American Express is expanding its Backing International Small Restaurants grant program, with venues in Melbourne now eligible to apply in addition to Sydney. Run in partnership with the International Downtown Association (IDA) Foundation and supported by Mainstreet Australia, small restaurant owners are being invited to apply for one of 10 grants each valued at $21,500 to put towards expenses or improving their business. In its first two years in Australia, Backing International Small Restaurants has provided $240,000 in financial support. The program, founded by American Express, recognises ..read more

Australian fashion retailer, Sportsgirl has engaged global design studio, Landini Associates to transform its physical store formats. Sportsgirl’s offer includes cosmetics, accessories and gifting, alongside its clothing business, but these categories were poorly defined in-store and failed Landini Associates’ ‘blindfold test’ – a measure of whether a store design has a differentiated visual personality. The brief was to better articulate these offers, creating destinations of clarity without reducing SKUs, to distinguish Sportsgirl from mass-market fashion retailers. Applying its guiding des ..read more

Australian retail businesses lost an average of $2.2 million to fraud in 2023, according to a new report from global financial technology platform, Adyen. In total, nearly half of Australian retailers (43%) fell victim to cyberattacks or data leaks over the last 12 months, an increase of 10% when compared to 2023’s numbers.  The Adyen Index Australia: Retail 2024, in conjunction with the Centre for Economic Business and Research (Cebr), exposes the impact of fraud on the Australian retail sector. It revealed a surge in fraud attempts among Australian retailers, with over two in five (42 ..read more

While more than half (57%) of retailers and CPG companies plan to invest in predictive and generative AI in the next three to five years, AI and machine learning (ML) ranked just fifth in importance for overall technology spend, according to a new global study by unified supply chain and retail planning solutions provider, RELEX Solutions. It ranked behind enhancing e-commerce capabilities, improving inventory management, demand forecasting, and leveraging data analytics. The RELEX State of Supply Chain 2024: Retail and CPG Dynamics report offers valuable insights into the challenges, strateg ..read more

KFC is bringing its famous Kentucky Fried Chicken to the Tasmania suburb of South Burnie. The latest KFC restaurant to open is led by Kimberly Rhodes who has been with KFC for 20 years. She previously worked at KFC Ulverstone and was most recently the assistant restaurant manager at KFC Burnie. Jaimi-Lea Evans and Luke Johnson will take on the role of assistant restaurant manager, having been with KFC for 10 years and four years, respectively.  “The KFC South Burnie team is delighted to welcome local KFC fans who can now get their hands on the Colonel’s delicious Kentucky Fried Chicken ..read more

Australian-owned menswear brand, M.J. Bale, has confirmed it is now B Corp certified, joining a global community of businesses committed to using business as a force for good. B Lab, the non-profit organisation behind the B Corp certification, executed a rigorous assessment of M.J. Bale’s practices, from its supply chain and environmental impact to treatment of employees and community obligations. The certification means the brand meets high and verifiable standards of social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency. “On behalf of all stakeholders, including our staff, b ..read more

This year, Australia Post is celebrating its 10th anniversary in partnership with the Online Retail Industry Awards (ORIAS), encouraging ecommerce businesses across the country to apply.    The Australia Post ORIAS is the original industry event highlighting brands that have achieved retail excellence over the past 12 months. The 2024 awards will also include the newly established Australia Post Impact Award categories including: Small Business Innovation Award: Targeted at small businesses that have innovated to deliver a new product of service, outstanding customer experience or busine ..read more

Mastercard is scaling its new tokenised and embedded online checkout experience which enhances security for online transactions, while maintaining convenience for consumers. The increasing threat of card-not-present fraud saw Australians lose $608.1 million in 2023 according to AusPayNet data. Built on industry standards to ensure broad availability of the technology to cardholders and retailers, Mastercard Click to Pay delivers a more streamlined and secure checkout experience by eliminating the need to manually enter payment card details. Instead, an automatic email lookup coupled with two ..read more

Australia’s leading fine jewellery brand, Michael Hill has previewed its brand refresh and what’s rumoured to be the company’s first brand ambassador.  Set to launch on 15 April 2024, Michael Hill’s new era is nearly two years in the making and aims to encapsulate the brand’s refined and reimagined vision for its aspirational position in the market, while reflecting its heritage and passion for craft and creativity.  “As a global brand that offers modern, contemporary fine jewellery our repositioning marks a new era for the Michael Hill brand, part of our long-term business strategy ..read more

THE ICONIC has released its 2023 People Planet Positive Progress Year in Review, highlighting important strides it has made towards its mission to be People Planet Positive by 2030, including beginning its journey to become B Corp certified.  In 2023, THE ICONIC began its journey to become B Corp certified, reiterating its ambition to operate at a standard that demonstrates purpose, backed by credible action. Further strengthening its commitment to circularity and conscious consumption, THE ICONIC was one of six retailers to sign on as foundation and board members of Seamless, Australia ..read more