The sales period around Australia Day is one of the most lucrative retail opportunities of the year. It’s a peak time for outdoor activities, social gatherings, and leisure, with many Australians taking advantage of the public holiday or long weekend, increasing spending on food, entertainment, and travel-related purchases.

With fierce competition for customers, businesses need every advantage to stand out and succeed. If you’re looking for a powerful way to boost your strategy, digital signage should be top of your list. This innovative tool can drive foot traffic, increase sales, and enhance customer engagement in ways traditional methods simply can’t match.

Here are five reasons why digital signage should be a cornerstone of your Australia Day sales strategy.

Drive immediate customer action

Australia Day sales are a prime time for shoppers looking for the best deals—and it’s essential to capture their attention. Whether you’re promoting a specific product or a storewide discount, eye-catching digital displays can motivate customers to act fast, helping you maximise sales during the holiday period.

Unlike static signage, digital displays can be updated in real-time to reflect new deals or inventory changes, ensuring your messaging stays fresh and relevant. You can also use data-driven insights to adapt your content to customer behaviour and market trends, making your campaigns more effective.

Maximise your marketing budget

Digital signage offers a cost-effective and highly targeted way to convert customer interest into purchases. Advanced platforms equipped with AI make it simple to design and schedule content for your Australia Day promotions, reducing the need for expensive graphic designers or hours spent creating signage manually.

With AI tools, you can customise high-quality designs in minutes, set your schedule, and let the screens do the rest. Beyond Australia Day, the insights gained from your campaigns can help you refine your marketing strategies for future events, making digital signage a smart, long-term investment.

Reach customers around the clock

Australia Day isn’t limited to a single day—many shoppers expect extended sales, which can be a logistical challenge for businesses. Digital signage simplifies this process by enabling you to promote your sales 24/7.

For stores located in busy shopping centres or along high-traffic streets, digital displays can capture attention even after closing hours. By scheduling your content strategically, you can build anticipation for your Australia Day deals and attract customers when your doors reopen. This around-the-clock visibility ensures your sales remain top-of-mind.

Strategically promote additional purchases

Impulse buying is a key driver of sales during events like Australia Day. By placing digital displays near your point-of-sale (POS) or checkout areas, you can encourage customers to make last-minute purchases, cross-sell complementary items, or take advantage of “buy more, save more” offers.

Thanks to the flexibility of AI-driven platforms, you can easily update your displays to reflect stock levels or changing customer interests. For instance, a screen highlighting accessories that complement a shopper’s purchase can boost transaction values and enhance their overall experience.

Australia Day sales are also an important opportunity to create a memorable shopping experience that keeps customers coming back. Digital signage can play a crucial role in elevating the in-store experience by engaging shoppers and guiding their journey.

Strategically placed screens can highlight featured products, suggest complementary items, or promote social media engagement. For example, a display near your outdoor gear section could showcase camping essentials, inspiring customers to stock up for their long weekend. Digital signage can also encourage shoppers to follow your brand on social media or share user-generated content, increasing your visibility and engagement.

Incorporating digital signage into your Australia Day sales strategy is a smart, cost-effective way to engage customers, drive sales, and stand out from the competition. Whether you’re aiming to maximise holiday sales or enhance the overall shopping experience, there’s no better time to explore how this technology can transform your business.

Contributed by Steven Baxter, CEO at Mandoe Media

Adobe has announced Live Co-Editing to Photoshop and invite you to sign up for beta testing in the Photoshop desktop (beta) and web apps. 

Now, multiple creators can simultaneously access and edit documents from different computers — unlocking shared creativity and collaboration. This game-changing advancement, informed by community input, accelerates content creation, streamlines communication and improves creative collaboration for creators, teams and educators. 

• Multiple designers can simultaneously work on a Photoshop document, splitting tasks to tackle and complete projects more efficiently, together. 
• Creative teams at large enterprises can collaborate on highly matrixed projects, solicit stakeholder input and address feedback all in a single file. 
• Creators can collect client feedback more intuitively by inviting them to directly collaborate on a file, view edits and make comments. 
• Students can follow along live as educators demonstrate workflows and teach techniques in Photoshop. Comments and edits can be made directly in a student’s document by teachers to help enhance learning and contextualise feedback. 

