The Changing Face of Retailing in Australia: A Detailed Analysis

This report provides an in-depth analysis of the Australian retail landscape, examining the historical development and current state of department stores and discount stores. It explores the major changes and developments in the Australian retailing system, highlighting the key drivers behind the evolution of retail formats, including the impact of e-commerce and technological advancements. The report discusses the challenges retailers face in the changing environment and offers recommendations for adapting to the evolving consumer behavior and market trends. It considers the future face of retailing in Australia and alternative retail store options, emphasizing the importance of adapting to online retailing and disruptive forces. The report concludes with a summary of the major findings and recommendations for retailers seeking to thrive in the dynamic Australian retail market.

Changing the face of retailing in Australia

Executive summary
Retailing is a process for distributing goods to consumers and it includes the activities in which
merchandise directly sells the products to consumers. This report included information about
development of departmental stores and discounted store in Australia. It analyzes and supports
the retailing system and its changing environment. Retailing systems have been changed in
Australia and the key drivers for the change have been discussed. Retailers are facing various
issues and challenges because of e-commerce in market. The various recommendations are
provided for retailers to analyze the market and retain the customers.

Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Major changes and development in Australia retailing system....................................................................3
Key drivers of the retailing format change..................................................................................................4
The future face of retailing in Australia and alternative retail store options................................................5
Conclusion and recommendation.................................................................................................................6
Reference.....................................................................................................................................................7

Introduction
Departmental stores are the retailers who provide consumer goods in a wide variety. It includes
consumer goods at one place for providing the products to consumers conveniently. Various
services and facilities are provided by retailers to attract and retain consumers. Departmental
stores offer multiple choices in product for the convenience of customers. A discounted store
provides the products at low prices than departmental stores. It includes limited products and
focuses on lowering the price and does not provide must services to customers. The major
change has taken place in retailing system from 5-10 years after the commencement of E-
commerce (Wang and Chan, 2010).
Major changes and development in Australia retailing system
In Australia, the retailing system helps in linking the consumers and manufacturers in supply
chain. Retail systems are changing because of change in technology. In order to meet with the
competitors it is necessary for retailers to adopt the updated technology in retailing. The change
of retailing system depends on various factors which include the political, social, economic,
technological, and demographic factors. The change is requirement of customers to help the
retailers to change according to the needs of the customers. In the process of retailing, retailers
can adopt the updated technology and implement the systems in providing the services to
customers (Chistopher, et al., 2006). Online retailing is taking place in Australia. In retailing, e-
commerce is taking place in society and it attracts the customers as it is convenient for customers
to do online shopping without wasting time to go for purchasing in departmental stores. It helps
in increasing sales and profits as the services are more beneficial in e-commerce. E-commerce is
taking place in retailing as customers can choose from different sellers which are providing
services on discounted prices. The value of physical departmental store is decreasing after the
implementation of e-commerce.
Retailing helps indirectly contacting the customers and helps in understanding and requirements
of customers. Traditional retailing helps in providing the services to wholesalers and producers
as it helps in advertising the new products (Zhu, et al., 2009). The evolution of retail is changing
from traditional formats to emerging formats which include supermarkets, hypermarkets, retail
outlets, and malls. Technology in retailing systems helps in increasing profitability. The product,

