This Week In Ecommerce

Ecom Nation

🎙️ This Week in Ecommerce is your weekly download on the headlines shaping Australian retail. Hosted by industry legend Mal Chia and rising star Alex Ross, each episode dives into the biggest stories—from billion-dollar deals to platform updates, policy shifts, and consumer trends. Sharp insights, no fluff, and plenty of honest takes. New episodes every Wednesday. Powered by Ecom Nation.

  1. 18 hrs ago

    AusPost Wants You to Build an Ecosystem. Its Own Data Says Build a Discount Habit.

    This week Mal's flying solo — Alex is out, so it's just opinions, no pushback. It's a mixed bag: a couple of quick cost-and-consequence stories, then three deep dives that all circle the same question in different ways — what happens when a business chases the top line instead of the bottom one. The most interesting one might be the last: Mal goes deep on Australia Post's "brilliantly Australian" pitch to retailers, and finds a pretty awkward contradiction sitting inside AusPost's own data. Liquidators reveal Stax's real debt load is $24 million, three times what the company itself disclosed — plus an unconfirmed rumour that a buyer may already be locked in.Australia's fuel excise reprieve ends on 3 August, pushing petrol back toward 194c/L and adding both a freight-cost and a consumer-confidence problem for retailers.A new 12.5% US tariff on Australian imports is officially about "modern slavery" — practically, it's just more margin pressure for brands selling into America.Barbeques Galore's collapse and sale to ACOM International lays out, in forensic detail, what a private equity dividend recap actually does to a business.Country Road Group and Michael Hill both chose margin discipline over top-line growth this reporting season — and the market rewarded both of them for it.Mal takes on Australia Post's "ecosystem" keynote and finds it sitting awkwardly next to AusPost's own numbers on marketplace share and discount-addicted shoppers.

  2. 29 July

    Kogan Gets Caught Comparing Itself to Itself

    Mal and Alex are back this week still hoarse from two big days on the podcast stage at Online Retailer and the ORIAS — congrats to The Iconic on a first-time Online Retailer of the Year win, and to Ben Hare for taking out industry recognition. From there it's a genuinely wide-ranging one: a AI-authenticity reckoning hitting everything from guitar strings to chart-topping AI covers, a Shopify platform shift that's quietly displacing freelance dev work, and a healthy dose of FY27 dread. The story with the most teeth this week is Kogan, who an ABC News investigation found has been running a second site, Exclusive Brands, selling identical products at a median $100 more than Kogan.com — inflating the "was" price it then discounts against. Kogan denies wrongdoing, but with the ACCC increasingly active on misleading price comparisons, Mal and Alex dig into where legitimate multi-brand pricing ends and where this starts. BCF's giveaway-only Fisho's Onesie has entries closing this Friday, and it's a masterclass in high-shareability, low-budget campaign design.Shopify's Horizon theme rebuild is being optimised for its Sidekick AI assistant first and humans second — 20% of merchants are already using it, racking up 25 million edits.D'Addario is fending off accusations its new string-demo video used AI-generated music, part of a bigger reckoning playing out across Spotify's AI-track purge and Australia's AI-covered #1 single.Kogan's alleged self-comparison pricing model is under scrutiny, with former ACCC chair Rod Sims flagging it as a case worth investigating.Mal shares how his own clients are handling price rises with upfront comms and subscriber grandfathering — the opposite play to Kogan's.Myer's full-year update shows underlying growth barely moved once the Apparel Brands acquisition is stripped out, against a backdrop of consumer confidence down roughly 20 points.Bricks-and-mortar preference has swung hard, from 41% to 68% of shoppers, as buyers chase the trust and tactility online can't offer.Virtual try-on tech is fast becoming table stakes for online eyewear, and Alex is on the hunt for an Australian Warby Parker equivalent.FY27 is shaping up heavier — CGT changes, tax hikes and a US tariff rise from 10% to 12.5% are all on operators' radars.A respectful shout-out to Jackie and the Black Milk team, who've had to move onshore manufacturing to China, affecting 15 local jobs.Mal's heading to eTail next, Alex is off to Auckland for the Unified Commerce Assembly in a month.

