Latest news with #NitikaGarg
News.com.au
12 hours ago
- Health
- News.com.au
Taste.com.au survey reveals Aussie shoppers favourite aisles
It's a place every shopper knows all too well – the aisles of their local supermarket. But which one is Australia's favourite? According to Dinner Heroes survey, the fresh fruit and vegetable aisle has come out on top, with almost one in five (16 per cent) of Aussies nominating it as their favourite. Of that, the nation's healthiest eaters (and shoppers) live predominantly in the ACT (20 per cent), followed by Queensland (19 per cent) and WA (17 per cent). Female participants were also more likely to choose that aisle, sitting at 21 per cent, while only 10 per cent of males share the sentiment. The survey conducted by News Corp's Growth Intelligence Centre (GIC) also found clear generational differences between aisle choice. Boomers enjoyed the fresh fruit and vegetable aisle the most, coming in at 24 per cent, closely followed by Gen X at 16 per cent. Popularity declined in the lower age brackets with only 10 and 11 per cent of Gen Z and Millennial shoppers in agreement. The second favourite aisle – as voted for by the younger generation at 13 per cent – was confectionary. Shoppers in the NT had the biggest sweet tooth, with almost a quarter of shoppers declaring their love for the lolly aisle. Consumer behaviour expert Professor Nitika Garg from the University of New South Wales believes the results are explainable due to two main factors: health issues and discretionary income. 'One is that as people get older they have health issues – they might have been told by the doctors take your vitamins, you need to eat more healthy …,' Professor Garg told 'The second is that we know that Baby Boomers or the older generations right now in the current environment have more discretionary income compared to Millennials and Gen Z. When asked why fresh fruit and vegetables topped the charts overall, Professor Garg said the current education in place in schools has encouraged a generation of mindful eaters. 'I think this is a hardening development and indicative of the initiatives that Australian schools and the government have put in place,' she said. 'I remember when my kid was in primary school we had to give (them) one box for the snack – which had to be a fresh fruit or something – and then another (for) lunch. 'I think there is that growing awareness and because kids are growing up with that more and parents are more aware, even across different social economic groups,' Prof Garg said. 'Those differences still exist but they are shrinking a little bit. 'My hunch would be you will not see this pattern replicate in let's say a country like the US where there isn't the same push for information in this regard.' Food Director Michelle Southan said there are simple tips shoppers can follow to ensure they can stretch their dollar farther. 'Embracing recipes that use fresh seasonal produce is one way to ensure balanced meals without exceeding your budget but don't overlook the frozen vegetable aisle either – there are some excellent options that can easily add extra nutrients to your dishes,' Ms Southan told 'Having pantry staples like cannellini beans and lentils readily available is also a great way for boosting the nutritional value of your meals.' Humans aren't the only ones considered in the weekly shopping budget, the survey found, with a third of pet owners feeding their four-legged friends their dinner. This is more common in younger pet owners – 46 per cent of Gen Z and 43 per cent of Millennials – as opposed to only 28 per cent of Boomers. Bondi Vet Owner and veterinarian Dr Kate Adams said she was a big supporter of feeding pets leftovers from the dinner plate. 'I think the biggest plus for me, and for everyone, is not wasting food,' she told 'One of the things that breaks my heart … is wasting meat. There's a lot of people in this world who don't have food and I think we shouldn't be wasting what we're given. 'In terms of the health aspect of this … there has been a real turn in the market, in particular pet food, where people are now looking to wholefoods (which) are a lot more anti-inflammatory than what the processed foods are. 'There's been a real push towards overall preventive health, and the main way that we know how to do that is nutrition.' Dr Adams warned by only feeding our furry friends the same wholefood diets as their owners they can miss out on the balanced diet that animals require. 'Am I pro-dinner feeder? Absolutely,' she said. 'I was taught back in my day when I graduated, I've been a vet for about 20 years, that dry food was the only option for our pets. 'As we know more about nutrition, we know more about the value of food, wholefoods are better than processed foods. 'The only problems that exist here are when pets are not getting a balanced diet, that's when things start to go a bit off the rails.' Several of Dr Adams' clients present with health issues which she boils down to diet. 'I don't want people to throw that their leftovers away (but) I think they have to be conscious of the fact that their dog can't just live on meat and two different types of vegetables.' She believes the stark contrast between generations can be attributed to the 'norm' when Boomer pet owners were younger was feeding the dog off the table – and now, after also being a generation of researchers – have found the perfect balance for their furry friends. Meanwhile, Gen Z and Millennials may be more food waste and cost conscious, Dr Adams theorised.
