Online retailer Ruslan Kogan, who in the past has been slammed by the Australian Competition and Consumer commission for his business practises, has been left with egg on his face after yesterday writing off Clive Peeters while taking a swipe at Harvey Norman.
Kogan, who is known for his PR prancing after bringing out an LED TV called KevinO8 to support Kevin Rudd, wasted little time sticking the boot into Clive Peeters after they were placed into administration by the National Australia Bank.
Today the company is set to continue trading under a receiver manager program put in place by the NAB, who is believed to be owed over $40 million dollars.
Kogan, who in the past has falsely stated prices much to the wrath of the ACCC, claims that online retailing is trumping traditional shop fronts. He singled out Harvey Norman, claiming that they are being dragged down by middlemen.
What Kogan has failed to explain is why the bulk of vendors who choose to sell via the likes of JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman and Clive Peeters won’t deal with Kogan.
Yesterday Kogan said, “The announcement that Clive Peeters has entered a trading halt and is going into administration goes to show that online shopping has trumped traditional bricks-and-mortar storefronts”.
“These conventional retailers, without a clear competitive advantage, have nothing to offer Australian consumers looking for a good deal on appliances, electronics, and even furniture.
He said, “There are other similar businesses out there, like Harvey Norman, and they’re clearly not sustainable business models in the age of the Internet.”
A Harvey Norman franchisee said, “Kogan is a flea on the retail landscape. Some of our stores sell in a day what he sells in a year.”
Most of his stock is bottom-end, made-in-China products that most retailers won’t stock. He has already been pulled over the coals by the ACCC because he is an opportunistic retailer who is desperate to use any means to attract a customer to his stores. He also takes marketing risks that border on being unethical.”
