Black Friday sales are over and retailers are reporting record sales to the point that many are out of stock of appliances, PCs and TVs, as well as sound gear with reordering becoming an issue as Chinese factories make life difficult for distributors.
Several suppliers are telling ChannelNews there are now real concerns over stock resupply for Christmas and the New Year sales, with distributors claiming factories are trying to “jack up” prices for Australian sourced products.
One major distributor told CN one factory, after agreeing a price and taking a deposit, then tried to increase the price of the ordered goods by over 20%.
Another supplier of appliances said ever since the relationship between China and Australia deteriorated, factories in China have slowed down shipments to Australian distributors, blaming a lack of components.
The same factories are still supplying other countries including Russia, several European countries and the USA.
One Chinese executive of a Chinese-owned appliance brand said, “Australian distributors will have a problem getting stock, Chinese brands won’t have the same problem”.
We have also heard ever since China decided to increase the tariffs on Australian wines, consumers are switching off buying a Chinese-owned product from the likes of Hisense, Fisher and Paykel which is now a Chinese-owned company owned by Haier, Changhong, ChiQ, Haier or Asko, which is owned by Hisense.
One Melbourne-based Harvey Norman store manager said: “There is no doubt Australians are moving to stop buying Chinese products.”
“As long as it’s not Chinese-owned is becoming a common comment in stores with consumers now moving to question who owns a brand and where it is manufactured,” they said.