News.com.au
02-06-2025
- Business
- News.com.au
Major supermarket checkout move there's no coming back from
It seems like the days of chatting with a human at the supermarket checkout will soon be behind us, as the Aussie giants show no signs of slowing down on digitally innovative alternatives. Shoppers across the country have noticed a rapid shift towards self-service check-outs, with traditional staffed lanes quietly being reduced in stores. Since self-service tills were rolled out in Coles in 2004 and Woolworths in 2008, the innovation has shown no signs of slowing down – with Covid only exacerbating the trend. As shoppers masked up and sought less contact with others, self-service options boomed. The rollout of smart trolleys is yet another recent development, with the major supermarkets unveiling new shopping carts that scan items on the go. Woolworths rolled out its Scan&Go trolleys in Sydney last August, and Coles is now trialling AI-powered smart trolleys that allow shoppers to track their purchases in real time, skipping the queue. For many, these changes are hard to swallow, especially as the cost-of-living crisis drags on and people grapple with rising grocery prices. Now, an industry insider has shed light on the decision, claiming it's a calculated move to cut costs and boost margins, with fewer staff on the floor and more customers left to scan and bag their own groceries. Nitika Garg, consumer behaviour expert and professor of marketing from UNSW, told Yahoo Finance that in the future, we'll see far fewer people in retail in general. 'In Australia, we have some of the highest baseline wage rates in the developed world so it's expensive for retailers (to employ checkout assistants),' Ms Garg told the publication. 'At first, those people would have been retrenched to different duties and been on the floor to help customers with the switch, but the companies have a long-term perspective. Ultimately, they recoup the benefits when customers learn how to operate the check-outs themselves.' The switch to technology in supermarkets However, a Woolworths spokesperson told that the changes are about giving shoppers more choice, and can actually help people save money. 'We know some customers prefer to be served by a team member, and that's why we always have a staffed checkout open at all times in our supermarkets,' a spokesperson said. They said that the Scan&Go Trolleys have received 'overwhelmingly positive' feedback from customers. 'Young families in particular in our trial stores have told us the Scan&Go Trolley is helping them balance their budget, as they can track their spend and save time by scanning and bagging as they shop,' they said. 'Scan&Go Trolleys complement our other options, including being served by a team member at an assisted checkout, using the self-service checkout, pick up via 'direct to boot,' or online delivery.' They claimed that the new additions don't come at the cost of employees: 'Today, we employ more team members in our stores than ever before, helping us serve customers in a range of new ways, including hand-picking online orders for rapid grocery delivery and Direct to Boot'. It is understood that these innovations have come about off the back of research that shows a shift in consumer buying habits. Shoppers now have smaller basket sizes and a strong customer preference for a quicker and easier self-serve checkout experience. For a basket with 20 items or less, 83 per cent of Woolworths customers now choose self-service check-outs. Coles, for its part, is also focused on offering a mix of register options, in response to consumer demand. 'Self-service check-outs are a great option for customers because they offer convenience and efficiency when shopping in our stores to help customers check out more quickly and pack their bags the way they like,' a spokesperson told Due to this, they are the checkout of choice for more than 75 per cent of customers, with these numbers only expected to increase, according to the supermarket. 'Over the past three years, we have seen greater customer satisfaction and uptake in our self-service options – including our larger self-service check-outs with a conveyor belt,' they continued. 'As our supermarkets change to meet our customers' needs, including growing demand for our Click & Collect and online shopping offerings, our team members' roles in store are evolving too. We remain one of Australia's largest employers – and we strive to make Coles a great place to work for our 115,000 team members right across Australia.' Scaling back overseas However, with any innovations of this nature come concerns about retail crime, particularly shoplifting. A recent survey revealed that seven per cent of people have stolen from a supermarket self-checkout, and the same number, or 1.4 million people, deliberately lied about what they had scanned. But while countries like the US and UK have reported rolling back their self-service check-outs for this reason, Ms Garg believes it's unlikely to happen here. 'Look at our minimum wage compared with the US,' she pointed out. 'Their threshold for loss is much lower than ours. Coles and Woolies are ramping up their tech instead. The surveillance has gone up, and it's got to the point you can't make a mistake now. The systems are developing really fast.' The future of retail As technology advances and people become more capable at using it, the need for human workers in supermarkets will diminish, Ms Garg claimed. 'People like human contact and they want help, it's why companies like Apple and JB HiFi train their sales force to be knowledgeable, but it's not the same at grocery stores,' Ms Garg said. 'It won't make or break your experience if (an assistant) doesn't know where something is. 'People are more used to a lower-density sales force on the floor.' She said that certain age groups will embrace this in the future, and for millennials, who use technology more and have a less traditional model of social interaction, it will become quite normal. She predicts, 'In future, there will be more tech and less customer service and we'll see this pattern replicate across different industries'.
