KOGAN SNAP S UP MATT BLATT
ONLINE shopping trader Kogan has bought family-run furniture and homewares company Matt Blatt for $4.4 million and plans to operate it as an e-commerce firm.
Matt Blatt, which sources replica products from Asia, had $46.5 million revenue last financial year, with up to 25 per cent from online sales.
The business closed its 15 stores due to COVID-19 in late March but has continued trading through its website.
Chief executive Ruslan Kogan said Matt Blatt would remain online-only.
The acquisition, which was funded from cash reserves, will help Kogan extend its reach into the furniture and homewares market.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Tim Piper said the site offered Kogan’s range as well as those of third-party “marketplace” sellers.
Kogan’s marketplace service allows third parties to list goods for sale in a similar way to ebay.
Mr Piper said the acquisition gave these sellers another place to sell their goods.
Kogan also gains a database of up to 100,000 customers.
Many Australians are yet to buy homewares and furniture online, but the shift is well under way in the US and Europe.
There was plenty of opportunity in this market for Kogan, according to Mr Piper, which had already benefited competitors such Temple and Webster.
Kogan shares were up 2.46 per cent to $8.76 at the close, having risen by more than 12 per cent this year. as
$40,000 offering powered by a punchy 2.0-litre turbo four-cylinder.
Red brake calipers and low-profile tyres on the outside, combined with a flat-bottomed steering wheel with red stitching on the inside, are clearly aimed at the enthusiast driver.
Order the optional “luxury” and “style” packages and you’re looking at close to $50,000 on the road.
Volkswagen is expected to introduce an entry level version later in the year, but for the time being it’s targeting the style and performance-conscious buyer. Mainstream rivals are Toyota’s C-HR and Mazda’s new CX30, while the brand also expects to steal sales from the bottom end of the luxury SUV market.
Volkswagen’s product marketing manager, Jeff Shafer, acknowledges the brand’s SUV lineup needed an injection of new blood.
“Australia’s such a strong SUV market and a lot of the growth has come at the smaller end of that, so we’ve been really eager to get T-roc and T-cross into the market,” he says.
The brand has modest initial sales expectations for the new models – particularly
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with T-roc – but in the longer term they are sure to be key models in its line-up, if not topsellers.
“Over time we expect hatchback sales to continue to decline relative to SUVS,” Shafer says.
He says the T-roc will initially be pitched as an SUV alternative to the Golf GTI.
“It’s got pretty decent performance and really good spec as well. The 140kw engine is pretty zippy,” he says.
In standard form, the T-roc is well equipped.