Kogan goes up against incumbents in appliances move

Heather McIlvaine

4th Jun 2018

Kogan.com has announced its plan to launch its own range of whitegoods and built-in kitchen appliances by the end of 2018.

In a statement released Monday to the ASX, the online-only retailer said it has signed supply and logistics agreements that will allow it to enter the bulky goods space with price-competitive products.

Details of the offering will be released closer to the launch date, which is expected to be prior to the end of calendar year 2018. It is expected to include fridges, washing machines, dryers, dishwashers, ovens, cooktops and rangehoods.

The retailer currently offers a limited range of appliances, such as hot plates, hot water kettles, kitchen mixers, coffee machines, vacuums and other smaller appliances.

Its move to expand the range and offer larger appliances and whitegoods is a shot across the bow of established bricks-and-mortar retailers Harvey Norman and The Good Guys, which Kogan.com CEO and founder Ruslan Kogan says have enjoyed inflated margins for too long.

“The Australian whitegoods and built-in kitchen appliance market lacks competitive tension which has resulted in a limited number of players enjoying inflated margins. One major factor contributing to this lack of competition is additional complexity and logistical requirements arising from distributing bulky products,” he said.

Kogan said the retailer has built up sufficient logistics and distribution capabilities over the past 12 yeas of doing business to enter the market.

“It will be a great win for Australian consumers who don’t want to pay too much for essential household appliances. We are excited to be applying our business model to this industry and making the most in-demand products more affordable for all Australians,” he said.

More mobile phone plans

The retailer last week announced it will begin offering telecommunications services in New Zealand.

Plan details of the offering are due to be released closer to the launch date.

In a statement released to the ASX, Kogan’s executive director David Shafer said the retailer was delighted to be partnering with Vodafone New Zealand to bring the benefits of Kogan Mobile to New Zealand.

“In Australia, Kogan Mobile has been delivering on its promise to save Aussies more of their hard-earned money, and hundreds of thousands of customers have already migrated to Kogan Mobile in Australia over the past two years,” Shafer said.

The launch comes just days after Catch Group filed a lawsuit against Kogan.com, claiming the company infringed on its trade mark in a Google Ad promoting cheap mobile phone plans.

Catch in February launched Catch Connect, a new vertical that offers prepaid mobile phone plans in partnership with Optus.

The move put it in direct competition with Kogan, which has been offering mobile phone plans to customers through a partnership with Vodafone since 2015.

According to a statement from Catch, Kogan acquired the licence to the domain name ‘catchmobile.com.au’ amongst others and applied for several trade mark applications that incorporate the word ‘Catch’, apparently in an effort to redirect customers who use the search term ‘Catch’ to its own offerings.

After filing an application for relief in the Federal Court of Australia in May, Catch accepted voluntary undertakings from Kogan to cease using the ‘catchmobile.com.au’ domain and any disputed ‘Catch’ brand terms, pending determination of proceedings.

Internet Retailing attempted to reach Kogan.com for comment.