Australia

Australia saw the arrival of the open banking era in 2019 as more control of and access to financial product data was given to customers. Australians are now better able to compare and switch home loans and credit cards, as well as energy and phone ...

The government in Australia has directed the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) to investigate high international credit card purchases and foreign currency conversion fees and report back recommendations in 2019. Based on ...

Buy now pay later companies such as Afterpay and Flexigroup have not only affected the debit and credit card industry, but also store cards. As millennials and younger consumers are the main target group, it is likely that these players will only ...

Sydney commuters can now receive the same travel benefits by contactless payment as they would using an adult Opal card. This is part of the integration of contactless payment across the state’s travel infrastructure, with September 2019 seeing buses...

New research shows that customers in their thirties are more likely to switch banks than younger customers. This comes in the aftermath of the Hayne royal commission report, which stated it had found evidence of misconduct among the big four banks ...

Amid fears of cardholders being charged excessive fees by their banks, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has been tasked with investigating foreign transaction charges. With Australia generating nearly 20 million outbound ...

The growing sophistication of Australia’s coffee culture is being reflected in the increasing premiumisation of available coffee products. This has been reflected in new product developments, including packaging developments. For example, Nescafé ...

The Container Deposit Scheme (CDS) was implemented in New South Wales in December 2017. Industry sources indicate that the transition has been disruptive, with some commenting that the measure has been implemented in a hurried way and not understood ...

As in previous years of the review period, growing concerns over the impact of packaging waste on the environment and the rising need for convenience among consumers had the biggest impact on the industry overall during 2018. With consumers moving ...

Driven by China and India, Asia’s developing economies saw healthy rates of growth in 2018. Japan’s economic prospects are less favourable however. Too many of Asia’s economies are excessively dependent on exports and large inflows of foreign ...

The up-scheduling of all OTC products containing codeine, including many combination products - analgesics in 2018 led to severe sales declines during that year. 2019 saw further declines in the category, although on a much smaller scale. With ...

Sales of cough, cold and allergy (hay fever) remedies recovered slightly in 2019 due to there being more cases of colds and flu in the country, particularly during the first half of the year. By April 2019, more than 10,000 people in Australia had ...

Healthy demand for dermatologicals continued to support sales growth in 2019 despite the category being highly mature, with most of the leading players already very well-established. One reason for the high levels of maturity in the category is that ...

February 2019 saw the Medical Board of Australia launch a public consultation on the regulation of alternative medicine practitioners, specifically those who provide complementary, unconventional and emerging treatments. This comes in response to ...

Australia’s population continues to age and this is likely to continue supporting demand for digestive remedies for the foreseeable future. Australia already has high numbers of people aged over 50 years old, with the baby boom generation comprising ...

2019 saw further moderate growth in sales of eye care, with rising demand supported by increasing amounts of screen time consumers among Australians of all ages. As lifestyles become increasingly hectic and with work and leisure time increasingly ...

Sales of herbal/traditional products continue to benefit from high levels of consumer acceptance as Australian consumers tend to perceive these products as safer and far less likely to have harmful side-effects than standard OTC products based on ...

Positive sales growth was seen again in NRT smoking cessation aids in 2018 as more stringent tobacco control regulations and rising tobacco taxes provided further incentives for tobacco users to quit smoking. September 2019 saw a further 12.5% ...

Consumer health in Australia saw a considerable acceleration in growth in 2019 as demand increased across numerous categories due to rising consumer spending and strong demand among an affluent urban consumer base. Many of Australian’s urban ...

Paediatric vitamins and dietary supplements continues to dominate overall sales in paediatric consumer health and this can be attributed mainly to the high demand for products which promise to support childhood growth and development. Increasing ...