Australian brands dominate vitamin and supplement sales, Chemist Warehouse leads Aussie charge on China's singles day, Melbourne's St. Collins Lane precinct sells for $247 million, and LVMH in talks to buy Michael Kors.
Australian brands dominate vitamin and supplement sales
Australians love popping pills, reveals Roy Morgan Research. A huge 44.2 per cent of the population take vitamin, mineral and health supplements regularly - 8.7 million people. With mega-buck sales up for grabs, says the researcher, there's an army of brands battling it out for attention in supermarkets, health food stores, pharmacies and online.
Nature's Own is Australia's number one brand with a 13.9 per cent market share (2.7 million people), followed by at 10.1 per cent (2 million people). German-owned Berocca comes in a close third (10%), with Swisse (9.5%) and Cenovis (4.7%) rounding out the top five players.
Women are the most likely to reach for the bottle of supplements - 50.4 per cent of Australian women - in contrast to men at 37.8 per cent. Nature's Own appeals to all ages - 50-plus (15.3%), 35 to 49 year olds (14.6%) and is the number one brand of teenagers aged 14 to 17 ( 7.8%). Millennials - 18 to 24 and 25 to 34 - make a beeline for Berocca - 13.9 per cent and 15.5 per cent, respectively.
"It makes sense that many people take these products to address a particular need, such as actual vitamin deficiency or expecting mothers who want to ensure their unborn baby is getting all the nutrients it needs", says Norman Morris, Industry Communications Director, Roy Morgan Research. "But Roy Morgan data shows that others appear to take them as part of an already healthy lifestyle and nutritious diet".
Chemist Warehouse leads Aussie charge on China's singles day
Anyone hoping to earn $2 million in 14 minutes should follow the lead of Chemist Warehouse. That's the time it took for the Australian pharmacy chain to reach sales of RMB 10 million in this year's Singles Day shopping event run by the Alibaba Group, the world's largest retailer. Chemist Warehouse was part of Alibaba's virtual reality shopping experience for the first time this year, producing a growth spurt which helped the company become the first Tmall Global Store to surpass sales of RMB 100 million (AUD$19.79 million).
Held on November 11th, Australia was the fourth highest non-Chinese retailer after Japan, the US and South Korea and ahead of Germany in fifth place. Other major Australian companies who raked in major revenues included Jeanswest, Swisse and Blackmores. According to Maggie Zhou, Alibaba Group ANZ managing director - "When we announced the opening of our office in Australia earlier this year, one of our goals was to improve on the country's outstanding performance in 2015. We've seen significant increases in Australian sales volumes - a result which will have a postive impact on many local businesses."
Overall, the world's largest retail event experienced a 32 per cent lift in sales to US$17.8 billion compared to 2015. Key celebs lending their famous faces to the 24 hour spree included Katy Perry and Victoria Beckham. Payments through mobile phones also enjoyed double digit growth to 15 per cent.
Melbourne's St. Collins Lane Precinct Sells for $247 Million
The plush St.Collins Lane Precinct is a luxury shopaholic's dream. The glittering four storey shopping complex houses a skincare clinic, an outpost of Neil Perry's Burger Project and 60 stores, including , , Tag Heuer and Furla. Brit department store chain Debenhams will be opening its first Australian branch next year to boost an already stellar shopping mix.
In yet another multi-million dollar buyout of capital city retail real estate, global institutional investor LaSalle Asia Opportunity Fund III has acquired St. Collins Lane for $247 million. A good move says Simon Rooney, head of retail investments Australasia for JLL, who brokered the deal. "The revitalisation of the CBD retail core has driven further strengthening of investor demand for these high quality assets and this was reflected in the competitive sale process for St. Collins Lane. 2016 already reflects a record year for CBD retail transactions in Australia with $1.6 billion recorded to date, eclipsing the $1.2 billion in 2015."
LVMH in talks to buy Michael Kors
Known as the king of the jetrosexuals, Michael Kors global success is hard to miss. The brand's fleet of retail locations now numbers 771 worldwide, and over the past 16 years more than 30 fragrances have been released, including the recent blockbuster - Wonderlust. There's been a younger, more modern shift in the Michael Kors scent stable and Australian women have responded strongly to deliver double digit growth over the past four years.
Michael Kors, the man, joined the exclusive club of fashion billionaires in 2014 and global online sales are soaring. LVMH, the world's largest luxury goods group, is in discussions to acquire Michael Kors say Insiders. French multinational bank, Societe Generale, is rumoured to be advising on the bid. It's a path the luxe giant has trodden before. LVMH bought a one-third stake in Michael Kors in 1999 when the New York-based designer was the creative director of Celine. The entire stake was sold off fours years later in 2003, but the brand has enjoyed such explosive success in Europe and Japan that it's a much more attractive and profitable target for LVMH.
Snippets from the wires
- Younique, the first direct sales beauty company to sell and market exclusively on social media networks, has launched in Hong Kong. The four year old company now operates in 10 countries, including the US, Australia, Germany and France.
- L Brands, the owner of Victoria's Secret and Bath & Body Works, topped analysts estimates for fiscal Q3 with sales of $US2.58 billion for the three month period.
- Lisa Eldridge, star makeup artist and Global Creative Director for Lancôme , has signed with app company Meitu as the face of its new MakeupPlus app. A social media phenomenon, Eldridge has 650,000 Instagram followers and 1.5 million subscribers on YouTube. Similar to L'Oreal's Makeup Genius, the try-on app can be downloaded for free.
- Now aged 51, supermodel Linda Evangelista is a poster girl for ageing well. The glamorous Canadian will join BioMimetic Laboratories, makers of Erasa XEP-30, as vice-president and creative director. The "Botox in a jar" product won an Allure Best of Beauty Breakthrough award for its anti-ageing prowesss.
- Sydney retains its coveted top 10 position in Cushman & Wakefield's annual listing of the world's most expensive retail streets. Pitt Street Mall was ranked number 7 overall and climbed to number three in the Asia/Pacific region. Melbourne is also an exy place to open up shop. The city didn't make the global top 10, but Collins Street is the fifth most expensive retail strip in the Asia/Pacific area.