place, price and time are transforming in retailing and the perception of retailers and consumers
changed after the involvement of the internet in retail systems. In current market, retailers are
delivering personal and relevant suggestions (Fraser and Zarkada-Fraser, 2000). Retailers are
adopting the augmented shopping in Australia as customer prefers the shopping. In Australia, the
market structure of the retail industry is oligopolistic as the economy is changing because of
local traders and retailers. Retailers are adopting the strategy of competitive pricing for growth in
retail market. The number of retailers in Australia is almost 140,000. The changes in retail
industry help in improving the supply chain and logistics. Artificial intelligence is adopted by
retailers for the growth and development in the competitive market (Roan and Daimond, 2003).
Key drivers of the retailing format change
The retailing format is changed because of e-Commerce in Australia. Ecommerce is taking place
effectively and it is estimated that the market value of e-commerce will be $35.2 billion dollars
till 2021. People prefer to shop online as it is analyzed that out of 10 Australians 8 buy online.
The major drivers for the change in the retailing system in Australia are because of change in
income profiles as the increase in disposable income helps in steady economic growth
(Viswanathan, et al., 2007). It is because of change in pattern of consumption of consumers as
the occupational changes and expansion of media has impacted on the lives and spending of
consumers. In Australia, the retail sector is the biggest employer. In the retail format change, the
major key drivers are credit availability, supply chain, and economic growth demographics. The
main reason for the growth of retailing is artificial intelligence and machine learning. It helps in
decreasing the manual work and with the help of bar code all the information is available about
the products. Different formats are included in the retail industry like departmental stores,
discount stores, supermarkets, hypermarkets, Kiosks (Varadarajan, et al., 2010). In the future,
consumers will not prefer departmental stores because of the lack of investment and innovation
In retail format change, retailers face challenges in order to meet the expectation of customers. It
is necessary for keeping up with the change in customer expectations. Artificial intelligence in
the retail industry makes retailers competitive in the market. An Information system makes the
retailers planning, controlling, inventory, managing budgets and helps in setting goals and
recording the transactions and logistics. In past, the retail industry has faced competitive

challenges and now the online retailing and innovative global retailers are increasing in recent
days (Sutton-Brady, et al., 2015). An intensified competition has increased and it is better for
consumers. In Australia, online retailing is increasing day by day and in Australia, online
retailing increases and it represents 6% of the retailing sales. In order to maintain a good
relationship with customers as it is necessary to maintain a place in marketplaces. Emerging
formats includes exclusive retail outlets, hypermarket, fast food outlets, and internal retail.
Retailing is changing in Australia as it interplays between the changing of customers'
expectations, economic, technology and social which emergence the new business (Ailawadi, et
al., 2009).
The future face of retailing in Australia and alternative retail store options
In order to promote the retailing, promotional activities help the retailers in growing. In retail
marketing, applications of intelligent technologies can be adopted for the large retailers in
Australia as it will help in creating data warehousing for combining the massive databases. In the
future, retail industry will grow for cross-border because innovative technology and efficient
technologies will help in improving the path of retailing industry. In Australian market, retailers
will enter not the market for growth and helps in boarding the channels in global market (Shafer,
et al., 2013).
In the future, retailers will increase and more focus on the warehousing near-shore solutions
which will help in improving the experience in customers with greater efficiency and speed
delivery into the market. In future, e-commerce will grow in future and online retailers will help
in making profitability. In future retailers will unable to deliver a high level of value relative. The
traditional retailing process will be taken over by online retailers like Amazon. In future the retail
industry will take a shape of disruptive forces as the change in patterns of spending will be
different and the expectations of customers are changing and it is essential to bring the new
approaches in retailing system (Verhoef, et al., 2010). Traditional retailers will face the
disruption in future and online retailers will adopt the multiplicity and agility of delivery
platforms. It is recommended for retailers to adopt the techniques and tools for online retailing.
Convenience will help the retailers in providing the seamless retail experience which helps the
customers in comparing the prices of goods. The future of retail is online, retailer can emerge

their business online as it will help in growth of business. It is necessary for retailers to satisfy
the customers and differentiate themselves from others (Grewal, et al., 2018). E-business and e-
commerce will replace physical stores.
Conclusion and recommendation
It is concluded that changes in the retailing system are impacting on growth and development.
Retailers are adopting the latest technology to satisfy the customers. It is crucial for retailers to
analyze the market and fulfill the needs of customers for growth of development. The major
changes have affected the retailing systems. In retail industry, it is essential to consider the area
of tools and technology, engagement, decisions on merchandising, and consumption. the recent
format for selling the products online which is adopted by retailers is E-retailing in which all the
products are available online for consumers. In recent trend, Amazon is the popular retail store
which is trending and decreasing the sale of traditional retail stores. E-retailing helps in
providing the various varieties of products to consumers.

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