Bi-Rite hosted over 130 members, suppliers and guests for its annual conference at The Star Gold Coast.

The conference kicked off on Saturday 28 September in the evening with a welcome dinner for all members, suppliers and guests at the Events Centre gallery.

On Sunday 29 September, members, suppliers and guests gathered at the Events Centre venue for an open session of presentations, commencing with a video presentation titled ‘The Day My Fridge Died’, produced by Bi-Rite’s marketing team showcasing the customer journey in the form of a true crime documentary.

Following the video presentation, there were brief addresses from the Bi-Rite executive team, starting with CEO, Abdul Kayum (AK) Sacur (feature image), who spoke about the conference theme ‘Exceeding Expectations’ and what it means to him.

“I feel like the last 12 months have been the most challenging they have been for a long time. The phrase ‘having to put in so much more effort to drive similar results’ would be it,” Sacur said.

“This is where exceeding expectations resonated with me. You have those moments of feeling like everything around you is chaos; the changes around you are not slowing down, but then you realise that it’s not so bad, in fact it’s actually great.”

Then COO, Hamza Hussein (above) took to the stage to report on the retail market landscape, highlighting the continuing dominance of e-commerce, supply chain disruptions, changing consumer expectations, inflation and technological advancements.

“Retailers must adapt to these pressures by embracing digital transformation, improving supply chain resilience, personalising customer experiences, managing costs, and leveraging new technologies,” Hussein said.

“Our industry is competitive and consumers have choice. It is our job to gain as much share of their wallet as we can.”

Following Sacur and Hussein was guest speaker, Peter Baines (above), who spoke about corporate philanthropy and how he believes in a different approach to charitable giving that can turn corporate philanthropy from a cost centre into a profit centre for a business.

Following Baines, the group broke for morning tea and then proceeded into the trade show for the rest of the day, with Sunday ending with an awards dinner.

Monday 30 September began with an open morning session, with a brief address by AK Sacur speaking about retail experiences and how global brands embrace the ‘exceeding expectations’ ethos.

Sacur also introduced new Bi-Rite marketing manager, Alayna Bullock (above). “Alayna was the marketing leader at Virgin Australia and Velocity Frequent Flyer, now taking on the role as marketing manager in our business. She’s been with us for two months now and we’re excited by what she brings to the table.”

Following Sacur was Bi-Rite Group marketing coordinator, Megan Holden-Wells (below) who spoke about some of the key projects undertaken by the marketing team in 2024.

This includes the transition into industry leading customer data platform, Klaviyo, as well as partnering with performance marketing agency, Intender and the continued success and optimisation of the Shopify website, which launched earlier this year.

Holden-Wells also acknowledged the team: “I just wanted to acknowledge the marketing team… we wouldn’t function properly if we weren’t one team with one dream. Diverse in our skills and experience and yet united in a single purpose,” she said.

“You could say that about everyone in this room, really, diverse in our customs, traditions, circumstances and businesses, yet united in one purpose: to create a life for ourselves.”

Following Holden-Wells was Phil Ohren (below), the founder of performance marketing agency, Intender, which Bi-Rite has partnered with.

Ohren spoke about the importance of search marketing and serving ads based on customer intent and reported positive results with Bi-Rite’s web traffic increasing significantly in only a few weeks of working with Intender.

Following Ohren, Bi-Rite category manager for whitegoods and cooking, Tristan Ansley (below) delivered a brief overview of his categories, commenting on the resilience of regional areas in a market plagued by rising costs.

“The major home appliance and cooking categories have both performed well for the first half of 2024,” Ansley said.

“We see some differences between states for product mix and results, but overall Bi-Rite has performed very well. Regional Australia still has the same cost of living pressures but seems to be performing better than metro areas.”

Bi-Rite category manager for AV & IT, Talha Hussein, reported positively on the group’s audio visual performance for 2024 so far, with Bi-Rite showing increases in both value and quantity, despite the rest of the market declining.

“These were great results to all and a welcome surprise in what might be otherwise considered a challenging market.”

Bi-Rite category manager for small appliances, floorcare and seasonal, Kong Luc concluded the session reporting on Bi-Rite’s steady growth in the floorcare and seasonal categories. He highlighted ASP increases in the air fryer and coffee machine categories, as well as continued growth in air conditioning.

There were a range of closed sessions for members only, with more in-depth presentations from the category team, as well as Bi-Rite marketing manager, Alayna Bullock said.

The conference concluded with a thank you from Sacur and Hussein and a brief afternoon tea.