The AFR reported that the share of household expenditure on clothing and footwear has more than halved since 1984, from 6.5% to 3.1%. This data dispels the myth that specialty retailers' woes have been caused by the emergence of e-commerce. Online retail handles just 8% of sales, translating to just 0.2% of the decline. The remaining 3.2% drop has been caused by changing spending patterns.

Reuters reported that Mattress Firm Inc, the largest mattress retailer in the US, is considering a potential bankruptcy as it seeks ways to get out of store leases and shut poor performers from its 3,000 locations. Mattress Firm’s deliberations offer the latest example of a US brick-and-mortar retailer struggling financially. Reuters think that the situation is due to competition from e-commerce firms such as Amazon, but we have a suspicion that it's more likely the consequence of the continuing escalation of lease costs. Interestingly, Mattress Firm is owned by Steinhoff International, which paid US$3.8 billion to acquire the business in 2016. When it rains, it pours.

The Economist reported on the rising popularity of point-of-sale lending in the US, noting that many retailers are now offering their customers the option to pay for goods over six to 12 months interest-free. Consumers who might have financed big-ticket purchases with a credit card are increasingly utilising these "point-of-sale" loans instead. The article noted that over-the-counter lending is being led by innovative tech startups. Interestingly, Australia seems to be well ahead of the US in this space, with AfterPay and ZipPay now processing a material percentage of all retail spend Down Under. Retail Directions' point-of-sale enables our clients to offer both payment options to their customers.

The Sydney Morning Herald reported on Amazon's flat entry into the Australian market. Documents lodged with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission show Amazon Australia ran at an $8.9 million loss with just $16 million in sales for the 2017 calendar year. Not quite the retail apocalypse prophesised by much of the media in anticipation of tech giant's arrival Down Under, speculation which put local retailers on edge and played havoc with their share prices. We've always said that stores are Aussie retails' best defense against the online raider, while directly competing with Amazon online is a sure way to put your business under pressure.

Fortune.com reported that Apple has become the first US company to reach a US$1 trillion sharemarket valuation. Buoyed by stronger than expected earnings for the second quarter, Apple shares rose 3% on Thursday to close at $207.39, and are up about 31% over the past year. Other tech giants in the hunt for a $1 trillion market cap are Amazon at $877 million, Alphabet at $851 million and Microsoft at $822 million. Facebook was in the hunt until last week's historic stock collapse cut the company's value to $504 million.

The Intercept reported that Google is planning to build a censored search engine for the Chinese market, based on a leaked document. According to the article, the project, code-named Dragonfly, has been active since 2017 and recently accelerated after a meeting between Google CEO Sundar Pichai and a “top Chinese official.” Google shut down its search engine in China in 2010 due to the country's censorship policy, but now it appears that it wants back in. It is important to note that numerous companies have wasted time and cash trying to break into China’s massive market. Most recently, Facebook seemed to have finally made it behind the steel curtain until China slammed the door shut at the last minute, again.

The AFR reported that social media network Instagram is considering introducing a way for consumers to shop directly through the app. With more and more consumers, businesses and advertisers flocking to the platform, the introduction of direct shopping would be a boost for retailers. Instagram topped 1 billion users in June and analysts predict it to be generating US$22 billion in revenue by 2020.

The Wall Street Journal reported that Zara will roll out its ship-from-store system to around 2,000 stores in 48 countries, including the US, making it one of the largest-scale attempts by an apparel company to repurpose downtown shops to help fulfil online orders. Zara expects better stock availability and faster deliveries as a result. However, such fulfilment models come at a price: they impact store stock holdings (usually carefully crafted to meet the demand of walk-in customers), they require packing facilities within the stores, and they create additional workload in the stores. It goes without saying, that in order to be able to route customer orders to the right fulfilment store, the business must have precise information about stores' stock on hand - in real time. Not many retailers can boast this.