Popular community-driven innovations 

Photoshop launched dozens of innovative features and capabilities in 2024 that improved adjustments, compositing, selecting and typography workflows, all informed by community feedback. Try out these popular capabilities if you haven’t already by updating your Photoshop app to the latest version. 

1. Remove Tool with Distraction Removal 

The Distraction Removal capability in the Remove Tool automatically detects and removes wires and people from the background and replaces them with generated content while preserving image integrity, depth, and complex details. You can remove multiple unwanted elements from a photo, like tourists in the background of your travel photos or pesky power lines disrupting your beautiful landscape image, which significantly simplifies your workflows and saves effort on tedious editing tasks. 

Check out real world examples from Photoshop Influencer Partners: 

• @Marinawphoto perfects her portrait photography in busy and public places. 
• @mylesesmind declutters her scenes so she can focus on her creativity. 

2. Improved Font browser 

For projects focused on typography, use the improved Font browser to search, filter, live preview, and use 25,000+ free and licensed fonts from the cloud without leaving the Photoshop app. Search fonts by name, explore different dialects, and find the perfect typeface for any aesthetic without interrupting your workflows. Once a new font is added from the cloud, it will automatically sync across all your Photoshop devices and Adobe Creative Cloud desktop apps for a continuous editing experience. 

See this capability come to life on Instagram, and how Photoshop partner Emma Orhun uses it as a source of design inspiration! 

3. Selection Brush 

The Selection Brush enables you to easily and more intuitively select and adjust specific areas of an image. With a brush, you can change the settings for opacity and hardness and create selections with varying transparency, feathered edges, and more realistic and nuanced effects. The Selection Brush provides more control, flexibility, and intuitiveness whether you are selecting, compositing, adjusting, and generating content. 

Check out this example on Instagram, as well as others made by @iamprestonluke and @onadventurewithdad to composite elements together more seamlessly. 

4. Generative AI with the latest Adobe Firefly Image Model 

Generative Fill, Generative Expand, and Generate Similar are now powered by the latest Adobe Firefly Image Model, which yields greatly improved photographic quality, better prompt comprehension to understand complex descriptions, and generation variety to explore different results. 

5. Adjustment Brush Tool 

With the Adjustment Brush Tool, you can now paint on adjustments to brightness, saturation, exposure, and more when you want to change a specific part of your image. 

6. Custom Adjustment Presets 

Use over 30 Adjustment Presets to change images in one click. Create and save custom presets, export them to share, and import new favorites. 

7. Enhance Detail 

Use Enhance Detail to boost sharpness and detail on your Generative Fill creations. Get results with greater clarity that blend more seamlessly with the existing image. 

8. Bullets and Numbering Support for the Type Tool 

When using the Type Tool, you can now create bulleted and numbered lists in Photoshop with a single click, saving you from repetitive manual formatting. 

9. Improved Contextual Task Bar (for Shapes and Transform workflows) 

The improved Contextual Task Bar now includes popular settings that help you work with Shapes or Transform and rotate objects, so you can avoid menu-diving and work more efficiently. 

10. OpenColorIO (OCIO) support and 32-bit HDR workflows 

OCIO support is now available in Photoshop on desktop, allowing you to control, convert, and preserve color workflows at higher quality across programs. An expanded set of Photoshop tools is now compatible with 32-bit HDR images, enabling you to complete common workflows without converting images to 16-bit or 8-bit, which reduces image fidelity and color accuracy. 

11. Language support for Vietnamese & Indonesian 

Photoshop now offers new language support for Indonesian and Vietnamese. 

 Sign up now to join the waitlist for Live Co-Editing to Photoshop

 Swann, a global leader in do-it-yourself security, announces the expansion of the award winning long range MaxRanger Camera, a CES Innovation Award Honoree last year, with a suite of compatible products including the MaxRanger4K Mini, MaxRanger4K Solar, MaxRanger4K Pro and MaxRanger4K Video Doorbell.

