Kogan Gets Caught Comparing Itself to Itself

Mal and Alex are back this week still hoarse from two big days on the podcast stage at Online Retailer and the ORIAS — congrats to The Iconic on a first-time Online Retailer of the Year win, and to Ben Hare for taking out industry recognition. From there it's a genuinely wide-ranging one: a AI-authenticity reckoning hitting everything from guitar strings to chart-topping AI covers, a Shopify platform shift that's quietly displacing freelance dev work, and a healthy dose of FY27 dread.

The story with the most teeth this week is Kogan, who an ABC News investigation found has been running a second site, Exclusive Brands, selling identical products at a median $100 more than Kogan.com — inflating the "was" price it then discounts against. Kogan denies wrongdoing, but with the ACCC increasingly active on misleading price comparisons, Mal and Alex dig into where legitimate multi-brand pricing ends and where this starts.

• BCF's giveaway-only Fisho's Onesie has entries closing this Friday, and it's a masterclass in high-shareability, low-budget campaign design.
• Shopify's Horizon theme rebuild is being optimised for its Sidekick AI assistant first and humans second — 20% of merchants are already using it, racking up 25 million edits.
• D'Addario is fending off accusations its new string-demo video used AI-generated music, part of a bigger reckoning playing out across Spotify's AI-track purge and Australia's AI-covered #1 single.
• Kogan's alleged self-comparison pricing model is under scrutiny, with former ACCC chair Rod Sims flagging it as a case worth investigating.
• Mal shares how his own clients are handling price rises with upfront comms and subscriber grandfathering — the opposite play to Kogan's.
• Myer's full-year update shows underlying growth barely moved once the Apparel Brands acquisition is stripped out, against a backdrop of consumer confidence down roughly 20 points.
• Bricks-and-mortar preference has swung hard, from 41% to 68% of shoppers, as buyers chase the trust and tactility online can't offer.
• Virtual try-on tech is fast becoming table stakes for online eyewear, and Alex is on the hunt for an Australian Warby Parker equivalent.
• FY27 is shaping up heavier — CGT changes, tax hikes and a US tariff rise from 10% to 12.5% are all on operators' radars.
• A respectful shout-out to Jackie and the Black Milk team, who've had to move onshore manufacturing to China, affecting 15 local jobs.
• Mal's heading to eTail next, Alex is off to Auckland for the Unified Commerce Assembly in a month.