Day two of the new financial year, and the shopper’s world has quietly rewired overnight. As of Tuesday, Coles and Woolworths sit under a world-first excessive-pricing prohibition, with the ACCC now empowered to interrogate any grocery sticker it finds significantly above the cost of supply plus a reasonable margin. On the same morning the regulator blocked a proposed Coles lease in Kalgoorlie, the first use of its new merger powers to protect a smaller local competitor. Australia Post lifts parcel, Express Post and international rates from today, which reshapes the shipping economics of every EOFY tail deal. And the retail sector heads into July on the back of a 5.8 per cent lift in annual spending. The pieces on the board have moved.
The Price-Gouging Ban Is Live: Coles And Woolies On The Clock
From 1 July, any grocery retailer with more than $30 billion in annual Australian revenue (currently only Coles and Woolworths) is prohibited from engaging in excessive pricing of grocery products (ACCC pricing guidance). The new prohibition is an addition to the Food and Grocery Code, defining excessive pricing as pricing that is “significantly excessive when compared to the costs to the supermarket to supply the product plus a reasonable margin”. Financial penalties for a breach are the greater of $10 million, three times the benefit obtained, or 10 per cent of adjusted annual turnover.
ACCC Deputy Chair Catriona Lowe framed the enforcement posture on ABC AM this morning: “This isn’t about preventing price increases when justified. It’s about ensuring that there is a valid rationale for those increases” (Isabel Moussalli reporting for ABC AM with Barbara Miller, 1 July 2026). The regulator has flagged it will pick priority product categories using consumer and supplier reports, then work backwards through supermarket cost and margin data. Julia Kanapathippillai’s analysis for Mediaweek notes the same day the regulator blocked a proposed Coles supermarket lease in Kalgoorlie WA (Mediaweek, 26 June 2026), the first live use of its expanded merger powers to protect a smaller regional competitor.
For the shopper the read is practical. The new law is unlikely to move sticker prices overnight (the regulator itself acknowledges the difficulty of proof), but the disclosure and monitoring regime is a real one. Any shopper who spots a suspicious “was” price at Coles or Woolies can now report it via accc.gov.au, and the report joins the ACCC’s priority-monitoring pool. Combined with the Federal Court’s May decision that 13 of 14 Coles “Down Down” tickets were misleading (Justice O’Bryan, penalties pending, theoretically up to $650 million), the pricing-disclosure environment for the majors is meaningfully tighter than it was a fortnight ago.
Australia Post Lifts Parcel And Express Prices Today
From this morning, Australia Post has raised prices across the domestic Parcel Post and Express Post services, international parcel and letter services, local pickup and delivery, mail redirection and mail hold, unaddressed mail, and MyPost Business rates (Australia Post 2026 pricing update). Passport and ID photo services also rose. The changes flow directly into the shipping economics of every online retailer that uses Australia Post for standard delivery.
The shopper move is straightforward. Ahead of the EOFY tail (many Australian retailers keep their end-of-financial-year deals live for the first few days of July), consolidate multi-item orders into a single delivery to spread the higher postage across more units. Chase “free shipping over $X” thresholds, which most Australian-owned retailers still honour and which now save more than they did last week. And check whether your favourite retailer absorbs the change or passes it on: many mid-tier retailers have historically eaten small postage rises to keep basket abandonment down, but a rise of this scale is likely to surface on the checkout screens of the shipping-heaviest categories (homewares, furniture, larger apparel orders).
Retail Spending Enters July On A 5.8 Per Cent Uplift
Australian retail turnover grew 5.8 per cent over the year to May 2026 to $39.67 billion, with growth recorded across every retail category (Australian Retail Council media release). Australian Retail Council Chief Economist Glenn Fahey said the figures show resilience despite subdued consumer confidence and ongoing cost-of-living pressure. Northern Territory (up 8.1 per cent) and Western Australia (up 7.3 per cent) recorded the strongest state growth, while Victoria (5.1 per cent) and New South Wales (5.3 per cent) saw more moderate lifts.
The ABS’s Monthly Household Spending Indicator confirms the story from the demand side: May 2026 household spending rose 1.3 per cent month on month, reversing April’s 1.1 per cent drop, with clothing and footwear (up 2.7 per cent) leading the rebound followed by miscellaneous goods and services and transport (ABS media release, 25 June 2026). Reuters framed the number as evidence household demand is holding despite the RBA’s cash rate sitting at 4.35 per cent, which the market now regards as the peak of the cycle (Reuters, 25 June 2026). The Q2 CPI print due 29 July is the next real hinge for household planning.