In addition, Swann is broadening its groundbreaking, first of its kind AI SwannShield™ technology to be available with its SwannBuddy4K  Video Doorbell, Swann EVO Video Doorbell, and the MaxRanger4K Video Doorbell. Swann is also debuting the new Xtreem4K™ with SwannShield AIDefender™ Security Guard.

“After the unprecedented success of our long range MaxRanger4K camera and AI SwannShield™ technology, Swann has embraced the mandate of our consumers and is providing a wider range of products that are in line with our long history of trusted security and are ground-breaking in their use of future tech,” said Alex Talevski, CEO of Swann Communications.  “Our focus is on creating innovative products that fulfill the ever-changing lifestyle needs of our diverse consumers- from the most reliable Wi-Fi for urban living, to the longest range for more expansive properties and rural areas, to the ability for technology to handle daily interactions through AI. Our commitment is to be at the forefront of the newest security technology that protects and elevates your home.” 

This year, Swann is introducing the expanded MaxRanger4K line with all offerings connecting to the same hub, making the range cross-compatible and flexible for users.

MaxRanger4K line will include:

• MaxRanger4K Mini – the entry level offering in the MaxRanger family with cameras that are small yet powerful, with a wireless range up to 300m (in the open air) and 100m in typical use. They offer a reliable signal that runs rings around typical Wi-Fi and can transmit through walls, ceilings, floors, trees and other obstacles. The product comes with a hub and the cameras are truly wireless with battery power that needs recharging after some months of use.
• MaxRanger4K Solar – the 2025 update of the award-winning MaxRanger4K Wireless Security System. The solar powered cameras are ideal for positioning at the perimeter of any property, including inner suburban, regional and rural locations. Like the 2024 variant the wireless range is up to 600m (in the open air) and 200m in typical use. It’s a more reliable wireless signal capable of going where normal Wi-Fi can’t and has a powerful signal that transmits through obstacles. The systems come with a hub and the solar panels are built-in to each camera, making them truly a “set and forget” solution.
• MaxRanger4K Pro – the top of the line Pro version goes where security has never been before, with solar powered cameras capable of transmitting back to the hub from up to (amazingly) 1000m away (in the open air) and 400m in typical use. The Pro is perfect for larger s,all businesses and commercial properties in both urban or regional areas. It’s the ideal system to see those ‘blind spots’ and vulnerable locations far away and also closer to home.
• MaxRanger4K Video Doorbell with SwannShield™ AI Voice Assistant – The video doorbell in the MaxRanger family uses the same hub and can be positioned in doorways, entrances and gates up to 300m away (in the open air) and 100m in typical use. Once again, the Wi-Fi HaLow™ transmission is perfect to transmit through the surfaces you are likely to mount the Doorbell on – brick, wood, concrete, masonry etc. The Doorbell also has SwannShield, the award-winning AI Voice Assistant that can answer the door for you! 

In addition, as part of the expanded use of the AI SwannShield™ technology, Swann is debuting theXtreem4K™ with SwannShield AI Defender™ Security Guard.

• Xtreem4K™ with SwannShield AI Defender™ Security Guard – A wireless security camera with long battery life that is able to proactively protect you from crime and defend your property. The camera can be set up in minutes and see every detail in 4K, detecting heat, motion, people, and vehicles using smart AI technology to trigger sirens, spotlights, mobile alerts, and video recording. The Camera features SwannShield AI Defender to sense activity and realistically interact with visitors on your behalf. Using generative AI, it acts like your friend to automatically talk to visitors, delivery people and intruders, dynamically answering their questions, and instructing them appropriately, escalating if there is a security concern. It’s not just about seeing what’s happening- the SwannShield Defender AI Security Guard voice software detects activity and responds on your behalf.

To learn more about their product offerings visit https://swann.com/

New research by Intuit QuickBooks has found that around one third (32%) of Australian small business owners admit to being emotionally attached to their bookkeeper/accountant, with almost half (45%) confiding in them for advice beyond financial matters.  Over one third (31%) also admit to sharing their biggest secrets with them, from secret shopping habits (35%) to family secrets (9%).