Yahoo
31-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Coles and Woolies move that there's no coming back from: 'Will only accelerate'
When was the last time you piled all your grocery items on the conveyor belt so a checkout assistant could scan them? The answer is probably quite some time ago. Queueing for a cashier used to be the only way to pay at the supermarket but things have changed quickly, and despite many customers disliking the alternatives, the human checkout assistant is unlikely to see a resurgence. In fact Nitika Garg, consumer behaviour expert and professor of marketing from UNSW, warned that in future we'll see far fewer humans in retail in general. 'In Australia we have some of the highest baseline wage rates in the developed world so it's expensive for retailers [to employ checkout assistants]' Garg told Yahoo Finance. 'At first, those people would have been retrenched to different duties and been on the floor to help customers with the switch but the companies have a long term perspective. Ultimately they recoup the benefits when customers learn how to operate the checkouts themselves.' RELATED $6 million cost Coles and Woolworths pay that Aldi refuses to cave on $1,831 Centrelink payment change coming within weeks: 'You'll get more' Australia's most in-demand jobs revealed with $125,000 salaries up for grabs: 'Short supply' Saving money is king for supermarkets and they'll find any trick to do it. It's no different at the checkout and it was once as basic as giving assistants a seat. Aldi's research found letting their employees sit on the job boosted their productivity and meant they were more effective at ringing up the 1,200 items per hour that they were tasked with. Chairs were handed out all round. But as the tech improved the question became whether checkout assistants were needed at all and in 2008 self service tills were rolled out in Woolworths and Coles. As everyone masked up and wanted less contact with strangers, self service suddenly seemed more palatable to everyone during Covid and Garg said it's when the use of technology really ramped up across the industry. Different segments adopted the tech at different rates but Garg said there is much greater acceptance across the board since Covid. Coles quotes more than two thirds of their customers use self-checkouts now and Woolies said 83 per cent of customers with 20 items or fewer use them. It's the reason places like Costco and Aldi who were late to the game have started to introduce them too. 'Now consumers are more comfy and there's greater market acceptance it will make sense for them financially too,' Garg said. One of the major problems with self-checkout is the uptick in shoplifting which has accompanied their introduction. A recent survey reported 7 per cent of people admitted to stealing at the supermarket self-checkout and the same number (7 per cent) or 1.4 million people deliberately lied about what they've scanned. But while places like the US and UK have reported rolling back their self-service checkouts for this reason, Garg said it won't happen here. 'Look at our minimum wage compared with the US,' she said. 'Their threshold for loss is much lower than ours. Coles and Woolies are ramping up their tech instead. The surveillance has gone up and it's got to the point you can't make a mistake now. The systems are developing really fast.' The rollout of Smart trolleys is likely to be another way to control this loss of inventory. The major supermarkets have unveiled new shopping carts which scan items on the go, speeding up the time of your shop and reducing the possibility for error. 'It will give them greater control over consumer behaviour,' Garg said of the new smart trolleys. 'You'd have to really mean to shoplift as they eliminate the chance of a genuine mistake.' As the tech increases and people learn how to use it, the need for humans in supermarkets will reduce. 'People like human contact and they want help, it's why companies like Apple and JB HiFi train their sales force to be knowledgeable but it's not the same at grocery stores,' Garg said. 'It won't make or break your experience if [an assistant] doesn't know where something is.' 'Before Covid there was an expectation there would be help, but now people are more used to a lower density sales force on the floor,' she went on. 'The retail sector has trained customers and this will only accelerate over time.' Garg said that some age groups will accept this going forward and that for millennials, who use tech more and have a less traditional model of social interaction, it will become very normal. 'In future there will be more tech and less customer service and we'll see this pattern replicate across different industries,' she in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data
Yahoo
02-04-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Cult chain set to rival Kmart after $259 million Canadian takeover: 'Cheaper options'
