Eli Greenblat September 12, 2012 The Age A dirty tricks campaign has broken out between Woolworths and its arch rival in the hardware sector, Bunnings, over the style and format of Woolworths new hardware chain, Masters. Woolworths issued a statement today saying that a critical report was being circulated to brokers and the media by an organisation called Madison Cross, a consultant associated with Bunnings. Bunnings is owned by Wesfarmers, which also owns Coles, Target and Kmart. “[It] is further evidence of a dirty tricks campaign being waged against the Masters Home Improvement business,” the Woolworth s statement said. The Madison Cross report is believed to criticise Masters over its ‘female friendly’ format which it claims is turning away traditional tradesmen. Woolworths said it will refer the report to the competition regulator. “The unreasonable nature of the assumptions makes the Madison Cross report misleading and Woolworths will refer it to…

Sep 11, 2012 CSNews WASHINGTON, D. C. — More than three years after President Obama signed legislation hiking the federal cigarette tax from 39 cents a pack to $1.01 a pack, the number of consumers smoking has dropped. According to an analysis by USA Today, the decrease in smoking can be seen especially among teens, poor people and those dependent on government insurance. The dip in smokers came after the president signed the tax hike — which was intended to finance expanded healthcare for children — in early 2009 and it went into effect on April 1, 2009. As a result, the cigarette tax increase helped restart a long-term decline in smoking that had stalled in recent years. About three million fewer people smoked last year than in 2009, despite a larger population, according to surveys by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The tax hits hardest on families…

Darren Davidson September 12, 2012 The Australian NETWORK Ten is to launch a live home shopping channel selling viewers products from brands including Toshiba and Charlie Brown. The free-to-air network is teaming up with the TVSN (Television Shopping Network) home shopping channel on the new channel, set to air from September 24. It will air on Ten’s datacasting service Channel 14 and broadcast 24 hours a day, seven days a week, with 12 hours of live Australian content every day. Advertisers also include Napoleon Perdis and Royal Doulton. “TVSN is a strong, well-established brand and a great partner for Network Ten,” Ten chief operating officer Jon Marquard said. “We are looking forward to a long, successful relationship with TVSN, including the creation of new opportunities for Network Ten’s advertisers.” Chris Eade, chief executive of TVSN owner Direct Group, said: “Our partnership with Network Ten heralds an exciting new phase in…

CSD Staff Sep 12, 2012 Men most frequently shop on mobile while at the office, while 12% of women use mobile to shop while in the waiting room at the doctor’s office. In the mobile and digital age, men have surpassed women shoppers with 45% of men having made a mobile purchase vs. 34% of women, according to a new survey released by uSamp. The mobile study looked at mobile consumer buying habits of 1,100 men and women, ages 18–75 and was conducted using uSamp Mobile, a mobile platform that blends uSamp’s mobile survey technology with their proprietary panel of smartphone respondents. It turns out that men and women practice much of their mobile shopping while they are out and about. According to the results, 12% of women find themselves shopping on their mobile devices while in the waiting room at the doctor’s office. On the other hand, 25% of…

Mahesh Sharma September 12, 2012 The Age Retailers have started tracking in-store shopper movements as a way to increase profits but privacy experts believe the industry needs to come clean about the covert sales tactics. Matthew Binns more than halved the number of security cameras at the Robin Hood and Glynn pubs in South Australia, by installing 18 Mobotix cameras which provide greater coverage with 360 degree viewing angles. The move was designed make the premises more secure, triggering alarms if people were “casing the joint”, but new software allows the company to use the cameras to track customer movements in order to boost sales. Binns has already maximised sales potential using data from the camera software to redesign the bottle shop layout and relocate particular products. Store owners can track the numbers and movements of customers, and a heat map displays the most popular parts of the store. More…