Meanwhile, staggeringly, nearly half (46%) of Australian small business owners admit that they spend less than 3 hours per week together with their partners (not including sleeping time).

In a relationship with your accountant/bookkeeper?

Over one quarter (28%) of small business owners admit to texting their bookkeeper/accountant at least once per day. This unique relationship is founded on trust and loyalty, with two-in-five (40%) trusting their bookkeeper/accountant more than friends or family with matters related to their business, and nearly half (46%) going to their bookkeeper/accountant for advice that is broader than just finances or accounting.

So, what are the benefits? Don’t judge a book by its cover, the research shows accountants/bookkeeper can wear many hats.

• 15% say their bookkeeper/accountant improves their relationship with their partner/love life by reducing financial stress.
• Nearly one third (29%) say their bookkeeper/accountant saves them between $5,001 – $10,000 per year.
• Majority (53%) say their accountant/bookkeeper makes them feel less anxious and gives them comfort knowing everything is under control.
• Over two-in-five (44%) say their bookkeeper/accountant gives them confidence.

AI Chatbots are changing how we shop, from the way we select a gift, virtually try on clothes, scan the best deals and visually search for items through Google lens. Amazon is now offering AI-initiated purchases and automatically generated buying guides which offer everything from TVs and dog food to face creams and shoes, with these guides pointing out specific features, use cases and answers to common questions.   

Aussie shoppers are also quickly getting used to these technological advances in the retail sector shopping, with new research showing nearly one-third of Australian shoppers are now more open to using chatbots this year, compared to last Christmas. 

The Zendesk study also shows it’s not just young people who are likely to use AI chatbots for their holiday shopping, those aged 55 plus also expressed openness in utilising chatbots to find the best deals.

Richard Valente, Executive VP of Business Solutions at TP, one of the global leaders in customer support, says despite the increasing adoption of new technology in the sector, many Australian consumers are concerned about the rapidly changing shopping experience.

“As AIand automationbecome more common in the retail sector, there is a growing concern that customers will lose that personal touch and empathy we have been accustomed to at the checkout,” says Mr Valente.

“It’s actually quite the opposite, these advancements can lead to more engagement and interaction opportunities for retailers to provide a better and more personable experience,” he says.

This is also something that shoppers aren’t willing to leave behind. TP data shows one in two consumers now say they are more mindful about getting good quality and price and ultimately choosing brands that provide good customer care.

The key is using these advances in the retail sector to enhance human assistance, not remove it, says Mr Valente.

“With repetitive tasks automated, employees can be more present on the shop floor or online, adding value by being available to customers,” he adds.

“Instead of just assisting at the end of a customers’ retail journey, employees can now become engaged earlier, spending time answering questions, giving personalised suggestions, and ensuring a positive shopping experience.”

“AI systemsare also contributing to more efficient checkouts. While video centralised assistants and chatbotsare revolutionising the shopping experience by providing purchase suggestions, recommending products or quickly searching for product availability.”

“The rapid advances in this space provide an effective outcome for the shopper, while also ensuring a lower cost to the retailer.”

How retailers can provide top customer service in new automated world:

• Incorporate a CRM: Customer relationship management (CRM) systems are fundamental in managing customer data and interactions. By leveraging CRM, businesses can anticipate needs and address issues proactively, ensuring a smoother customer journey.
• Invite customer feedback: Encouraging customer feedback is an essential step in offering excellent customer service. Feedback can be invited through various channels, such as email surveys, social media, or directly on the e-commerce platform.
• Implement omnichannel tracking: Omnichannel tracking provides a cohesive view of the customer’s journey across various channels, including social media, online stores, phone support, and email. 
• Implement customer loyalty programs: Customer loyalty programs are an effective way to reward returning customers and encourage continuous engagement with the brand. Loyalty programs incentivise repeat purchases and help cultivate long-term customer relationships, boosting customer retention and loyalty.
• Hire the right Customer Support Team: The quality of the customer support team is important in providing top service. Hiring an excellent customer service team involves selecting individuals with empathy, strong communication skills, and a customer-centric attitude.
• Introduce self-service options and FAQ pages: These empower customers to find answers to their queries quickly and independently. These can significantly enhance customer satisfaction by offering fast and immediate assistance while reducing the need for direct contact with support experts.
• Utilise automated communications: Chatbots and automated responses help manage large volumes of customer inquiries, ensuring each customer receives a prompt response, and allows human agents to meet customers and focus on more complex tasks.

