ground.

Users are growing increasingly leery of the information they find on social media. And marketers may be contributing to the situation when they fail to properly label paid advertising posts or they bombard a platform with targeted ads that overwhelm users. All of this can leave users feeling distrustful of both the brand and the platform.

Younger generations have little tolerance for marketing that comes off as disingenuous. Brands will need to look for ways to build consumer trust. That means focusing on ways to authentically connect with audiences, and ways to highlight their humanity. Brands need to connect with their audiences on a meaningful level. No one likes being constantly swamped with ads. Even worse is when you’re being marketed to and don’t even realize it.

2. Social media is about storytelling.

Social media’s popularity is rooted in the fact that it allows us to share our life experiences with friends and families. We get to tell our stories through our posts, and we get to see a snapshot of everyone else’s lives through our news feeds. At first, that was through written posts and photos, but video content is increasingly popular.

Social media is adapting, embracing new ways to allow people to tell their stories and share their narrative with the world. Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook are embracing this trend, and it’s changing the way we consume social media content.

This opens the door for brands to share more human stories of their own, which will inspire audiences to try out their product. Storytelling feels real, immediate and personal, but it also demands a mix of more time-intensive video, images and graphics, and requires brands to be more creative and thoughtful in the intent.

3. Build a brand narrative.

Along with honing their human stories, businesses are going to need to build a strategic narrative behind their brand. Narratives capture moments and experiences shared between a user and a product; they’re the conversations that are occurring, and they’re often about trying to create a broader, more positive change.

These narratives can be distributed through social media and digital media, and they reflect what a brand’s community is saying about them. If a brand can build a larger story, it will have a better chance of success.

Brand narratives need to be compelling and lead audiences to an action. Evaluate your brand story, and ensure it is inspiring and stands out against the messiness of other social media content.

4. Quality and creativity over quantity.

Marketers often have a knee-jerk reaction to trends by flooding platforms with mediocre and uninspired content in hopes of riding the trend wave. Would-be customers react by tuning out and quickly dismissing subpar messaging. The threshold for gaining customer attention and trust has grown exponentially. Marketers who hope to gain consumer consideration must be willing to go the extra mile in creating engaging content.

The bottom line is, to have an impact, brands must be purposeful and creative. Less content, if it’s created thoughtfully and is well-positioned, will have greater impact than an abundance of content that is uninspired, heavy-handed or seen as shallow or dull.

Related:5 Ways to Create Engaging Content Your Audience Will Share

5. Put a human face to your brand.

Personal branding is a must on social media. Putting a real, human face to a brand is key in building trust and loyalty, especially for small, relatively unknown businesses. Personal branding gives a business a human element that will naturally connect customers and make the brand seem more relatable. Businesses that learn to foster their human element will have a real advantage over those who hide behind a logo.

One popular trend in humanizing a business is to promote the personal brand of the business owner or a high-level leader. This can be done through guest blogging, podcasts and webinars. Giving the public an up-close view of the company’s leader can strengthen its brand reputation.

Related: 7 Rules for Building a Distinctive Personal Brand (and a Bonus to Get You Started)

6. Influencers continue to grow their communities.

Influencer marketing continues to develop and grow on social media platforms. Influencers are social media figures who have gathered a defined community around themselves. Their large followings (which can range from the thousands to over a million viewers) give them influence over others. They can be incredibly effective as salespeople because we inherently trust the people we follow on social media.

Much like personal branding, when done well influencer marketing gives a human voice to brands. Influencer marketing is less direct than traditional forms of advertising, but it can effectively create authentic ways of connecting with customers.

Related: 10 Influencer Marketing Trends to Keep Your Eye On

7. Selfie videos and branding.

The selfie culture continues to flourish on social media, with the popularity of selfie photo evolving into the self-recorded video. These “selfie videos” are drawing high user interest on social media. Like the selfie photo, the selfie video allows users to capture a moment in time, but the video format allows users to communicate in a deeper and more personal way than a photo ever could. Selfie videos tend to be short and feel more immediate than a written post with a photo.

Businesses need to take note: viewers spend hours watching friends’ videos on Snapchat, Instagram and Facebook. Brands would be wise to look for ways to incorporate first-person “selfie video” content as part of their marketing strategy.

Traditional advertising can be off-putting to younger audiences, who are more cautious about their purchases and want a more authentic experience with their brands. The selfie video can help a brand seem more relatable and trustworthy.

8. Segment your social audiences.

While brands talk about their customers and audiences, the reality is that most businesses will have multiple audiences. Segmentation is the process of organizing your audience into manageable groups (or segments) so you can tailor your messaging and communications to the preferences of each group. Social media is most effective when you segment your audiences so you can be relevant to the right groups of people at the right time.

Making assumptions about your audience and lumping them all together could limit your ability to reach more people. So the more you know about your audience and the various groups that make up your audience, the better you can adjust your messaging and narratives to fit each segment.

