Despite record numbers of Australians using the internet to seek product reviews, specials and grocery coupons, the number of consumers purchasing groceries online lags significantly behind the UK signaling even greater growth is to come, according to a new study from Nielsen, a leading global provider of information and insights into what consumers watch and buy. When comparing Australian rates of consumer online shopping with other global markets, Nielsen found 35 percent of Australians had bought... ...Read more »

The Advertising Standards Board (ASB) in Australia has issued a warning against the fast food chain McDonald’s for targeting children through its Happy Meals website. A previous complaint lodged a year ago by the Obesity Policy Coalition was dismissed by the ASB despite the McDonald’s Happy Meal website promoting free toys with kids’ meals, themed birthday parties at its restaurants, fun games and cartoons including characters licensed by McDonald’s.  However, at the same time,  the ASB... ...Read more »

An Australian-first obesity study will use the internet and mobile technology to try and help teenagers lose weight. Participants will be recruited from across Melbourne and will have their height, weight, blood pressure and waist circumference measured both when they join the study and also after three, six and 12 months. The study is being undertaken by the Murdoch Childrens Research Institute (MCRI), a health research organisation based in Victoria. Researchers are recruiting 550 Victorian teenagers... ...Read more »

Australian supermarket chain Coles has apologised to customers who thought they had found a bargain yesterday when two beer lines were inadvertently listed with the wrong price on its online shopping website. 24-bottle slabs of Coopers Sparkling Ale, which Coles usually sell for A$53.99 each, and 24-bottle slabs of James Squire Golden Ale, normally listed on the website at A$54.99, were listed with a price of just A$15.99. Word about the cheap deal quickly spread through the social media platform... ...Read more »

As a keen observer of social and regulatory change, it has not escaped me or many of our readers that a revolution is occurring in the ways that business is being conducted. New usages of the internet, social media and smartphone technology are the impetus for a huge structural shift in the economy. The ways products are sold and changing consumer spending patterns are being increasingly shaped by the use of these technologies. Changes in the use of technology and consumer spending patterns are... ...Read more »

The online consumer has a much stronger relationship with brands than the average shopper, according to new research. Online sales continue to grow despite the recession, highlighting the significance of the digital consumer. This is underscored by new research from Millward Brown, who analysed WPP’s BrandZ database (the largest repository of brand knowledge in the world) and found that digital consumers have, on average, a 15 per cent stronger relationships with brands than non-digital consumers. In... ...Read more »

Domino’s Pizza has provided their own “bailout” package to their customers, albeit after an internet error, which led to outlets in the Cincinnati area providing nearly 11,000 free pizzas in a single day. The company had devised an online campaign that would provide one free pizza when consumers used the codeword ‘bailout’, but the promotion never received the green light from head office. However, while the codeword had never been officially approved it was active and... ...Read more »