CyberPower has launched its Ultra-Advanced Power Distribution Units (PDU) for IT applications in Australia. The advanced PDUs provide reliable power distribution with a colour configurable LCD display and real-time remote and local monitoring for all connected equipment making them ideal for server rooms and IT solutions in corporate, education, government and back offices.  

CyberPower Systems Oceania GM ANZ Robert Hartvigsen said, “CyberPower offers six types of PDU products with their functions ranging from basic power distribution to advanced power monitoring and management. These PDU solutions complement our existing products, such as UPS and rack enclosures, enhancing the functionality and reliability of IT infrastructure to meet the specific needs of data centres and IT servers in Australia. As such they provide true peace of mind in the form of a cost effective, reliable power supply.”

A PDU is a device with multiple outlets. It is designed to be installed in a standard rack, where its main function is to distribute reliable network power from a utility power source or an uninterruptible power supply (UPS) to multiple devices. Besides basic power functionalities, some advanced PDUs also have a built-in Ethernet module, which works with PowerPanel^® Power Management Software for real-time monitoring.

PowerPanel Management Software can also perform power management and system graceful shutdown. This software has achieved VMware Ready™ status and is compatible with VMware ESXi. It also supports Citrix XenServer and Microsoft Hyper-V. The software is easy to deploy and use offering real-time power usage effectiveness (PUE), dynamic dashboards, periodic reports and instant alarms to keep IT solutions and data centres up and running.

The multi-function, user configurable LCD readout enables users to easily manage and monitor the entire system and also enables users to change the colours of the LCD screens for convenient classification and identification of PDUs based on their applications. The featured hot-swappable LCD design allows users to safely remove and replace LCD panels without having to shut down the system for ultra-convenient maintenance.

Heat and power overloads are also a problem that are easily dealt with by these clever PDUs.

The PDU’s overload protection feature can automatically cut off any device’s power when the loading exceeds the product’s limit and thus prevents and minimises damage caused by overcurrent.

Also, in a data centre products are often exposed to high temperatures, so it is important for the products to be able to withstand being “over” temperature. By using CyberPower PDUs products are able to work under high temperatures (45-60°C) and still maintain optimal system operation.

The CyberPower PDUs also provide particularly trustworthy statistics including values on voltages, currents and watts with ±1% measurement accuracy. They also feature ultra-low power consumption.

Finally, the CyberPower Advanced Power Distribution Units also boast an environmental sensor which connects via the Ethernet module and provides real-time temperature and humidity information allowing users to monitor the environmental conditions.

Robert Hartvigsen concluded, “As a company grows, the demand for more power and IT equipment will continue to rise. It is essential to find a power solution that can provide more electrical outlets catering to the increasing power needs. The power usage effectiveness (PUE) metric has become an important measurement standard for reporting energy performance of data centres. An advanced PDU can provide reliable, critical and accurate power measurement data and precise individual outlet metering that can help in the measuring of energy efficiency in IT applications and data centres.”

Key features for the CyberPower Advanced Power Distribution Units PDU31004, PDU31005, PDU31406 and PDU31414

• Real-Time Local/Remote Monitoring
• Work under High Temperature
• Industrial-grade Metal Housing
• Digital Real-time Load Display
• User Configurable Colour LCD
• Hot-swappable LCD Design
• Rotatable LCD for Proper Display Orientation
• LED Status Indicator
• Firmware Upgrade via USB
• Support ENVIROSENSOR
• User-upgradeable Firmware
• PowerPanel^® Management Software
• Adjustable Mounting Brackets
• Cord Retention Tray
• IEC Receptacle Locking

To see CyberPower’s new Advanced Power Distribution Units in action go to: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4nYZTMrfig&t=125s https://www.cyberpower.com/au/en/product/overview/power_distribution_units

