The new year is well underway with much trend talk on what retailers should be preparing for. Last week, Claudia Roth from Soul Luxury looked into the shift from the experience economy to the transformation economy, with five tips to get you started in identifying your own 'currency of connection'; Justin Smith from Woolworths explained why more than ever, sustainability is good business; and Kevin Tucker from PriceCheck believes that a renewed focus on value in e-tailing will level the playing field. For more trend-themed articles, visit our #BizTrends2017 special section. Local top story was the release of Woolworths' poor trading update, showing a sharp slowdown in Christmas sales growth and furthermore, the extreme pressure on consumer spending. As reported by Colleen Goko, analysts say this "can only be a bad omen for the rest of the retailers still to release their Christmas figures". It's not all doom and gloom. In international news, Alibaba will buy domestic department store Intime in a $2.6bn privatisation scheme. The announcement came after founder and chief executive Jack Ma met US President-elect Donald Trump at his headquarters in New York to discuss how the e-commerce giant can help create 1m US jobs by enabling small businesses to sell goods to China and Asia, reported AFP.com. Enjoy reading.

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