November 14, 2012 The Age About 40 per cent of Australians are expected to use their smart phones and tablets to shop over Christmas – more than double last year’s figure. Google Australia research has found that there is a 20 per cent increase in shopping related searches year on year and that 40 per cent of all shopping searches now come from smart phones or tablets. “What we see is we’re getting a growth of 20 per cent, year on year, for shopping related searches and mobile devices searches have more than doubled in the last 12 months,” Google Australia leader for local and retail Ross McDonald said. Mr McDonald said with the recent release of the iPhone5 and an increasing number of Australians buying iPads he expected the number of mobile searches to increase more rapidly this Christmas. “We reckon there will be close to a million new…

November 13, 2012 The Age Groupon and its compatriots in the much-hyped daily deals business were supposed to change the very nature of small-business advertising. Instead, it is the daily deal vendors that are racing to change as evidence mounts that their business model is fundamentally flawed. Groupon last week reported another quarter of disappointing earnings as its core business stagnated, sending its stock down 30 per cent to an all-time low of $US2.76. Its biggest rival, Living Social, is piling up losses, and part-owner Amazon earlier this month recorded a quarterly loss after writing down its Living Social investment. The heyday for the daily deals are behind us. Both companies are racing to diversify, venturing into more generic ecommerce areas like off-price sales through ventures such as Groupon Goods and LivingSocial’s Shop. Meanwhile, upstarts are developing new variations on the discount coupon theme. “It’s clear that they need to…

Michelle Hammond 13 November 2012 startupsmart A new report reveals franchises contribute around $20 billion to the New Zealand economy, suggesting the market is ripe with opportunity, but 88% of those franchises are home-grown. The report, titled Franchising New Zealand 2012, was produced by the Asia-Pacific Centre for Franchising Excellence at Griffith University and Massey University in New Zealand. According to the report, franchised businesses contribute between $19.4 billion and $21 billion to the New Zealand economy. This compares to an estimated turnover of $6.9 billion in 2003. There are approximately 446 business format franchisors in New Zealand, up from 423 in 2010. However, 88% are Kiwi-born enterprises, suggesting it is difficult for international franchises to penetrate the market. For those that do, it’s worth noting most franchising in New Zealand takes place in the service sector, which accounts for 40% of all franchise systems, according to the report. Retail…

ANDREW WHITE November 14, 2012 The Australian RED tape is thought to have been invented by the court of King Charles V in Spain in the 16th century to bind the important documents of state. But increasingly the bureaucratic processes to which it gave its name are tying up the time of company directors in Australia, according to new research. A survey by the Australian Institute of Company Directors to be released today finds red tape compliance consumes an average 26 per cent of the total board commitment of Australian company directors. And it is getting worse, with more than half the directors believing the level of commitment has increased in the past year. According to the survey, administrative costs and time spent complying with regulations are identified by more than 70 per cent of directors as having the most impact on their business. A similar proportion of directors identified…

Jeff Rogut I wrote last week about the failed ‘fat tax’ in Denmark. The article below again highlights the small interest groups that have little idea about the workings of small business and yet come up with schemes that impact operators. Your business needs to make its voice heard or such thinking may well turn into action and you will be impacted. Smokers should be forced to have licences to light up, public health professor Simon Chapman says Lucie van den Berg Herald Sun November 15, 2012 SMOKERS should be forced to register for swipe-card licences that limit how many cigarettes they can buy, a leading Australian anti-smoking campaigner says. University of Sydney professor of public health Simon Chapman said the radical scheme, which would restrict the number of cigarettes a smoker could buy to 50 a day over two weeks, could cut smoking and send a powerful message that…