The Australian retail and consumer products industry has experienced considerable change and uncertainty and is no stranger to adaptation. However, constant change in a fast-moving environment can be overwhelming.

Retailers are not only encouraged but expected to be connected with their customers through the pillars of community, capital and climate. With further challenges and opportunities expected, knowing what to prioritise to evolve business and operating models is critical. Those who remain agile will be the winners.

Many of our senior people have worked in retail for over 25 years and understand the challenges you face. That’s over 25 years’ experience helping some of Australia’s largest and most important businesses to be more successful. We grew up in retail, have worked in retail, consume it 24/7 – and from the beginning have established ourselves as the ones who do the doing, not just the strategy. Our aim is to help you find a better, simpler, more efficient, and more profitable way of doing business.

We help design and deliver solutions across the retail value chain – from buying and ranging through merchandise to logistics network planning, online fulfilment, retail operations and technology transformation. We join the dots between core retail functions and drive strategy, program implementation and commercial value. We also advise on tax structuring and strategy, audit and tax compliance, benchmarking tools and workforce services.

We are retail. Retail is in our DNA.

Top trends in Retail & Consumer Products

  • A frictionless experience for everyone
  • Profitable top line sales
  • The circular economy
  • A frictionless experience for everyone
    A frictionless experience for everyone
    The people experience is increasingly integrated and automated. Removing friction points to create a seamlessly connected front, middle and back office is expected by customers, the workforce, the wider community and helps build loyalty.
  • Profitable top line sales
    Profitable top line sales
    Increasing focus on protecting the top line and growing the bottom line. Data is the new currency driving investment decisions in the right areas to deliver personalised differentiation, sharpen the competitive position and drive value without compromise.
  • The circular economy
    The circular economy
    Retailers can’t afford to forget about their role in the sustainability equation and the commitments they have made, even when the pressure is on. Responsible retailers lead from the front to deliver fair, safe, authentic and transparent outcomes.

Issues impacting businesses in Retail & Consumer Products

Buying and ranging

What products resonate with consumers and where? How do you price and when do you go on sale? How do you optimise your margins? How do you know if your promotions are effective? These are some of the challenges we tackle in tandem with our clients. We use your data and our well-honed approach to develop tailored trading reports, product lifecycle recommendations, and suggest enhancements to pricing architecture.

Supply chain, logistics and import

Supply chains have become increasingly complex, with goods and products sourced from an ever-expanding array of locations. These supply chains can prove to be fragile, and subject to risk. This can impact your stock, forecasts, and cost management ability.

Importing products can be just as complicated as getting products out – particularly with shifting trade partnerships, deals and varying transfer pricing and customs duties considerations. So, understanding the connections between you and your suppliers – your transport networks, warehouse management and borders and customs – is key to help you to reduce friction in your logistics.

Retail operations

Bricks-and-mortar retail spaces remain an essential channel to the consumer experience and are changing beyond points of sale. Store blueprints are pushing the envelope on being engaging, entertaining and community centric and transforming into acquisition, logistics, service and experience hubs. The challenge is to give consumers a reason to put their devices down and not only come in store, but to stay.

This starts with the space –many retailers are moving away from the typical 'warehouse'-style shop front to create curated experiences, ever-evolving and showcasing the latest trends and products. This is complemented by your people, with many retailers investing in creating authentic brand ambassadors and reducing friction points in customer service. A sign of the times, your back-of-store and in-store fulfilment of online orders needs to be as seamless as your front-of-store to keep consumers coming back time and time again.

Strategy

Challenging market conditions can place pressure on management and boards to reduce costs, while growing revenue and executing new initiatives. We work closely with you to navigate these complex and contradictory pressures; using our own methodology to help articulate and develop your strategic plans, focusing tightly on commercial outcomes in the context of your goals and core competencies. We don’t just advise and leave – and the same applies to designing the strategy. We work as a team to solve your complex issues and implement solutions together.

Leadership and change

The retail sector may never have been faced with a more challenging marketplace than now. This invariably leads to internal change and people movements – the temptation may be to 'plug' the hole as quickly as possible. Alternatively, it can be an opportunity to benefit from the experience, objectivity, planning and accountability of an interim leader. Our senior team members can perform short-term interim leadership roles at General Manager or C-suite level across finance, merchandise, supply chain, online, store operations and information technology. In addition, we can support and coach existing leaders within your business.

