The AFR reports that grocery retailers need to shift focus from copycat private label products and focus on building strong brands to avoid losing share to discounters amid a Millennial-led shift in shopping habits. The AFR noted a statement by Boston Consulting Group MD, Gavin Parker saying, "the major chains risk losing market share to vertically integrated value retailers such as Aldi, which are increasingly popular with Millennials, and to major FMCG companies, which have started selling online directly to consumers, unless they develop real brands that build strong connections with customers." The article echoes a sentiment we've shared last week: that Coles and Woolworths progressive destruction of branded groceries and the narrowing of their range has taken them to a dark alley, where they have to compete on price with Aldi and this is a war they cannot win due to their high-cost structure.

Taxify, one of Uber's main ride-sharing rivals, claims to be off to a strong start since launching down under roughly three months ago. The company claims to already have a fifth of the number of drivers Uber has locally and 350,000 registered users (Uber has 3.8m users in Australia). Promoted with aggressive discounts to offset longer wait times, Taxify's long-term goals is to be 5% cheaper than Uber. In the highly competitive and relatively small Australian market, time will tell if there's room for more than one dominant player in the ride-sharing space.

Reuters reported that US retail sales were up 4.5% from March 2017, as consumers spent more on goods including furniture and electronics.  Interestingly, some mainstream media only reported a 0.6% “increase since the last month”, after “two months of decline”.  Anyone who knows anything about retail knows that only year-on-year comparison makes any sense.

The Age reported that Myer has brought in high-profile restructuring and insolvency administrator Mark Korda to help it try to squeeze out from under suffocating leases.  According to The Age, this could make landlords realise that they have the option of either cutting a deal with him now as an adviser or be left dealing with him as Myer's administrator.  It has been speculated that voluntary administration could be a way for Myer to exit or renegotiate its leases, but the company has said such action was not being considered.

The Age reported that Woolworths stores around the country shut their doors on Monday afternoon after a nationwide technical issue completely halted sales.  Around 4pm, customers began to report stores closing and they were told that an IT issue affecting the cash registers was to blame.  This highlights the essential importance of a specialised systems architecture that is needed for retail chains, to prevent such mishaps.

The Wall Street Journal reported that MGA Entertainment CEO Isaac Larian has placed a bid to purchase Toys 'R' Us stores in the US and Canada for $675 million and $215 million respectively. Toy maker Larian plans to fund the purchase with his own money and bank financing.  When a manufacturer feels compelled to buy a retailer to secure continuing demand for its products, this usually just delays the inevitable...