Retailing in AUSTRALIA

Despite some outward signs of strength, all may not be as well with Australian retailing as appears on the surface. Our contributor, Steve Worthington, has just returned from a six month stay in Australia. He suggests that the dominance of the sector by Coles Myer, an over reliance on price as a competitive weapon, and the lack of segmentation of the Australian consumer all mean that Australian retailing has somewhat atrophied.