Amazon Prime Case Rolls Into Court: Regulator On Two Fronts
Yesterday’s lead is still developing. The ACCC’s Federal Court action against Amazon Australia over alleged unfair Prime contract terms sits alongside a fresh US Federal Trade Commission settlement, with Yahoo Finance framing the pair as a regulatory two-front week for the marketplace giant (Yahoo Finance, 30 June 2026). The Australian case, filed 30 June, targets Amazon Commercial Services Pty Ltd over five allegedly unfair terms used to introduce ads to Prime Video mid-contract. For the Australian shopper the practical implication is unchanged from yesterday’s brief: audit every one-year prepaid subscription for adverse-changes clauses.
Five Fresh Australian Stores For Day Two Of FY2026 To 27
Five stores. Five categories. All fresh names today (none carried over from yesterday’s Top 6), audited at dawn on day two of the new financial year.
Discount
BooktopiaBooksUp to 90 per cent off Booktopia’s Big Book Sale: kids and teens fiction, cookbooks, biographies, novels and reference from the Sydney-based Australian-owned online bookseller, with verified item-level cuts like the Morganville Vampires Book 3 at $4.75 down from $19.99 and free Australian shipping on orders over $60.90%OFF2
Best & LessValue FashionItem-level cuts up to 86 per cent off Best and Less’s $2 and Under clearance rail: kids stationery, socks, undies, tees and value basics from the Australian-owned value fashion chain, with verified item-level cuts like the Pop Note Pad Assorted at $0.98 down from $7.00 and click and collect from more than 200 stores.86%OFF3
David JonesDepartment StoreUp to 80 per cent off David Jones’s mid-year sale: homewares, cookware, glassware, beauty, fashion and manchester from the iconic Australian department store, with verified item-level cuts like the Orrefors More Multi Tumbler 4 Pack at $55 down from $145 plus an extra 50 per cent off selected sale styles at checkout.80%OFF4
SmiggleKids & ToysItem-level cuts up to 77 per cent off Smiggle’s Nothing Over $50 sale: pencil cases, backpacks, lunchboxes, water bottles and keyrings from the Melbourne-founded Australian-owned kids stationery brand, with verified item-level cuts like the Peeps Alphabet Keyring at $3.00 down from $12.95 and click and collect from Smiggle stores nationwide.77%OFF5
Chemist WarehouseBeauty & HealthItem-level cuts up to 68 per cent off Chemist Warehouse’s clearance: makeup, skincare, vitamins, fragrance, haircare and pharmacy from Australia’s largest chemist chain, with verified item-level cuts like the NYX Bridgerton Angel Food Cake Royal Butter Gloss at $5.00 down from $15.99 and free delivery on orders over $50.68%OFF% discounts shown are indicative across each store’s sale range. Individual product savings vary.
Other Deals Worth A Look
Beyond the Top 5, another five Australian-owned stores are running strong cuts as the EOFY tail plays out. Temple and Webster has its EOFY Sale live at up to 50 per cent off, with the Gala 4 Seater Boucle Sofa with Double Chaise at $1,199 down from $2,499 (the Top 6 ticker pick today) from the ASX-listed Australian-owned furniture retailer. Rebel Sport is running up to 50 per cent off selected footwear including the Theragun Prime G5 at $275 down from $499. Domayne‘s Half Yearly Sale is extended with 55 per cent off selected accessories. Kmart‘s clearance is live from the Australian-owned discount department chain. Macpac‘s up to 50 per cent off apparel continues from the Australian-owned outdoor brand. All five are Australian-owned or locally fulfilled and worth a scan.
Our Take
The consumer regulator has just moved from prosecuting individual “was” price offences (Coles Down Down, JB Hi-Fi) to sitting in the enforcement chair on Coles and Woolworths pricing full time. That change is structural. It does not lower a single sticker this morning, but it changes the settings on every future price rise: the burden of proof on “significantly excessive” pricing now sits with the two biggest chains and the ACCC. Combined with the parcel rate lift from Australia Post and the wage plus tax uplift that arrived yesterday, the household enters the second day of the new year with a materially different mix of cash in and cash out. The move for shoppers this week is to lock in EOFY tail purchases while retailers are still absorbing postage, and to route any high-conviction grocery complaints to the ACCC where they now count.
The shoppable side of It’s On Sale is built for that decision. We track 35,000 Australian stores and 45,000 live sale products, every retailer Australian-owned and locally fulfilled, every promotion audited daily. Today’s Sales shows every store currently running a discount in one place. Our AI search reads the way real shoppers ask (try “kids school stationery” or “boucle sofa under 1500”). You will never find Temu, Shein, AliExpress or any offshore marketplace dressed up as a local brand here. Browse Today’s Sales on day two of the new year.