07 May THE FUTURE OF RETAIL; THE END OF HOT-DESKING? CORPORATES DRAW ON $350BN
Posted at 02:50h
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Welcome to today’s business and media intelligence, with insights collected over the past 24-hours, as NSW Premier Gladys Berejiklian confirms there will be no family gatherings to celebrate Mothers’ Day this weekend.
International news
- FEWER, BETTER QUALITY STORES THE FUTURE OF RETAIL?
- Coronavirus is the latest in a long line of challenges for the retail sector globally, but, according to The Financial Times, it’s too early to kill off the shopping mall. It’s the “mediocre” shops and shopping centres that will suffer most, the paper argues. Read the Financial Times article here. (Subscriber access)
- AIRBNB SACKS QUARTER OF ITS STAFF
- The poster boy of the gig economy, AirBnB, announces it’s making 1,900 staff redundant – or about a quarter of its workforce. The short-term rental company is predicting travel to look a lot different with demand for accommodation options closer to home already recovering: domestic bookings in Denmark and the Netherlands are approaching 90% and 80% respectively. Read The Guardian article here.
Australian company news
- THE END OF HOT-DESKING?
- James Calder, who helped design the country’s first activity-based workspace, has sounded the death knell for hot-desking, likening offices to cruise ships in the current pandemic. Companies around the country are working through how to return to commercial office buildings, balancing health and safety with collaboration and innovation. Read the AFR article. (Subscriber access)
- OH NO, THE SUPERMARKET CATALOGUE IS IN TROUBLE
- With more customers buying online, Australia’s largest supermarket chain, Woolworths, has confirmed its print catalogue will shrink. It’s bad news for brands (fewer chances to advertise), and an ominous sign for some direct marketers. Read more in The Australian. (Subscriber access)
Australian markets
- REGULATOR WORRIES ABOUT JUMP IN AUSSIE PUNTERS
- The creation of new retail trading accounts was up 3.4 times the normal rate when the pandemic began. That has ASIC worried given retail investors are comparably less experienced at trading: on more than two-thirds of the days retail investors were net buyers, the share prices of the stocks they invested in declined. Read more in today’s Chanticleer column here. (Subscriber access)
- HERMES? NO THANKS, WE ARE ON A BUDGET
- Spending less on luxury brands and products and more on daily essentials may continue in a post COVID world, says a new BCG / Dynata survey. It reveals that Australians feel it’s important to be frugal at this time, expecting a long recovery road ahead. Read more about the survey, and comparisons in attitudes with other countries here. (Subscriber access)
- AUSTRALIA’S FISCAL STIMULUS SECOND HIGHEST IN WORLD
- Australia’s $214 billion fiscal response – or 10.6 per cent of GDP – is the highest of any advanced economy and beaten only by Qatar. It is also three times the payments, as a share of GDP, delivered during the Great Depression. Read the details in The AFR. (Subscriber access)
- CORPORATES DRAW ON $350BN DURING CAPITAL SQUEEZE
- Australian companies are tapping government stimulus, equity and debt issuance and scrapping dividends to shore up balance sheets to the tune of $350 billion, says an analysis of ASX 200 companies. See the full list of capital sources in The AFR. (Subscriber access)
Our daily briefing is not meant to be a summary of media coverage but rather, insights that may be helpful in understanding how organisations are communicating with stakeholders in a time of crisis – and what comes next. Sign up via email.