Australia attracts more global retailers

A new report by Deloitte has found 37 of the world’s top 250 retailers are now operating in Australia, 23 of which have set up shop in Western Australia.

“In 2014 we saw the likes of H&M, Fast Retailing, Forever 21 and most recently Sephora entering the Australian market with bricks and mortar stores,” Deloitte Australia partner David White said.

“With a weakening of the Australian dollar and ever increasing competitive pressures, we expect to see further interest by overseas retailers in the Australian retail market.”

Last year, 30 of the world’s top 250 retailers were operating in Australia.

According to the 2015 Global Powers of Retailing report, the trend of global retailers establishing a presence in Australia is expected to continue its pace this year.

“As major global players continue to enter the Australian market, and existing global retailers expand their store footprint, Australian retailers across all segments will continue to face significant challenges and increased competition,” Mr White said.

“The ability to innovate, drive improved processes and to connect with the consumer will be critical in order to remain competitive.”

Of the top 25 global retailers, five have an established operation in WA.

Woolworths and Wesfarmers continued to represent Australia in the top 25, at 18^th and 22^nd respectively.

Woolworths was also ranked as number two in the Asia Pacific top 10, after Japanese retailer Aeon.

Seven Group Holdings and Lowes, both of which have operations in WA, were ranked at 19^th and 20^th respectively.

Amazon.com, also with a WA presence, was ranked 15^th out of the top 25 and was the number one e-tailer globally, followed by JD.com, Walmart and Apple.

According to the Deloitte report, the top 250 global retailers generated retail revenue of about $US4.4 trillion in 2013, with nearly 80 per cent posting an increase in retail revenue in the same year.

The report also warned that the risk of cyber-security attacks was growing as retailers transformed to embrace the digital world.

As retailers increasingly exposed their internal data through their own and third party apps, they need to build flexible and secure ways to access and govern that data, the report said.