9. Hyper-targeted personalization.

Customers have come to expect brands to tailor special offers and discounts to their wants and needs. To keep up with expectations, businesses need to step up their game when it comes to targeted advertising. Nearly every social media platform offers some level of audience filtering when you opt to pay for advertising. These options range from simple geographic targeting to advanced filters that refine audiences into highly specific segments.

In the coming year, brands will increasingly turn to hyper-targeted personalization to reach their audiences. This is often achieved through retargeting or remarketing ads. Ever wonder why you’re seeing an ad on your social media site for something you were shopping for earlier? That’s hyper-targeted personalization at work.

Using “cookies” while you browse online, marketers collect data on users, such as online habits, the area they live in and any other pertinent information. But marketers will need to find a balance between being too pushy and being able to offer personalized advertising that will genuinely interest customers.

10. Know your platforms.

Businesses should carefully consider which social media platforms to focus on, as each platform tends to be used by different groups. For example, over 80 percent of Pinterest users are female, and more than 50 percent of users are from the US. So, if a brand is targeting American women, posting on Pinterest could help isolate that group.

Meanwhile, Snapchat users tend to be younger than those who use Facebook. And career-focused professionals spend more of their time on LinkedIn. Brands that use multiple platforms should use these distinguishing characteristics to decide where to post content and on which platforms to focus the majority of their marketing efforts.

At the bottom of it all was an announcement from retail giant Amazon; they had broken their own record for number of items ordered worldwide.

The company only specified that they had a "record-breaking holiday season," and that customers had purchased millions more Amazon devices compared with last year.

Amazon only specified that they had a "record-breaking holiday season," and that customers had purchased millions more Amazon devices compared with last year.  Robert Bumsted

But it was enough to send the S&P 500's retail index rising by 7.4 per cent and Amazon's own shares soaring by 9.5 per cent.

Here are the best sellers that drove the last rally of 2018;

• Amazon Echo Dot; voice-controlled speaker, enhanced by Amazon's virtual assistant Alexa

• Ring Protect and Blink Home Security: affordable, camera-based home security systems

• L.O.L. Surprise!Glam Glitter Series Doll with 7 surprises: customisable dolls with a mystery factor and a social media following

• Bose QuietComfort 35(Series II) Wireless Headphones: noise-cancelling, wireless headphones linked to Amazon Alexa and Google Assistant via voice control

• Samsung Flat 65" 4K UHD 8 Series Smart LED TV: 4x the resolution of full HD, optimised for gaming, and outfitted with voice assistance

While Boxing Day is not until next Wednesday this year, some retailers are kicking off their post Christmas sale before Christmas even happens.

Kate Morris, the founder of Adore Beauty, is starting the Boxing Day sale at the online beauty retailer on Friday.

"It's the way it works in ecommerce, you get your pre-Christmas run in and then you get the cut off for what you can and can't get people before Christmas," she says.

"We always try to err on the side of being a bit conservative and once we are no longer confident gifts will get there by Christmas we start our sale. Once you are past the pre-Christmas delivery cut off Christmas for us is effectively over."

Boxing Day still busy

Morris says she expects trade at the retailer, which turns over more than $25 million a year, to be strong during the sale and nominates Christmas gift sets and GHD hairstylers as the most popular likely items.

"People do spend more money at this time of year anyway, including on themselves and we usually have some pretty good offers," she says. "If you are not confident that Santa is going to bring you what you want, take matters into your own hands."

Morris says even though the sale will be starting before Christmas she expects Boxing Day itself to still be busy for online trade.

"Some people love running through the doors on Boxing Day morning but I'd rather poke pins in my eyes."

Liz Lefort, head of consumer marketing at PayPal, says Australia’s changing Boxing Day shopping habits reflect a shift towards online and mobile shopping.

“Australians are looking for the best deals, not the stress that’s traditionally associated with heading out to the shops for the Boxing Day sales, so it’s not surprising to see Boxing Day sales appear before Boxing Day," she says.

The sales aren't just limited to online with major retail chains including West Elm, Cotton On and Country Road already starting sales. However, the big retailers such as department stores Myer and David Jones and tech giants Apple and Samsung are holding out until Boxing Day.

Holding firm

Despite the early sales start for some retailers, the Australian Retailers Association is still expecting the Boxing Day sales and the post-Christmas period to be strong.

The ARA and Roy Morgan predict consumers will spend $18.3 billion nationwide from December 26, 2018 to January 15, 2019.

ARA head Russell Zimmerman says only a minority of retailers are "jumping the gun".

"Boxing Day is still a very important point in the retail calendar and I suppose some try and get the competitive advantage by going earlier but the majority try and keep their margin as long as they can," he says.

Retailers holding firm until Boxing Day, include Erica Stewart, of online retailer Hard To Find, who won't start her sale until then.

"There is a chance that there is a bit of retail fatigue and we felt that going out immediately after everyone has done their Christmas shopping with a sale was too much for our customers," she says.