For more information on CyberPower’s new Advanced Power Distribution Units

The holiday season is upon us, and this year, new research from monday.com, the multi-product platform that runs all core aspects of work, reveals that Australian workers are challenging the traditional year-end slowdown. Five key trends have emerged in the run-up to the festive season:  

TREND 1. Wrapping up projects, not presents – holiday productivity surge in Australia

According to new research, 52% of Australian workers report a boost in productivity during the holiday season, and 29% stated they are “very productive as they focus on finishing the year strong.” Only 14% experience reduced productivity and 34% maintain steady productivity levels. Among those who feel more productive, 29% credit their drive to finish the year strong and 24% are motivated by key deadlines.

TREND 2: Tis the season to be creative 

Almost half (46%) of Australian employees feel inspired by the holiday season, sparking a wave of creativity. This trend however is largely driven by younger generations, with Gen-Z’s (59%) and Millennials (51%) over twice as likely to feel inspired as Baby Boomers (22%). However, for 30% of Australian workers, it can also have the opposite effect, with about a fifth (19%) focused on finishing tasks rather than being creative and 11% feeling fatigued and just pushing through to reach the holiday break. 

TREND 3. Australians disconnecting for holiday cheer

Australian workers aim to balance productivity with work-life priorities this holiday season, with 59% of respondents feeling encouraged to fully disconnect from work. A closer breakdown reveals that 32% are fully able to disconnect, while another 26% are encouraged to disconnect, but choose to remain slightly connected. However, 16% report not feeling encouraged to disconnect. 

Disconnecting from work also varies across generations – Gen Z workers (24%) are the least likely to feel fully encouraged to disconnect, compared to Millennials (33%), Gen X (36%) and Baby Boomers (36%). Instead, Gen-Z’s are more likely to remain partly engaged, with 31% feeling encouraged to disconnect, but still stay connected to work occasionally – compared to 29% of Millenials, 24% of Gen-X and 16% of Baby Boomers. It is senior workers however that are not fully stepping away from work, with Baby Boomers (20%), almost double as likely than Gen-Z’s (11%), do not feel encouraged to disconnect during the holidays.

TREND 4. New Year, New Career Goals for younger workers

As the holiday season comes to an end, for many Australians it is a time to think big, leveraging the fresh start to motivate significant change. Most Australian workers (74%) will embrace the ‘new year, new me’ mindset, turning their focus to opportunities for the year ahead and beyond. Among those embracing the mindset:

• 24% use the new year as an opportunity to set ambitious goals for both work and personal life, motivating themselves for a big fresh start
• 28% focus on smaller, realistic changes rather than major resolutions, guiding their approach for the year
• 22% believe the new year inspires some reflection, but prefer to make changes throughout the year rather than all at once

The generational divide is again apparent in how Australian workers will be approaching 2025, with 88% of Gen Z and 78% of Millennials embracing The New Year New Me approach. Baby Boomers however, are significantly less likely to have their professional and personal goals influenced by a ‘new year mindset’, with the majority (54%) stating they don’t subscribe to this approach and are sticking to their current routines and goals.

TREND 5. Tech helping workers to sleigh the pre-holiday to-do list

The majority (71%) of Australian workers are using technology and automation tools – like scheduling apps, project management software, and automated reminders – to help them navigate the demands of the festive season. Australian workers are leveraging tech solutions in a diverse number of ways and seeing a positive impact on their work habits. 26% use these tools to help them stay organised, but don’t find they directly increase productivity, 25% are using them to help get more work done in less time, boosting overall productivity when it’s needed most, and 20% appreciate the stress relief they offer from automating tasks. 

Dean Swan, Regional Vice President & GM APJ at monday.com, comments: “Australians traditionally take extended leave over the festive period, but before they head on their summer breaks, they are hard at work and redefining holiday season productivity. By blending creativity, technology, and a drive to finish strong,  they are proving this time of year is not just about winding down, but also stepping up. For Australian businesses, supporting employee well-being and providing flexibility during this time is key to sustaining morale and reducing burnout. An increased focus on finding solutions that drive automation, improve collaboration, and enable faster, data-driven decision-making – can help to foster a more balanced and productive end to the year.”

