Happy EOFYS folks!
It’s tax time come the unofficial retail holiday since being expertly advertised by Foxtel back in 2009.
Despite inflationary pressures and rising interest rates forcing many to cut back on discretionary spending, Australians are still expected to spend a whopping $8.8 billion on End of Financial Year sales with a large majority of people (83%) willing to spend the same amount, or more than last year (according to forecasting by Roy Morgan and the Australian Retailers Association).
6.2 million Aussies plan to flock to stores to try snag an EOFY bargain, spending an average of $1,420 each. Surprisingly, it’s not just women who have a penchant for shopping with men expected to spend more, their average purchases totalling $1,700, compared to $950 for women.
All this shopping won’t just take place in stores. With COVID came the unprecedented boom of eCommerce and the acceleration of our digital shopping experience. We are now very much accustomed to being able to purchase anything from the comfort of our couches, something EOFY consumers intend on doing for 52% of their purchases.
Tax time is often the excuse for savvy consumers to splurge on new tech for work (or “work”). Businesses get on the bandwagon too, with a tax driven approach to purchases. 75% of business owners spend more during the EOFY period than any other time of year to secure equipment, technology and upgrades for their teams.
Tech retailer Harris Technology (ASX: HT8) is set to be one of the beneficiaries of the EOFY period with competitive prices across their expansive range of tech products.
Having eliminated the overheads of a brick and mortar storefront, Harris has gone one step further, reducing marketing costs by selling on marketplaces such as Amazon, eBay, Kogan and Catch.
Harris has their products displayed prominently across multiple platforms who are often equipped with large marketing budgets to compete against each other.
Harris’ piggybacking strategy works. By reducing overheads they can pass on savings to customers and offer highly competitive pricing.
Our new work-from-home norm saw the retailer generate $41.8 million in sales for FY21, up from just $13.6 million in FY20. Harris is on track to report even higher sales figures for FY22, with a record March quarter which saw a 23% increase in revenue and year to date sales of $41.2 million, nearly on par with their last full financial year result despite three fewer months of trading.
COVID related supply issues haven’t hurt Harris like they have other retailers with management effectively anticipating and mitigating distribution and shipping issues by utilising their network of domestic distributors. Recent warehouse upgrades have also seen their inventory capacity increase by 50%.
In recent months, Harris has expanded beyond the tech product sphere to offer other products like household goods. The Company has also launched a dedicated B2B arm where suppliers can take advantage of their infrastructure to list products on marketplaces cutting down on admin, logistics and warehousing.
The Company is well prepared for the EOFY season which will boost Harris’ revenue as individuals, businesses and voracious bargain hunters seek out the best deals.
Samantha Freidin is a business journalist at Emerald Financial whilst also completing a Masters of Marketing and Digital Communications at Monash University.
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*Owners of this website are shareholders in a company mentioned in this article and have been engaged by them to assist in investor communications
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