  3. 14 July

    They Took Your Money and Told You to Call Your Bank

    It's bloody freezing, we're one week out from Online Retailer in Sydney (expect an impromptu Qantas Lounge recording), and before the conference chaos kicks off we've got a genuinely grim week of retail to unpack — three collapses, a national outage and a $40m loss. The Stax saga got worse, and it's the one to read twice: customers who "bought" during the late-June pre-sale weren't paying for stock on a shelf — they were funding product that was never made, and now they're getting neither the goods nor a refund, with founders Don and Matilda pointing them to their banks for a chargeback. It's a masterclass in torching a brand on the way out. We get into that, plus who (if anyone) buys what's left. Prime's Australian distributor collapses with ~$85k in the bank and millions owed — the inevitable end of a hype brand that never converted the queues into a repeat purchase.Stax's pre-sale buyers are left with no product, no refund and a "talk to your bank" — and that trust doesn't come back under new ownership.A four-hour Telstra outage knocked out payments nationwide, and the real lesson is single-vendor reliance plus a crisis-comms scorecard (Telstra fronted it fast; Optus's ghost still lingers).Retail spending is actually up — but only because over-65s lifted spend 14% year-on-year while younger cohorts contract, and most brands are still aiming at the shrinking half.Adairs is prepping investors for a $40m loss that's really a Focus on Furniture write-down, not an operating collapse — the core brand's EBIT still grew 15%, and the squeezed middle of furniture is where the pain sits.City Chic retreats from the US as unit economics and tariffs bite, while Uniqlo books a fifth straight record year — two opposite answers to "should you go global?".

  4. 7 July

    Betts, Stax, Depop's Fee War & the Accent Group Takeover

    We're on the other side of EOFY and into the thick of H2 — and Australian retail served up one of its messiest weeks in a while. Two heritage-adjacent brands hit crisis on the very same day, a resale platform war escalated, and a two-year-old takeover saga added another wrinkle, all while Myer and T2 quietly proved that some operators are still finding real growth in this market. The standout story is the Betts and Stax double: on the same day, Betts entered a managed restructure — closing 20 of its remaining 35 stores and pivoting hard to online — while Stax entered receivership and is now in a rushed fire sale, reportedly triggered by a disgruntled major creditor. One is a 134-year-old retailer trying to right-size before it's too late; the other is a five-year-old DTC brand that's been unprofitable for three-plus years and is now drowning in unfulfilled pre-orders and refund complaints. Same week, same headlines, very different stories underneath. Country Road Group made MD Helen Wright redundant after just 18 months, splitting the role into a Chief Product Officer and a GM of Apparel & Accessories (Shani Delargy) — a structural signal, not just a personnel change.Myer added 25,000 products to its marketplace, with marketplace sales up 41% in FY25 and 80% of marketplace shoppers also buying Myer's own stock.T2 turned 30 with EBIT up 20% year-on-year, proof that retail theatre and premium packaging can still win in the most commoditised category imaginable.US Prime Day pushed online spend to $26.4bn (+9.3% YoY) with BNPL up 9.5%, while adult women drove real growth in the toy category — Lego, plush toys and collector cards, not just kids' stuff.Betts entered a managed restructure (20 of 35 stores closing) and Stax entered receivership on the same day, with Stax now in a fast-tracked fire sale after years of unprofitability.Depop is scrapping its 10% AU seller fee from 22 July after Vinted's zero-fee Australian launch — a genuine seller win, or a defensive land-grab to lock in supply before the competitive dust settles.The Accent Group takeover saga rolled on, with Frasers selling its Malaysian Sports Direct business to MAP Active to fund its $0.65-a-share bid for Accent, which the company's independent board committee has rejected as undervalued.Heading to Online Retailer in a couple of weeks? Check the show notes for the TWIEVIP code for a free expo floor pass.

