While the negativity and confidence malaise of the years that followed the global financial crisis have subsided and retail sales growth now provides retailers with a glimmer of hope, for some retailers uncertainty still surrounds 2015.
Findings from Inside Retail’s annual survey, published in our Australian Retail Outlook 2015 publication out now, indicate there is a glimmer of hope on the horizon, with more than 50 per cent of retailers surveyed indicating that business in 2014 was the same or better than the previous year, while almost half said they expect conditions in 2015 to improve.
Lou Jardin, MD of supermarket chain, Spar, told Australian Retail Outlook that from a market perspective, retail has had it extremely tough.
“Forward looking it looks a lot better for us,” said Jardin.
“We’ve learned a lot of the lessons and the guys have had to dig deep and come up with different strategies to run their business. I can say we’ve finished off 2014 in a much better situation that we finished off last year,” he said.
Australian Retail Outlook contains the opinions of 11 Australian retail CEOs for 2015, including Spar, Foodco, The Iconic, Harris Farm, Howards Storage World, and others, as well as expert forecasts on the year ahead on retail employment, food, retail design, property, and shopper marketing.
Also included in Australian Retail Outlook for the first time in 2015 is the results and retailers profiles of Ferrier Hodgson’s 2015 Retail Growth Award.
In addition to the winner of the inaugural Ferrier Hodgson Retail Growth Award, Australian Retail Outlook features profiles on the top 10 recipients, including store numbers and total EBITDA for the last three years.
Inside Retail’s Australian Retail Outlook 205 report can be purchased at http://insideretail.com.au/shop/ for $19.95 for digital, or $39.95 for both digital and hard copy.
