Moa appeared to be lost in the beer market, fund manager Brian Gaynor said as he interrogated its board at the listed beer company's annual meeting yesterday.

The Ministry for Primary Industries says it is exploring interim measures to strengthen consumer assurances about dairy production after the recent food contamination scares.

Culture - it's a word that can be filled with meaning or thrown about in a way that means nothing at all.

Consumers turned out in force in the June quarter, with core retail sales rising 2.3 per cent in real terms, the fastest clip since September 2011.

JB Hi-Fi has defied a difficult trading environment to lift sales and profit, and expects the trend to continue for the next 12 months.

Luxury retailer Saks has agreed to sell itself to Hudson's Bay Co, the Canadian parent of upscale retailer Lord & Taylor, for about US$2.4 billion.

Nosh Food Market co-founder and former chief executive Clinton Beuvink has left the specialty grocery group.

Infratil and the New Zealand Superannuation Fund stand to at least triple their money on Z Energy in next month's IPO.

Z Energy has set an indicative price range of between $3.25 and $3.75 a share for its initial public offering next month.

A union says it hopes other large retailers will follow The Warehouse's example and introduce pay increase plans for their shop-floor staff.

Emirates and Qantas will unveil further details of their partnership across the Tasman at the official launch of the arrangement in Auckland tomorrow.

Shopping via mobile devices is on the rise in New Zealand, according to new research.

A horticulturist sacked by an Auckland garden centre for referring a customer to a competitor has been awarded almost $9000, thanks to an email sent by her former boss.

If GST was added to items bought on the internet, it wouldn't stop Esther Greatbanks from shopping online.

Fruit and vegetable prices have spearheaded a 2.1 per cent rise in food prices for June 2013, the biggest monthly gain since GST was lifted to 15 percent in October 2010.

Mastercard says credit card companies are "not set up" to collect tax on transactions and online shoppers could easily migrate to other payment platforms.

Customs Minister Maurice Williamson says it would be virtually impossible to charge GST on items being bought online, an idea currently being explored.

Good news for New Zealand retailers now the Government has committed to look at taxing purchases made on overseas websites.

Retail spending charged to electronic cards rose 1.1 per cent last month, seasonally adjusted, the largest monthly increase since August last year.

Michael Hill International has become the latest NZX-listed retailer to flag difficult trading conditions in Australia.