We’re experienced in managing large change programs across multiple functions. Using our own project management methodology, we advocate an ‘activist’ PMO and project management approach to ensure risks, issues and dependencies are uncovered as early as possible in the implementation timeline. Our breadth of functional experience across sourcing, buying, planning, logistics, supply chain, IT and store operations provides for robust discussion, debate and delivery.

Technology

Almost every organisational change program includes an information technology workstream or project, so we integrate IT into our core service offering. We review existing technology environments, your cyber resilience, provide project teams that solve problems and help when specific resources are needed. When used right, technology becomes the ultimate enabler – providing transparent and real-time insights across your whole business, from the bottom line through to demand, inventory and workforce requirements.

Digital and online

To remain competitive in today’s market, most retailers are investing in their online offering. The fundamental challenge of online retail is developing an efficient fulfilment model. It’s not something you can ignore, with omnichannel retailing becoming the norm, as customers seek a seamless shopping experience, efficiency, and convenience. We have experience in delivering and optimising online fulfilment and model rollout, as well as the essential integration of online into merchandise and store operations. It’s worth the effort to not only integrate digital into your current operations, but also review and use the data to continually improve your processes. The online experience – from being able to view products through to painless payment, speedy delivery, and competitive returns policies – will be deciding factors in where consumers choose to spend their dollar.

Payments

For decades, cash, savings or credit were the typical methods of paying for products. However, new purchase methods including Buy Now, Pay Later have exploded as an alternative to credit – and transformed retail. In addition, Cryptocurrency is increasingly becoming a commodity not just to mine and trade, but also to transact with. If you’re looking to diversify your transaction options, it’s important to understand the risks as well as the opportunities in what is an exciting and, as yet, largely unregulated sub-sector.

Mergers and acquisitions

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A) remain an important way for you to reach your organisation’s strategic ambitions for growth, increase market share, expand your footprint, products and services. As part of the process, you need to consider not only the direction of the M&A itself, but also impacts on your value proposition, capabilities, consumers, operating models, logistics and more. To help you throughout the process, our team can provide impartial, hands-on strategy and transaction execution advice to ensure efficiency and optimal outcomes are achieved. We design and execute process and transaction management and ensure timely progress of the various pieces of the strategy – as well as ensure you maximise value during the integration process.

Compliance and risk mitigation

The retail & consumer products sector is beholden to their supply chains and regulation to improve the quality and transparency of how the sector operates. Modern Slavery Reporting is one example of a vital piece of regulation that has added complexity for the retail sector simply by the complexity of their inventories. Then there are issues around wage theft and payroll assurance, as well as the ever-increasing risk of cybercrime impacting not just your business, but also your customers. We also know environmental, social, and governance (ESG) issues are high on the agenda with stakeholders including investors, customers and employees, demanding the adoption of sustainability practices. Whether it’s taxaudit or risk advisory, we cut through the compliance and complexity.

Global connections

Rely on our global network of experts that can support your business growth. Being part of a network of 61,700 professionals across 147 countries, we can share insights on the Retail landscape and finding operational efficiencies in the USA, UK, Asia Pacific and more.

Our Retail & Consumer Products services

Consulting

Our consulting team supports its clients with hands-on and proactive advice on all aspects of their strategies for sustainable growth. We work with you to solve complex and contradictory pressures and implement solutions together.

Tax

We’ll help you navigate tax obligations, from compliance to finding efficiencies through trade partnerships, deals and varying transfer pricing and customs duties considerations. We understand the key measures to help you to reduce friction in your logistics.

Audit

Grant Thornton’s expert audit approach will help you comply with regulations, build transparency and understand your financial position. More than a compliance measure, it’s also an indicator of risk areas and a foundation to improve business strategies.

Payments advisory

Your transactional banking & payments service offering – from point-of-sale transactions to working capital and liquidity management – can enhance your customer experience, as well as financing and operational efficiencies.

