Press Releases

February 25, 2019: Australians are more worried than ever about tobacco criminals selling illegal smokes in the community, demanding Government do more to crack down on black market cigarette crooks, according to new independent research released this month. Such is the level of concern in the community, the issue of illicit tobacco could even influence the majority of people’s votes, according to the research commissioned by the Australasian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS) and involving approximately 3,400 Australians of voting age nationally. A follow-up of the research initially undertaken in September 2016, which was the most comprehensive ever undertaken in Australia on the illicit tobacco issue, the new research measures people’s concerns about the illicit tobacco trade, whether they think Government should be doing more and if so what, and whether they feel strongly enough for it to influence their vote. In September 2016, 50% of Australians felt more urgent…

See how cannabis is being sold – legally – in the USA as part of the AACS Overseas Study Tour in October 2019 – bookings now open. DOMINIC POWELL February 20, 2019 SmartCompany Greens leader Richard Di Natale is seen at the Melbourne Free Cannabis Community 420 Rally held at Flagstaff Gardens in Melbourne on Friday, April 20, 2018. Source: AAP Image/David Crosling. The legalisation of cannabis will be front and centre of the Australian Greens’ campaign in this year’s upcoming federal election as the party urges Labor to lead the charge on pro-marijuana legislation. Speaking to SmartCompany, Greens party leader and Senator for Victoria Richard Di Natale outlined the Greens’ stance on cannabis in Australia, which the minority party unveiled as a major policy platform last year. While parties such as Victorian Labor have implemented progressive policies around medicinal and controlled cannabis, the Greens want to take the drug’s…

Remedios Lucio February 11, 2019 Inside FMCG Aussies are drinking less alcohol according to Roy Morgan’s latest research. It reported 67.9 per cent of the Australian population aged 18+ have consumed at least one type of alcohol in an average four week period. It reported a gradual decline over the last five years from 70.1 per cent recorded in 2013. All major alcoholic drinks have declined in incidence over this period, except for cider which has increased. Roy Morgan’s Alcohol Consumption Currency Report September 2018 conducted face-to-face interview with over 50,000 consumers per annum, questioning of over 15,000 regarding their alcoholic drinking habits. Wine is the most popular alcoholic drink for Aussies, according to Roy Morgan’s latest report. It is consumed by 43.3 per cent of the 18+ Australian population over an average four week period, ahead of beer with 38.4 per cent and spirits on 26.7 per cent. Cider…

Randy Hofbauer 02/01/2019 Progressive Grocer Test Shoppers Find Kroger’s New Digital Shelves are “Influential” on Purchase Decisions Kroger’s new digital shelves at a QFC store in Redmond, Wash. (photo courtesy of Field Agent) A test using eight secret shoppers at Kroger’s QFC test store in Redmond, Wash., for the grocer’s new EDGE digital shelf technology found the majority of patrons involved favoring the innovation over traditional shelf tags, Fayetteville, Ark.-based market researcher Field Agent has reported. Part of the grocery giant’s new Retail as a Service (RaaS) platform developed in partnership with Redmond-based technology company Microsoft, the new shelves were preferred by seven out of eight mystery shoppers, whereas the remaining one would rather see traditional tags on shelves. When asked how influential they thought brand messaging on the digital shelves would be over their purchase decisions, half of them said “very” or “extremely” influential, while three said “somewhat influential.”…

Associated Press January 24, 2019 A new shopping platform announced Thursday at the World Economic Forum aims to change the way we buy many brand-name products. Loop, as the platform is called, would do away with disposable containers for things like shampoo and laundry detergent from some of the world’s biggest manufacturers. Instead, those goods will be delivered in sleek, reusable containers that will be picked up at your door, washed and refilled. “Loop is about the future of consumption. And one of the tenets is that garbage shouldn’t exist,” says Tom Szaky, CEO of the Trenton, New Jersey-based international recycling company TerraCycle, which is behind Loop. “Removing plastics from the ocean is not enough. We need to get at the whole idea of disposability and single-use items,” says Szaky. “We’re going back to the milkman model of the 1950s. You buy the milk but the milk company owns the…

Visit Amazon Go as part of the AACS 2019 Overseas Study Tour to the USA in September – watch for details….. ANALYSTS: AMAZON GO STORES BRING IN 50% MORE REVENUE THAN TYPICAL C-STORES 01/07/2019 CSNews Amazon Go SEATTLE — In its quest to out-convenience convenience stores, Amazon Go may even out-earn them, with the potential to be a new multi-billion dollar business for e-commerce retail giant Amazon Inc. According to new estimates from RBC Capital Markets analysts, Amazon’s cashierless concept brings in about 50 percent more revenue on average than typical c-stores, Recode reported. RBC analysts used their own purchases at Amazon Go locations as data points to estimate that the typical order size is around $10. They also counted the number of visitors to an Amazon Go — an average of 550 a day — which would mean the average Amazon Go store generates an estimated $1.5 million in…