The Reject Shop is squaring up for a low-cost battle with cult-favourite Kmart after a $259 million overseas takeover of the iconic Aussie discount store. There are hundreds of the recognisable red-and-yellow stores in malls scattered across the country — 386 to be exact. But that number is set to nearly double after Canadian discount giant Dollarama snapped up the Australian retailer last week. Dollarama has grown to 1,600 stores across Canada and has a majority share in Dollarcity, another low-cost retailer growing in Latin America. Executives think Australia is primed for a 700-store expansion. So, what does that mean for Australian consumers spellbound by Kmart's discount offerings, or online behemoths, Shein and Temu? UNSW consumer behaviour researcher Professor Nitika Garg told Yahoo Finance there are potential savings for Aussies as competition heats up and consumers diversify their shopping. Major intervention for 353,200 Woolworths, Coles, Kmart workers: 'Wages should not go backwards' Aussie 'dream' falls apart four months after young expat's arrival with $20,000: 'In Canada everything's free' Commonwealth Bank confirms $50,000 move for first-home buyers: 'Game changer' "A lot of households are struggling to make ends meet right now and the cheaper options are attractive," Garg said. "It will give competition to Kmart for this segment because they would look at their options when shopping. "While the cost-of-living crisis is going on, you can see that it will work." Garg said Kmart and Aldi have "done really well" targeting Australians hoping to save money, but raised concerns about The Reject Shop's longer-term strategy. "What happens once the economy is doing better, people are more comfortable and have greater discretionary income?" she said. "Kmart is less logged into its lower-income segment because of the way they have developed and the way they have grown." The consumer expert said the two retailers don't present a like-for-like comparison. Both have a range of everyday goods, electronics and even some food items, but Kmart has far more range and diversity of products compared to The Reject told Yahoo Finance that in order for The Reject Shop to truly succeed, it would need to branch out. "They need to think about who are they competing against," she said. "To really compete against Kmart, or to have a viable business model for the long-term, they would have to change their proposition. "Either you increase the variety or you increase the quality because the name doesn't do you any favours. "I think that's the struggle that they will have with the increased store numbers." The cost-of-living crisis has forced more Australians to "cross-shop" to find value and some found wins in the aisles of The Reject Shop. This was particularly evident as Coles and Woolworths were put under the microscope after recording significant profits as the cost of essentials rose due to inflation. Tayla Rose was impressed to find household items at the discount alternative considerably cheaper than Woolworths. A 110-pack of Finish Classic Dishwashing Tablets were available for $19 at The Reject Shop, while they retailed for $26 at Woolies. Similarly, a 900ml bottle of Morning Fresh Dishwashing Liquid was half the $9.50 Woolworths price. Rose said it wasn't just cleaning products, featuring savings on items like McVitie's Digestives biscuits, Hercules sandwich bags, Green's cake mix, and mini Oreo snack packs. A spokesperson for The Reject Shop told Yahoo Finance the chain was 'proud to have the lowest everyday prices across Australia in household cleaning products, health and well-being and snacks'. Dollarama agreed to acquire The Reject Shop for $6.68 per ordinary share in cash. When it first debuted on the Australian Stock Exchange in 2004, it was listed at $2 per share. The purchase of all outstanding ordinary shares put the Aussie retailer at a valuation of $259 million. Billionaire businessman Raphael Geminder was the biggest shareholder in The Reject Shop and his Kin Group will still own 20 per cent of the business going forward. The latest full-year revenue showed The Reject Shop pulled off $852.7 million worth of sales in the 12 months to June 30 last year. However, profit sat at $4.7 million. Garg said she was intrigued to see if the business can maintain that profit level with more than 300 new stores. "The volume is not there, not to the same extent as, let's say the US or Canada even," she told Yahoo Finance. "So, it will be interesting to see what the rational was and whether they are actually correct in anticipating this to be a successful strategy." Dollarama chief executive Neil Rossy said his team will work with local management to "execute its strategic vision for the business". "We look forward to embarking on this new chapter of Dollarama's international growth journey with the local management team and its more than 5000 employees across Australia," Rossy said. "Together, we will leverage our core strengths as value retailers with best-in-class merchandising, sourcing and operational expertise."