With the criminalisation of wage theft set to take effect in Australia from January 2025, Small Business will be under immense pressure to clean up their payroll processes– but many don’t realise how prevalent the issue really is.

Insights from Rippling’s research earlier this year highlighting the scale of the problem:

• 59% of Australian companies admitted to payroll errors in the past two years. 
• Nearly half (48%) of these errors involved under- or overpaying employees, and 44% were due to delayed payments—often unintentionally.
• Over half (52%) of payroll managers believed new Industrial Relations laws would add even more complexity and stress to their already strained processes.
• Almost two-thirds (63%) of companies employ three or more solutions to handle HR and payroll, and over a third (37%) use five or more—significantly increasing the risk of errors.

These findings expose a hidden compliance risk for Australian SMEs, especially as the new legislation introduces harsh penalties for wage theft, regardless of intent.

Matt Loop, VP and Head of Asia at Rippling, says: “The criminalisation of wage theft from January 2025 will be a wake-up call for all Australian businesses. While deliberate underpayment has rightly drawn scrutiny, our research reveals that accidental payroll errors are alarmingly common, affecting nearly 60% of companies in the past two years.

Adding to the challenge, many SMEs still rely on fragmented, siloed systems to manage payroll. This not only complicates operations but significantly increases the risk of errors— heightening the potential for non-compliance under the new laws.

The urgency for businesses to modernise their approach cannot be overstated. Technology offers a practical solution, helping to streamline and automate processes, reduce human error, and ensure compliance. But this is about more than just avoiding penalties. Accurate and timely pay builds trust with employees, strengthens workplace morale, and fosters accountability.”

Shopify , a provider of internet infrastructure for commerce, has unveiled the Boring Edition – which focuses less on flashy new releases and more on improvements to existing products. Including 150+ updated features, this release responds to merchant feedback, helping retailers run their businesses even smoother than before. 

Winter ’25 boring edition  is all about honing in on perfecting existing features, and redefining the meaning of “boring”. The upgrades include features that allow customers to manage all aspects of their orders and returns, more automations for marketing, and operational workflows, optimising cart infrastructure to boost load speeds by up to 50% and more. 

This includes features to improve the omnichannel shopping experience – from online to in-person selling – as POS sales made by Shopify merchants in Australia have grown by 29% since Black Friday last year. Updates like bundling through Shopify POS, split-screen search views, and customisable channels offer a more personalised experience for retailers.

“The Winter ’25 Edition is a testament to our ongoing commitment to perfecting our craft and delivering the best features for our retailers,” said Shaun Broughton, Managing Director, APAC at Shopify. “Rather than overcomplicating things, we’ve focused on refining our core features. We’re constantly evaluating our offering and listening to feedback from our merchants to provide the updates they truly need. Ultimately, the success of our retailers is our success, and we’re dedicated to helping them thrive.”

More control for customer account experiences

• Seamless order and return management: Allows customers to manage all aspects of their orders and returns within a unified account via a passwordless login. 
• Better customer relationships: Merchants can gather feedback using apps like Zigpoll, storing it in a single customer record for better engagement.
• Personalise the customer experience: Build personalised experiences directly into customer account pages in minutes with no code. The result: a seamless, branded experience that removes friction and drives sales.
• B2B functionality: While Shopify has a host of out-of-the-box B2B features, a seamless B2B customer account experience was a challenge—until now. With Customer Account Extensions, merchants can easily build a tailored experience for their wholesale customers, with self-serve functionality for quotes, invoicing, bulk ordering, and even B2B storefronts.

Improved workflow to avoid repetitive tasks

Shopify Flow lets merchants set up custom workflows to avoid repetitive tasks for inventory management, loyalty programs, and discounts. Here are a few things that now work better:

• Returns and exchanges: Automate more of the returns workflow with new triggers and actions specifically designed for managing returns, and even canceling returns if products are not sent back.
• Marketing automations: Marketing templates in Shopify Flow are now easily accessible in the Flow library, meaning merchants can quickly set up campaigns like abandoned cart or welcome emails using our templates.
• Segment triggers: Merchants can now automate operational workflows and key marketing moments based on when a customer joins or leaves a segment.