  5. 1 July

    The ATO Is Quietly Killing Your Favourite Brands

    End of financial year is done and — despite the sale noise — the market actually went backwards in real terms, with Roy Morgan tipping EOFY growth of just 1.9%, under CPI. Mal's on the road in Sydney (yet another hotel), Alex is dodging a South Australian thunderstorm, and between the World Cup and NBA free agency it's basically Christmas in Mal's world. Plenty to get through. The spine of this week: community is the last real moat — and the tax office is quietly pulling the rug out from under brands that forgot it. Hyrox is a billion-dollar cult with near-zero acquisition cost, while Stax and Geedup — two former Young Rich List darlings — have collapsed inside a fortnight, with the ATO increasingly the trigger. Plus a new boss at David Jones, a COO move at Adore Beauty, an Uber Eats campaign we loved, and a Made-in-Australia marketplace worth watching. EOFY reality check — Roy Morgan tipped EOFY sales growth at just 1.9% (below CPI), and while some brands cleared stock brilliantly, the 80%-off-for-three-weeks crowd waved a red flag on margin.Discovery is the new battleground — timings were all over the place (Click Frenzy's comeback, early vs late-June sales), and getting onto a curated list like Two Broke Chicks' EOFY round-up is earned-media gold.David Jones' new CEO — Erica Berchtold (ex-The Iconic, ex-Mosaic) becomes DJ's first female CEO, replacing Scott Fyfe, with PE owner Anchorage Capital unlikely to be patient as pre-tax losses widen to $95.5m on sales of ~$2bn.Adore Beauty's new COO — Jasmine Russell joins from gifting brand Lvly as Adore leans further into its store rollout and omnichannel growth.Uber Eats "bags" the city — giant Uber Eats bags wrapped around rival brands' billboards (GYG, Maccas, KFC, Hungry Jack's, Petbarn) — a masterclass in leaning on a distinctive brand asset rather than making Meta and Google do all the lifting.Made in Australia marketplace — Haroon Sheikh's new platform lists only verified Australian-made brands and competes on founder storytelling over price, with the real test being whether that goodwill converts at a viable cost of acquisition.Hyrox's billion-dollar cult — LVMH-backed L Catterton is reportedly in talks to take a major stake in Hyrox at a valuation as high as ~$1bn, buying not a sport but a cashed-up, referral-driven community with almost no paid acquisition.The AU brand reckoning — Stax entered receivership on 24 June across all four entities (12 stores down to two, permanently 50% off) and Geedup into liquidation, with Mal's "gym test" and a failure to renew the brand as the cautionary tale.The ATO is the silent assassin — insolvencies are up sharply YoY (retail and hospo leading), the ATO is now a leading creditor and far less willing to negotiate payment plans, so budget for tax like a household bill — buy the Hyundai, not the Lambo.See us at Online Retailer (22–23 July) — all-access passes are nearly gone, but free expo-floor passes are available (https://www.google.com/url?q=https://www.onlineretailer.com/en-gb/register.html?cat%3DRetailer%26ct%3DU2FsdGVkX18zizAT%252FPRxllJH9%252FV5p%2B%2BH4EYAQXzu%2BZFrIUBftFov4nFdHg365ESU%26utm_source%3DMalChia%26utm_medium%3DPartner%26utm_campaign%3DMarComms&source=gmail&ust=1782853352122000&sa=E); Mal's hosting the NORA podcast stage. Use code: TWIEVIP

  6. 23 June

    Google Agentic Commerce, ChatGPT Ads & the Death of Pure DTC

    Alex is back from the dead, Mal's discovered the Riverside sound-effects board, and the World Cup has well and truly taken over the Cheer household — but underneath the banter this is a big one. It's the episode where AI stopped nibbling at the edges of ecommerce and started eating the actual buying journey: discovery, the checkout, and the ad auction, all at once. The headline: Google has switched on agentic commerce in Australia — we're the first market in the region — letting shoppers buy straight out of Search, AI Mode and Gemini, with Kogan, Bunnings, Adore Beauty, Petbarn and The Iconic first in the door. The cart is moving into the model, and if your product feed isn't clean you simply won't exist. From there it's ChatGPT ads, the death of growth-at-all-costs DTC, and why the smartest money this year is getting off Meta and Google. Google agentic commerce lands in Australia — the checkout moves into Search, AI Mode and Gemini, and clean structured product data becomes the price of entry.New York's world-first "synthetic performer" law forces AI-actor disclosure on any ad reaching the state — and the ACCC's $138k HiSmile fine proves the same honesty crackdown is already here at home.A pack of TikTok-native activewear challengers is out-creating the incumbents on speed — a lesson for Australia's crowded field of Stax, P.E Nation, Muscle Nation and Nimble.Ads have arrived in ChatGPT off the back of OpenAI's eye-watering $39bn loss — and the early-adopter window looks a lot like the early days of Meta.Pure-play DTC's growth-at-all-costs model is dead: Dôen, La Ligne and Cinq à Sept grew to nine figures and stayed profitable by being deliberate, while Everlane, Glossier and Allbirds sold for scraps.Paramount's US-only CTV deck is really a case for diversification — get off the small screen, use the surfaces nobody's touching, and remember the 95:5 rule: you're ignoring 95% of your market chasing ROAS.

