Christmas shoppers were down 23%, world’s worst property fall flagged, and more top news
The news Australian professionals are talking about now, curated by LinkedIn’s editors. Join the conversation in the comments below.
The number of people in malls before Christmas hit a 20-year low. The ShopperTrak system measures foot-fall in shopping centres, and found traffic fell 15% in the week ending December 23 and 23% in the week ending December 30. Over the month, foot-fall was down 12.2% year on year. Corporate restructurer Ferrier Hodgson partner James Stewart told The Australian (paywall) he’d never seen Christmas numbers so low in 20 years: “That means the biggest two weeks of Australia’s retail calendar just had a huge air swing at Christmas and Boxing Day trading.”
Property prices could fall by more in Australia than in other economies across the world. Research from Citi on 60 economies found Australia was the only one set to experience potential year-on-year declines of more than 10% (paywall). Meanwhile Fitch Ratings forecast Australian house prices would decline a further 5% this year, making Australian housing the worst performer out of 24 countries for the second consecutive year.
Australian consumers turned pessimistic over the Christmas break. Westpac’s closely-followed consumer sentiment index recorded its largest monthly fall in more than three years, from 104.4 to 99.6. A reading below 100 indicated there were more pessimists than optimists. Given the personal finances and economic outlook sub-indices were the largest drag on confidence, analyst said it didn’t bode well for Australian businesses. Despite a 0.4% growth in the latest retail sales figures from November, there was still concern about a spending slowdown caused by falling house prices.
A lawyer who fraudulently obtained $10m from Australian media mogul Bruce Gordon has been jailed. Brody Jack Clarke -- whose firm represented Gordon -- impersonated a company director to obtain the money (paywall). It fueled a gambling addiction, on which Clarke was spending up to $3m per day. Judge Mark Williams said the case was a “sad illustration of the moral delinquency and immorality of the online betting industry in Australia and the pernicious effects it has upon people seduced by its false promises of easy riches.”
After three decades, Gillette is taking its iconic “the best a man can get” slogan in a different direction. The Procter & Gamble shaving brand released a new ad tackling issues such as #MeToo, bullying and "toxic masculinity" — to mixed reactions. Gillette isn't the first to use social issues to advertise its products; Nike's campaign with former NFL quarterback Colin Kaepernick (who refused to stand during the national anthem) generated praise and boycott alike.
Idea of the Day: It’s often while relaxing on vacation that our best ideas come to us, says author and podcast host Linda Coles.
“Keep your notepad handy while you ponder so you can file those thoughts and ideas away for when you return to work.”
— Ben Collins and Cayla Dengate
Principal Electrical Engineer
5 年I remember the scene from Fulls and horses where grandpa looks through window and sees plane coming straight for them (for those who never seen it: they stole navigation far thinking it's a satellite dish). And closes the curtain... Letting Bigots tailoring your corporate policy for you this is what comes up as price. I can only say HAPPY XMAS! I would never buy a "Xmas tree" to my kids, as it is pointless. What that even means? Christmas was a season of thanksgiving to the most loved ones. Then they made you feel stupid and ignorant if you celebrate it. Payday Karma! Nothing else. Added to a fact that on west people have no money any more due to ridiculous prices of houses (Australia, UK, Canada, US...), where if you stand on that crazy stone you need 3 lifetimes worth of saving to buy in neighborhood you grew up.? Payday karma is coming for all money grabbing lies we had and on line is more than shopping malls. Family (cant afford kids), Marriage (Who needs wife when test kit is available on every party), Buying house (not even 1% earners can afford them any more), Consumer mentality (No surplus cash if any of the three I mentioned before), Dream holidays (You get sacked if you take long holiday right...). Wait for the Nightclubs due to tinder, Shopping mall due to internet trade, and western economy due to the all jobs being exported and no one left to pay for the imports. So one more: time happy XMAS grandpa Ted Trotter...
Senior Engineer
5 年We know how much of resource waste took place even in much more recent times, ?that’s an open secret mate
Highly Experience | Data Governance | MDM | Integration | Data Warehousing | Big Data | BI | Analytics | DaaS
5 年P&G big mistake.. very big mistake.. media driven narratives are becoming more and more transparent.. your competition will capitalise on your mistake.. oh hang on they already have!!.. patronising your audience.. big mistake. If you want to subdue a populous emasculate it’s men... the deeper question is why the massive escalation of this and the many other divide and conquer lines we’re seeing. Blatant social engineering. Now can we go back to talking about cars again.. much more exciting. Bic.. that’s a tip!
Sales and Service Professional in the Quarry Industry.
5 年Considering that the charity bins have been inundated with goods, it’s not surprising retail sales are down. We simply can’t keep consuming new goods. We have no room for what we’ve got already!
Travelling and observing life
5 年While one of Australia's leading online shopping sites had its best Christmas ever. However, maybe our current heat wave will help drive customers back into those wonderfully cool, air-conditioned, shopping centers!