Aussie rich listers clash: Kogan founder unleashes on retail heavyweight Gerry Harvey
Kogan.com founder Ruslan Kogan has publicly criticised retail billionaire Gerry Harvey after the Harvey Norman co-founder blamed weak consumer spending and falling foot traffic for his company's slowing sales growth. Kogan argued this explanation was misleading, insisting that Australians have not stopped spending but have simply become more price-conscious, comparing deals online before buying rather than paying full price in showrooms. The dispute highlights a wider tension between traditional bricks-and-mortar retailers and online rivals as cost-of-living pressures reshape shopping habits.
The clash followed the release of contrasting results: Harvey Norman reported net profit up two per cent to $528.46 million and total system sales up 3.1 per cent to $9.64 billion, though growth slowed in the second half of the year. Kogan.com, by comparison, posted an $11.2 million net profit with gross sales climbing 12 per cent to a record $1.042 billion. Kogan, 43, worth an estimated $300 million, said savvy, research-driven shoppers benefit his business model, while Harvey, 86, whose family fortune with wife Katie Page is estimated at $3.82 billion, maintains that falling store traffic reflects a broader economic slowdown across most consumer retail categories.
- Kogan founder accuses Gerry Harvey of misreading weak Harvey Norman sales growth
- Kogan says shoppers are savvier, not spending less
- Kogan.com sales rose 12% to $1.042bn versus Harvey Norman's slower 3.1% growth
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Ruslan Kogan, founder of online retailer Kogan.com, and Gerry Harvey, co-founder of bricks-and-mortar chain Harvey Norman, are two of Australia's best-known retail figures. Both companies recently released annual results, prompting Harvey to say weaker consumer spending and fewer people visiting his stores were behind slower sales growth, a view Kogan publicly disputed.
Kogan argued that Australians have not cut back on spending but have become more careful shoppers, researching prices online before buying rather than paying full price in physical showrooms. Harvey Norman is a long-established furniture and electronics retailer with stores across the country, while Kogan.com operates purely online, so the two men represent different, competing models for how Australians shop.
The disagreement matters because it reflects a broader debate about the state of Australian retail amid cost-of-living pressures, and whether the challenge facing traditional stores is a shrinking economy or simply changing shopping habits favouring online comparison and deals.
Both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
Kogan's supporters argue that Australians have not stopped spending but have become savvier, using online research and price comparison to find better deals rather than accepting full retail prices in showrooms. On this view, bricks-and-mortar retailers such as Harvey Norman are losing ground not because of a broad economic downturn but because their traditional high-margin, showroom-based model is being outcompeted by leaner online operators who pass savings on to increasingly informed shoppers. This reflects a genuine structural shift in retail rather than a temporary dip in consumer confidence, and traditional retailers should adapt their pricing and value proposition accordingly.
The case against
Harvey and those who share his assessment argue that falling foot traffic and slowing growth reflect a genuine, broader squeeze on household budgets from cost-of-living pressures, affecting most consumer retail categories rather than being unique to any one business model. From this perspective, attributing Harvey Norman's slower second-half growth simply to consumers shopping smarter online understates real economic strain and overlooks that large, established retailers carry different cost structures, staffing and service commitments that smaller online-first competitors do not. Harvey Norman's results, still profitable with sales growth, are presented as evidence of resilience amid a genuinely tougher trading environment rather than a failure to compete.