299
Fashion Jobs
H&M
Total Rewards Manager, Supply Chain
Permanent · TSIM SHA TSUI
H&M
Accounts Specialist
Permanent · TSIM SHA TSUI
ESTÉE LAUDER COMPANIES
Assistant Demand Planning Manager
Permanent · HONG KONG
ESTÉE LAUDER - BRAND
Retail Marketing Manager, Estée Lauder
Permanent · HONG KONG
CLINIQUE
Assistant Education Manager, Clinique
Permanent · HONG KONG
CLINIQUE
Senior Marketing Manager, Clinique
Permanent · HONG KONG
TOMMY HILFIGER
Senior Manager, Creative Services, Tommy Hilfiger Asia Pacific
Permanent · HONG KONG
AESOP
Retail Consultant
Permanent · SHA TIN
NEWELL
Senior Manager, Indirect Sourcing
Permanent · HONG KONG
L'OREAL GROUP
Group Product Manager
Permanent · HONG KONG
ADIDAS
Senior Manager, Materials Availability Management
Permanent · HONG KONG
L'OREAL GROUP
Assistant Purchasing Manager (Marketing, Digital IT)
Permanent · HONG KONG
PUMA
Manager Innovation Technical Apparel
Permanent · HONG KONG
DR. MARTENS
Head of Financial Accounting, Apac
Permanent · TSIM SHA TSUI
TJX COMPANIES
Director of Sourcing, Apparel -Hong Kong
Permanent · HONG KONG
A & F
Hollister CO. - Brand Representative (Part-Time / Full-Time), Hysan Place
Permanent · CAUSEWAY BAY
A & F
Hollister CO. - Brand Representative (Part-Time / Full-Time), Yoho Mall
Permanent · HONG KONG
A & F
Abercrombie & Fitch - Brand Representative (Part-Time / Full-Time), Harbour City
Permanent · TSIM SHA TSUI
KERING EYEWEAR
Kering Eyewear Assistant Trade Marketing Manager Travel Retail
Permanent · HONG KONG
JAEGER
Training Manager
Permanent · HONG KONG
L'OREAL GROUP
Retail And Education Manager
Permanent · HONG KONG
TORY BURCH
Senior Manager, Retail Training, Asia
Permanent · HONG KONG
By
Reuters
Published
Nov 3, 2017
Reading time
3 minutes
Download
Download the article
Print
Text size

Australia retailers slash prices, shoppers still stay away

By
Reuters
Published
Nov 3, 2017

Australian retailers suffered another tepid month of sales as consumers, battling stagnant wages and rising utility bills, curbed spending in an outcome that augers poorly for third-quarter economic growth.



Australia's annual retail growth is now crawling at 1.4 percent, levels last seen during the global financial crisis. - REUTERS/Steven Saphore



Thursday’s data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) showed retail sales were flat in September, a big surprise given analysts had looked for a bounce of 0.4 percent following a shock decline in August.

That left nominal sales down 0.3 percent for the third quarter as a whole, the weakest result since 2010.

Yet, adjusted for inflation they still rose 0.1 percent in the period. Essentially retailers sold more goods but got less money for them.
Indeed, retail prices in the quarter fell 0.4 percent, the biggest drop since 2004.

The Australian dollar skidded about a quarter of a cent following the data to be down 0.4 percent at $0.7683, leaving behind a more than one-week high of $0.7729 set on Thursday.

Annual retail growth is now crawling at 1.4 percent, levels last seen during the global financial crisis.

“The picture from the report is an unambiguously bad one for retailers who are cutting prices but finding no traction with volumes,” said Westpac economist Matthew Hassan.

“The picture is not quite as bad for consumers who get some advantage from lower prices and do not look to be cutting back on consumption quite as sharply as feared.”

Australia’s retail sector had shown some signs of life earlier in the year, but that recovery was short-lived as sluggish wages and household incomes sapped spending power.

Friday’s data implies a risk private consumption didn’t add much to overall economic growth in the September quarter. It also casts a shadow on the Reserve Bank of Australia’s (RBA) forecasts for the A$1.7 trillion economy to grow at 3 percent over the next two years.

NO HIKES YET

The RBA has long feared ballooning debt in Australia’s red-hot property sector was limiting consumers’ ability to spend elsewhere in the economy, one reason it has held rates at an all-time low 1.50 percent since August 2016.

“The low inflationary pulse, which is reflecting soft wages growth and ongoing discounting in the retail sector, underpins our view that a rate hike is still a long way off,” said Gareth Aird, senior economist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

Friday’s ABS figures showed hefty falls in the Northern Territory and Western Australia, with Tasmania and South Australia rebounding after losses the previous month.

In chain volume measures, household goods and department stores led the declines, while food and clothing inched higher.

In a sign of the times, Australia’s biggest department store operator Myer this week cut its growth targets after its quarterly sales fell 2.8 percent.

Beyond retail, things are not nearly so bad. Surveys of businesses report the best conditions since before the global financial crisis and jobs growth has been off the charts.

Data out on Thursday showed dwelling approvals climbed to a seven-month high while Australia boasted its longest run of trade surpluses in more than four decades.

© Thomson Reuters 2024 All rights reserved.