Personalised Shopify Checkout

Optimised cart infrastructure to boost load speeds by up to 50%, Checkout Blocks available to all plans for customised thank you pages, and integrated chat apps into the checkout. We’re also improving draft orders by enhancing features such as:

• Checkout customisations: Merchants who require customisations in their draft order checkouts can now upgrade to Checkout Extensions.
• Bundle options for B2B: When dealing with Bundle orders, merchants can customise product assortments and purchasing options that match buyers’ needs, regardless of how they check out.
• Functions support: Checkout rules and payment and delivery customisations powered by Shopify Functions can now be executed in draft orders. 

Smoother in-person selling with upgrades to Shopify POS

The future of commerce is offline as much as online. Over the most recent Black Friday Cyber Monday weekend, we saw Shopify POS sales grow 29%. Some of our latest POS updates include:

• Shopify POS for Bundles: Merchants can now manage and sell bundles directly through Shopify POS. 
• Split screen selling: POS search results now display via a split screen view so results are always visible alongside the cart.
• Metafields in POS: Retail offers one of the most personalised channels for merchants to capture customer data. Now, metafields are available through POS, leveraging  first-party data to create more relevant and efficient marketing communications. Example: A pet store staff asks customers in the store what sort of pet they have and can create a metafield for “animal type” in that customer’s profile.

More delivery settings for more fulfillments

Fulfillment and delivery settings are now applied across more Shopify order sources, including:  

• Third party channels such as Facebook and Amazon
• Draft order invoices
• Subscription orders
• Order editing 

Previously, the rules and settings that merchants set up to control order routing were only applied to online checkout orders. Now, merchants only need to set their fulfillment logic once, saving time, preventing overselling, and reducing the scope for errors. 

In today’s competitive small business market, is having an active business social media account as essential as it seems?

Reckon surveyed 296 small business owners across 20 industries to find out how they approach marketing their business and what’s most effective – social media marketing isn’t as effective as you may think…

Having an active social media business page is often perceived as enough to market a small business. However, the survey revealed that over a quarter of small business owners don’t use social media to advertise and surprisingly over a third found that no social media platform has been effective for marketing their business.

Of course, it definitely depends on your business, the industry and where your target audience is active. However, over seven in ten small business owners say that ‘word of mouth’ and ‘referrals’ are still the most effective marketing approach in 2024.

Australian small businesses Remmie By Riley and FAYT are perfect examples of how social media can be utilised extremely effectively. These brands both target their audience by staying on top of social media trends and have created a close-knit community of followers and customers. Rather than being seen as a distant brand selling a product, these brands are perceived as fun communities participating in the latest TikTok trends and showing the faces behind the brand.

Although many business owners said they don’t find social media marketing effective, social media is still the second most common strategy among small businesses. This is likely due to budget constraints, time limitations and a lack of marketing experience and expertise. Social media is a free and relatively easy strategy to implement with these considerations.

The other most popular marketing strategies are email marketing (20.9%), direct marketing (20.6%) and content marketing (20.3%). These strategies are great for customer retention and remaining top-of-mind among past, present and future customers. 

The least popular methods for SME’s are outdoor ads (7.8%), display ads on third-party websites (6.4%), event marketing (3.7%), radio advertising (2.7%), and TV advertising (2.4%). This is due to the higher costs associated with each of these strategies which exceeds small business budgets.

Brad Stevens, GM of Marketing at Reckon comments:

“Small businesses will continue to face challenges and difficulties when it comes to marketing to their target audience and staying competitive in the market. However, our study reveals that despite technological advances and increased use of social media, word of mouth remains the top marketing method that brings in new business and increases revenue. 

“It also confirms that minimal effort, budget-friendly marketing methods that small business owners can perform themselves are preferable. Despite this, our advice for new small business owners is to consult a marketing professional where possible, as this will bring in more results and allow for more effective and purposeful marketing.”

View the full study here: https://www.reckon.com/au/small-business-resources/small-business-advertising/