BDO’s Spend Trend 2015 review provides a comparative analysis of how Australian retailers are performing against their international competitors. In addition to examining whether the effect of the perceived – and much talked about – tough retail trading environment has actually been reflected in the retailers’ published financial results.
BDO’s analysis of Australian and international retailers reveals that sales revenue, net profit margin, gross margin and gearing all improved or remained stable, despite uncertain economic conditions and increased competition from the large international retailers entering Australian’s shores for the first time.
While Australian retailers saw slower growth than the internationals across key performance indicators such as sales revenue and gross profit margin, it is clear that they have worked out how to weather the storm of changing market conditions, and are beginning to adapt to a much tougher, more global, digital retail world.
Also featured in this year’s report is how social media is now having a major effect on organisational performance – so how can retail executives contribute to this important communication platform?
BDO recap on the key elements of a social media strategy that executives need to be aware of, including insights from these leading retailers:
- LUSH Cosmetics – how to generate high social engagement.
- IKEA AUSTRALIA – the IKEA challenge: integrating ecommerce on a mass global scale.