While retailers grapple with offering multichannel shopping experiences, the industry’s next big hurdle emerges: data deluge. “Retail has an opportunity to completely transform itself using data. It’s all about understanding your business and making decisions that are better,” claims 2016 NRF Big Show headlining speaker, Steve Brown from Intel. Brown’s Big Ideas: • A New Retail Brand […]
Big Ideas from Retail’s Big Show
Fresh from New York, 2016 NRF Big Show Exhibitor and National Retail Association (NRA) Event Partner, CloudFirst, are pleased to bring you the big insights from retail’s largest global conference at the next round of Innovation and Technology Committee (ITC) breakfasts across Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. Interested in: Delivering a dynamic platform that enables innovation on […]
Admin to warehouse staff – Do you know their rights?
Article by Workplace Advisor – F.Dunstone In this article, National Retail Association’s Workplace Advisor, Felicity Dunstone, debunks some common misconceptions and highlights a few tricky entitlements in the Clerks – Private Sector Award 2010 [MA000002] (Clerks Award) and the Storage Services and Wholesale Award 2010 [MA000084] (Storage Services Award). CLERKS AWARD Myth 1: Employees doing […]
Streamlining the Agreement approval process
In February of this year, nine out of ten Agreement approval applications will be subject to “triage” model. Practically, this means that the applications will be sorted into groups or categories to streamline the approval process. This anticipated change was born from an independent review in May 2015 that found the triage process fostered greater […]
CloudFirst – The real partners in innovation and technology
The National Retail Association is pleased to partner with innovation gurus CloudFirst to deliver our quarterly Innovation and Technology Breakfasts in Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne. Insights from the New York NRF Big Show will be presented at the next breakfast meetings at the Microsoft Experience Centres on: Tuesday the 8th of March in Brisbane Wednesday […]
Household goods continue to drive retail trade growth
The recent release of the November 2015 retail trade figures by the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealed continued growth in the Household Goods sector. As indicated in the graph below, the retail sector grew by 3.8 per cent nationally, with Victoria (5.5 per cent), Tasmania (4.3 per cent) and New South Wales (3.9 per cent), […]
Message from the CEO: 8 January 2016
Happy New Year. I trust you have had a prosperous end to 2015 and a positive start to 2016. Anecdotal feedback from members suggests to us that the Christmas and Boxing Day sales periods were generally strong. Based on the November sales data released by the Bureau of Statistics today, and the modelling done by the […]
Message from the CEO: 18 December 2015
Here we are (almost) at the end of 2015. This edition of Week In Review is the last one for the year, and it has been kept deliberately short because we know you are frantic with just a week until Christmas. However, there are a couple of things I want to let you know before […]
Queensland Parliament to hear report on labour hire arrangements in 2016
Labour hire companies operating in Queensland may be subject to licensing and registration requirements in the near future, as the Queensland Parliament launches an investigation into the nature of these businesses and allegations of sham contracting. The review, headed by the Finance and Administration Committee, will consider both the social and economic impacts of these […]
Message from the CEO: 11th December 2015
The Federal Government this week released its innovation package which it hopes will spark an “ideas boom” across Australia. And while most commentary has tended to focus on high-tech industries and emerging technologies, it’s pleasing that the Government realises that ideas and innovation must also be fostered across traditional industries such as retail. Retail is […]
Have you thought about a career in the retail industry?
Retail is a great place to learn transferable work skills and the opportunities are endless when it comes to reputable career pathways within retail. The Department of Employment has predicted the creation of around 13,600 new positions state-wide over the next four years in retail – almost 4,800 of those will be in the Greater […]
Fair Work changes come into effect
On the 27th November 2015, certain changes came into effect in respect of the Fair Work Act 2009 (“the Act”) pursuant to the recent passing of Parliament of the Fair Work Amendment Bill 2014. The key changes to the Act which are of most relevance are as follows: Parental Leave changes: An employer cannot refuse […]
Finding the perfect candidate is as easy as 1, 2, 3!
Need to recruit driving or logistics staff? National Retail Association members can try 123jobs for free during December! Whether you’re looking for someone to deliver pizzas, drive a B-Double on the highway or a forklift in your warehouse, 123jobs specialises in all kinds of transport and logistics jobs. 123jobs has over 15,000 qualified candidates registered […]
Message from the CEO: 4th December 2015
As a business owner or manager, you deal on a daily basis with a wide range of expenses – some large and some small, but each one impacting on your bottom line. And, no doubt you often stop to reflect on the worth of each overhead to your ultimate performance. Membership of an industry association […]
Tribunal allows discrimination claim to be heard three years after the act
The New South Wales Civil and Administrative Tribunal has allowed an ex-employee to proceed with a claim of discrimination, after documents were obtained with enough evidence for the complainant to make a case. According to the employee, who worked for the Salvation Army as a store supervisor, she was unfairlysuspended on the basis of her […]
Congratulations to Clennett’s Mitre 10 Retail store
NRA would like to congratulate Clennett’s Mitre 10 Retail store, MEGT and Whitelion for winning the Industry Collaboration Award at the annual Australian Training Awards for their Certificate II in Retail traineeship program, created to provide long-term employment and training opportunities to vulnerable youth in the Tasmanian communities of Mornington, Kingston and Huonville. Clennett’s Mitre […]
The NRA succeeds in its bid for one off trading on 28 December in regional Queensland
Because Boxing Day falls on a Saturday this year, an extra public holiday was gazetted by the Queensland Government on Monday 28 December. For major retailers in regional areas of Queensland, this meant that they could not open their doors for four consecutive days over the Christmas Period – namely December 25, 26, 27 and […]
Message from the CEO: 27th November 2015
Aussies are spending more than ever before but visiting stores less, according to a snapshot of the country’s retail sector released this week. The annual Roy Morgan State of the Nation report this year featured a special focus on retail. It found spending on commodities topped $100 billion for the year to June, with approximately […]
Applications now open for the 2016 Westfield World Retail Study Tour
Inspiration drives motivation and motivation drives change. There is no better way to be inspired than the Westfield World Retail Study Tour. This intensive world tour will excite all senses as you experience some of the best retailers from around the world. Seeing the latest trends in retailing will leave you motivated to drive […]
Feedback Wanted: Draft 2 Retail Services Training Package
Service Skills Australia (SSA) has undertaken a major review of the Retail Services Training Package. To inform this review process, SSA has collaborated with key industry associations, employers, and representative bodies and groups to undertake a detailed job analysis and define industry job roles and skills needs. After consultation and feedback was received on Draft […]