  7. 19 June

    One-Click Cancel, Greenwashed Burgers & Elon's Trillion

    Solo show from a gate at Sydney Airport — Alex is out sick, and the week didn't slow down to match. Regulation, reputation and the biggest float in history, all at once. 🎟️ Online Retailer 2026 — 50 listener passes, plus free expo passes. First in, first served. Use code TWIEPodcast (link below). This week: The EU "withdrawal button" (live 19 June) — if a customer can buy in one click, they now have to cancel in one click. Applies to any Aussie brand selling into the EU; penalties up to 4% of regional sales. Check Shopify's comms now.Grill'd in the Federal Court — the ACCC alleges only ~4% of 5M "Tree Day Tuesday" burgers actually triggered the promised tree-planting donation. Cause marketing you can't back up is now a legal risk, not just a trust one.Lincraft closes all ~60 stores, going online-only — but craft is a touch-and-feel category, so this reads more like a managed exit than a pivot.Drop Shop reinvents the bottle shop — Dan Sims' konbini-style store sorts wine by occasion and budget, not grape. Clever, but a feature not a moat. If it works, Dan Murphy's copies it.Nike's first global gym deal (The Yard) — two months after shutting its own gyms, Nike rents presence in 100+ rooms full of its exact customer. Build vs partner, done right.SpaceX floats at ~$1.8T — the biggest IPO ever, and because your super tracks the indices, you probably just helped make Elon a trillionaire.

  8. 12 June

    The Scarcity Trap: Why Hype Brands Keep Going Broke

    EOFY is in full swing, Mal's recording from yet another airport — Perth this time, en route to a Singapore keynote — and the retail news is ramping as fast as the sales calendar. This week is a tale of two retails: brands hitting the wall, and brands quietly cleaning up by doing the exact opposite. The headline act is a streetwear bloodbath. Trapstar and Geedup — two scarcity-drop darlings on opposite sides of the world — both tipped into administration in the same week, and the post-mortem lands on one culprit: the drop model is a working-capital trap, and the moment your gear is on every kid on the block, you stop being special. Around it: a collapse, a comeback, a viral data scandal, and a value-brand land grab. Barbeques Galore — creditors knock back the rescue deal, 59 company-owned stores wind up by month's end, and the gift-card "two-for-one" sting tells you everything about the exit.Okanui — the hibiscus-print boardies are booming, proof that Aussie 70s/80s retro heritage is a moat Temu can't knock off (and yes, Oscar Piastri's Lego figure picked floral boardies and thongs).Click Frenzy — returns 18 June under the Leibovich brothers, with Australia Post footing the bill for the first 500 retailers, and Mal's "go short, go hard" advice for the EOFY scrum.Coles × Palantir — the two-year-old deal goes viral on TikTok again, and we're not buying the "nothing to see here" on what a CIA-and-ICE contractor does with your flybuys data.Trapstar + Geedup — the deep dive: scarcity, over-saturation, directors drawing down the working capital, and the difference between a 100-year business and a get-in-get-out play.Kmart's Anko — squares up to IKEA with its first standalone K Home store as the squeezed middle keeps losing ground to both ends.🎟️ Online Retailer is coming up — we've got 50 all-access passes for verified retailers (plus free expo passes). First in, first served — details in the links. https://www.onlineretailer.com/en-gb/register.html?cat=Retailer&ct=U2FsdGVkX18zizAT%2FPRxllJH9%2FV5p++H4EYAQXzu+ZFrIUBftFov4nFdHg365ESU&utm_source=MalChia&utm_medium=Partner&utm_campaign=MarComms Use code: TWIEPodcast

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About

🎙️ This Week in Ecommerce is your weekly download on the headlines shaping Australian retail. Hosted by industry legend Mal Chia and rising star Alex Ross, each episode dives into the biggest stories—from billion-dollar deals to platform updates, policy shifts, and consumer trends. Sharp insights, no fluff, and plenty of honest takes. New episodes every Wednesday. Powered by Ecom Nation.

Information

  • Creator
    Ecom Nation
  • Years Active
    2023 - 2026
  • Episodes
    152
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Ecom Nation
  • Show Website
    This Week In Ecommerce

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