Press Releases

Small service station owners have renewed calls for the Federal Government to help them pay for the installation of fast chargers for electric vehicles (EV), as part of Energy Minister Chris Bowen’s plan to encourage more Australian motorists to buy an EV. Australian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS) CEO Theo Foukkare said thousands of ‘Mum and Dad’ businesses want to install fast chargers, however most do not have the financial means to do so. “Our members want to get on board with this, but most don’t have access to half a million dollars to upgrade their electrical grids – and they need to do that to install fast chargers for EVs,” Mr Foukkare said. “We’d like to work with Mr Bowen and the Albanese Government to develop a fund that smaller servos can apply to, to help pay for the upgrade needed.” Mr Foukkare said governments at all levels had…

SYDNEY: The Australian Beverages Council, National Retail Association and the Australian Associationof Convenience Stores have rejected a call for a tax on soft drinks labelling it a misguided measure that won’t address obesity and hit those households that can least afford it the most. “The tax is a misguided attempt to address complex problems like obesity with a simplistic, quick fixthat lacks real world evidence it has any discernible impact on weight. Consumption of sugar from drinks in Australia has decreased significantly over a 20-year period at the same time obesity, overweight and diabetes rates have continued to rise. Clearly soft drinks aren’t driving the nation’s expanding waistline which makes this call for a tax illogical and clearly just a revenue raiser” said Geoff Parker, CEO of the Australian Beverages Council. “The last National Nutrition and Physical Activity Survey in 2011-12 showed that soft drinks wereranked seventh in kilojoule contribution…

More than 90,000 Australian adults have taken up vaping over the past three months, taking the total number of adults vapers to 1,723,000 – new Roy Morgan data has revealed. Almost 400,000 Australians took up vaping between December 2022 and December 2023 – which equates to a 30 per cent surge in uptake year-on-year, the Roy Morgan survey, commissioned by the Australian Association of Convenience Stores (AACS) found. Nationally, the number of adult vapers has grown by 349 per cent over the past five years and the Roy Morgan survey also found New South Wales had seen the biggest growth in vaping numbers, with an uptake of more than 470 per cent; that means more than half a million people aged over 18 took up vaping in that NSW since December 2019. Victoria’s adult vaping numbers have increased by 355 per cent over the same survey period, while Western Australia…

This was evident in a major way at NRF 2024, where generative AI stood out as the dominant theme for reasons as numerous as the growing list of ways it helps retailers solve business challenges. For some perspective, remember that generative AI was barely on anyone’s radar at NRF 2023 because OpenAI released ChatGPT on November 30, 2022, a scant six weeks earlier. The rapid adoption of ChatGPT introduced the world to the wonders of generative AI, sparked a period of furious change, and left retailers searching for how their businesses could benefit from the technology. The speculation about possibilities turned into reality at NRF 2024 as retailers gained better visibility into real-world opportunities to improve productivity and create value. Here’s a look at some of the essential predictive and generative AI themes and considerations that were top of mind with retailers at the event: Speed: It was a lesson…

Sam’s Club announced it will start using artificial intelligence at its store exits to verify all items were purchased, reported USA Today. Sam’s Club EVP and Chief Merchant Megan Crozier made the announcement during a keynote speech at CES 2024 trade show in Las Vegas. “Eliminating even the few seconds it takes to scan a receipt at the exit door is well worth it,” Crozier said during the speech. The exit technology aims to solve a “key member concern” of waiting in line for receipt verification, Sam’s Club parent company Walmart said in a news release. Sam’s Club will now have customers go through a gate-like portal rather than having an employee stand at the door and check individual receipts—an innovation that Crozier described as reimagining the future of retail in her presentation. The portal is equipped with what Walmart called “computer vision and digital technology” to verify purchases. The new exit system will use…

LAS VEGAS — Walmart has unveiled plans to dive further into the world of artificial intelligence — and drones — to improve its customers’ shopping experiences. In a Tuesday keynote at the CES trade show in Las Vegas, the nation’s largest retailer announced it will be expanding its drone delivery to 1.8 million additional households in the Dallas-Fort Worth metropolitan area later this year. Drones aren’t new to Walmart — which has already completed 20,000 drone deliveries across seven states to date — but company leaders say that this expansion is a sign of growing demand and efficiency. Walmart executives said no other rival has gotten this close to this type of drone concentration of households in a big metro market. Among AI advances, Walmart announced a generative AI-powered search tool for iOS users that suggests relevant products for consumer queries, ranging from football watch parties to bridal showers. The…