Get in touch
Partner & National Head of Retail & Consumer Products
Matt Darby
Matt Darby
Partner & National Head of Retail & Consumer Products
Matt Darby

Operations transformation

Client challenge
Client challenge
Client challenge
Target Australia was facing stalling revenue and steadily growing costs, with core functions not aligned and working together across the business. The merchandise and supply chain functions were driving significant excess stock volume to stores. Unprofitable stores were driving cost into the supply chain, whilst inefficient distribution centre and transport operations were driving cost.
The solution
The solution
The solution
The Grant Thornton team worked with the Target Australia leadership team to instigate an end-to-end process alignment and profitability improvement program which we called FACTORY-TO-CUSTOMER. The program was designed to streamline operations from the source of a product throughout its journey into the customer’s hands. Program workstreams included Product Sourcing, Planning, Logistics, Online, Store Operations and IT Systems. Grant Thornton co-designed and led the program, managing the program governance and commercial benefits tracking.
The outcome
The outcome
The outcome
The project resulted in: major cost reduction through the supply chain, through improved operations, removal of inefficient process and the incorporation of automation in two major distribution centres; enhanced product margin through streamlined product planning and enhanced stock management driving out excess stock; reduced cost base through consolidation of organisational structure around product forecasting and replenishment.
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Trading terms optimisation

Client challenge
Client challenge
Client challenge
David Jones had not formally reviewed its supplier trading terms from a corporate end-to-end view for several years and their trading income was not growing in line with sales. An initial ‘discovery’ phase quantified a significant opportunity across the business. Grant Thornton was engaged to undertake a comprehensive planning and execution engagement to deliver the identified supplier benefits. At the same time, the client was making significant changes to its supply chain operations and, therefore, these two activities were to be closely aligned.
The solution
The solution
The solution
David Jones required additional capacity to support them in the quantification, planning and execution of a structured supplier trading terms negotiation program. The team at Grant Thornton drove the following activities and tasks: establishing program governance; opportunity methodology and quantification of opportunity by supplier and trading terms; supplier engagement strategy and segmentation; preparation of supplier negotiation materials – the ‘playbook’ for each category; benefits tracking and capture.
The outcome
The outcome
The outcome
A key outcome of this engagement was to assist David Jones to run a program of works aimed at improving overall margin through collaborative negotiations with strategic partners (ie suppliers). As a result, David Jones was able to achieve their targeted in-year benefits.
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Workforce planning

Client challenge
Client challenge
Client challenge
Super Retail Group had announced a significant underpayment of employees over several years, based on inadequate processes underpinning time and attendance. The client wanted to lock down its compliance in this area, and then explore how improved tools could help them better plan their labour spend to customer demand.
The solution
The solution
The solution
The team at Grant Thornton worked closely with the core HR and project delivery team to establish a process by which the best system solution could be selected, and to develop an investment business case for the Board. The challenge of different processes across the different customer brands of the client added complexity to the project but also offered opportunities to streamline processes and optimise labour cost. We then worked collaboratively with the chosen software vendor to commence the rollout of the new solution across the business.
The outcome
The outcome
The outcome
The project resulted in a fully compliant system and process covering employee time and attendance and significant streamlining of processes which will drive significant labour cost savings.
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Whistleblowing and payroll assurance

Client challenge
Client challenge
Client challenge
After European investors acquired a controlling interest in an Australian fashion retailer, contractual disputes resulted in employees blowing the whistle on potential underpayments of salary and wages and superannuation to authorities. The organisation needed to respond immediately and effectively to rectify the issue internally, but also to ensure they were meeting their obligations as set out by the Fair Work Ombudsman.
The solution
The solution
The solution
Grant Thornton – led by the firm’s forensics and tax experts, backed by dedicated-technology for data analytics and automation – was engaged to undertake an immediate confidential review of claims, including quantification of under-reporting and liaising on behalf of the company with relevant statutory authorities to mitigate financial and corporate risk.
The outcome
The outcome
The outcome
The team was able to apply a full and comprehensive review covering all bases: focusing on statutory requirements at play for this organisation and its people, spotting exposure points, and developing compliance and mitigation controls. This was combined with the support of data analytics and automation tools for accuracy and efficiency.
Find out more

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