RETAIL/CONSUMER GOODS

Apple's popular iPad is a hot commodity with consumers but can they be used to make your business better?Here are 6 ways other companies have tailored the iPad to make a better customer experience and enhance their overall service.

Amidst the soaring threats of striking another global recession and skyrocketing prices in fuel, consumers in Indonesia manage to cultivate a growing penchant for cars, commodity gladly perceived prolific by Asia's largest car manufacturer, Toyota Motor Corporations.

AFTERNOON REPORT (4.30pm AEST)The local share market has finished the trading week on a positive note, with the All Ordinaries Index (XAO) adding 7.6pts or 0.2pct to 4277.4 and the S&P/ASX 200 Index (XJO) firmer by 6.7pts or 0.2pct to 4194.7.

The local share market closed marginally higher today, although off earlier gains due to a disappointing jobs report. The All Ordinaries Index (XAO) gained 6.9pts or 0.2pct to close at 4269.8 after reaching a high of 4297.9 in early trade.

The Swedish retail chain Ikea used political prisoners in East Germany as ''slave labour'' to make furniture, reports said.

Australian retailer Harvey Norman said on Tuesday that his business continued to survive despite the competition from offshore portals that do not charge Australia's goods and services tax and import duties on items costing less than $1,000.

Popular retail stores are telling distributors and wholesalers to stop selling products online if they have the same in their stores, claims eBay. Responding to draft recommendations released by the Productivity Commission last month, eBay managing director (Australia and New Zealand) Deborah Sharkey alleged on Monday that certain unidentified Australian retailers had taken an anti-competitive approach to block the availability of products at online sites.

Australia's retail sector continues to suffer from the economic downturn, with high-end clothing store Satch as the latest victim. Satch Clothing was placed under administration on Thursday.

Australia's Retailers Association's executive director Russell Zimmerman, has appealed for the abolition of paying employees time-and-a-half on Saturdays and double-time on Sundays, to maintain the industry's competitiveness amidst the backdrop of a low consumer spending environment in the country.

Smaller online stores in Australia are complaining of bullying tactics adopted by retailers, according to online giant eBay which submitted an inquiry with the Productivity Commission (PC).

In spite the persisting low consumer demand, Australian companies have recorded a 6.7 percent growth on their gross profits, according to the seasonally adjusted data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Alastair Macdonald, TCC regional director, Australasia, said the company has secured the global license for loyalty promotions in the grocery, convenience and petrol retail category for the Angry Birds game franchise. This means Angry Birds, Angry Birds Seasons and Angry Birds Rio may be used in the said establishments' loyalty promos to attract shoppers of any age, gender and profession.

Australia's employers have opted to advertise online rather than on newspapers, according to the latest survey conducted by ANZ Bank, which showed a a monthly and annual decline indicative of a persistent sluggish economic growth.

A welcome lift in new orders and sales took the services sector into positive territory in August according to the latest Australian Industry Group/Commonwealth Bank Australian Performance of Services Index (Australian PSI®). The seasonally adjusted index rose 3.3 points to 52.1 in the month (readings above 50 indicate an expansion in activity).

Metcash expects to conclude its acquisition of Franklins by end of September 2011.

Hitachi, Sony, Toshiba merge their LCD businesses and with200 billion yem funding from Innovation Network Corporation of Japan (INCJ) aims to develop next generation technologies

A brief ray of sunshine shone on overwhelmed retailers with the Australian Bureau of Statistics revealing that retail stores sales increased by 0.5 percent in July beating the predicted 0.3 rise by economists.

After three months of decline, Australian consumers went out to dine and shop in July providing a boost to the country's retail and services industries.

The Australian Food and Grocery Council (AFGC) and consumer advocacy group CHOICE continue to disagree over the choice of different front-of-pack methods for food product labels to display nutritional information about the food.

The Federal Court's dismissal of an application by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has enabled Metcash to proceed with its acquisition of the Franklins chain of supermarkets from Pick ‘n Pay.

KFC Australia says it will no longer provide toys with any childrenʼs meals.

US-based global food company Heinz has reported a 6% decrease in net income to US$226.1m for the three months to 27 July 2011.

Harvey Norman has solved the problem of its leftover stock of HP's discontinued TouchPad tablet. The retailer giant offered a fire sale of the tablets at only $99 and within hours Harvey Norman had virtually sold out of its leftover stock.

Online nominations have now closed for the Australian HR Awards and intensive research is currently underway to determine the finalists.

Electronics retailer Harvey Norman has ordered its franchises to stop selling HP's TouchPad tablet, after the product manufacturer said it would no longer be making the device.

Firstfolio has seen revenues surge on the back of its acquisition strategy, and plans to continue to seek out acquisition targets.

Retail deposit growth has driven a stronger funding position for ANZ, the bank has stated.

Business sales figures across Australia posted disappointing numbers in July, according to a survey done by Commonwealth Bank on 200,000 merchant facilities.

MARKET CLOSE (4.30pm AEST)The Australian sharemarket lost ground for the second time this week, with the ASX 200 index (XJO) falling 1.2 pts or 52.7 pts to 4251.2 while the broader All Ordinaries index (XAO) dropped 1.2 pct or 52.4 pts to 4319.4. This takes the falls for August so far to 4 pct.