Kogan
Electronics retail
Founded in 2006 by Ruslan Kogan, company is Australia's largest online retailer. In 8 years, the low margin, high volume business went from Melbourne garage to global, with offices in Australia, China, Hong Kong and the UK. Products are consumer electronics, clothing, home and garden, health and beauty and food. Began offering financial services in 2017.

Overall

Owned AUS
Rating F
About the Ratings
Kogan.com Ltd
AUS

Company Assessment

(Last updated Jan 2023)
Kogan.com Ltd
Criticism
Misleading advertising
In Dec 2020 the Federal Court ordered this company to pay a penalty of $350,000 for making false or misleading representations about a tax time sales promotion, in breach of Australian Consumer Law. The Court found that Kogan had misled consumers by advertising over a period of four days that they could use the code 'TAXTIME' to reduce prices by 10 per cent at checkout, when Kogan had increased the prices of 621 products immediately before the promotion. In most cases, the prices of these products had been increased by at least 10 per cent. Kogan then decreased those prices soon after the promotion ended, many back to their pre-promotion prices.
Source: ACCC (2020)
Fined $310k for Spam Act breach
In Jan 2021 Kogan was forced to pay a $310,800 infringement notice for breaching Australian spam laws, following an investigation by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). The investigation found that the retailer sent more than 42 million marketing emails to consumers. Instead of being able to easily unsubscribe, Kogan required consumers to take additional steps setting a password and logging into an account. The Spam Act requires commercial electronic messages to contain a functional unsubscribe facility.
Modern Slavery disclosure quality
Modern slavery disclosure is a critical step in mitigating the risk associated with modern slavery practices in companies' operations and supply chains. The quality of the disclosure signals the level of commitments and efforts that the companies have put in managing these risks. In 2021 the Monash Centre for Financial Studies analysed and ranked the disclosure quality of the modern slavery statements submitted by the 300 largest listed companies on the Australian Stock Exchange (ASX300). This company's modern slavery disclosure statement received a grade of E.
Information
Breaching advertising codes
In 2013 the Therapeutic Goods Administration's Complaints Resolution Panel upheld a complaint about an ad by this company on the grounds that it breached advertising codes. The ad was subsequently withdrawn.
D- grade at Behind the Barcode
D- grade in the Baptist World Aid Australia's Behind the Barcode 'Ethical Electronics Guide 2016', which grades companies on their efforts to mitigate the risks of forced labour, child labour and worker exploitation throughout their supply chains. Assessment criteria fall into four main categories: policies, traceability & transparency, monitoring & training and worker rights. [Listed under Information due to age of report]
Misleading advertising
This company has paid penalties of $32,400 following issue of three infringement notices by the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission. The notices were issued due to reasonable grounds that Kogan had made false or misleading representations about the price of three computer monitors advertised during a Fathers' Day promotion on its eBay store in contravention of the Australian Consumer Law.
Source: ACCC (2016)
2023 CHOICE Shonky Award
Named and shamed in the 2023 CHOICE Shonky Awards for "tricking customers into a $99 sign-up".
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Company Details

Type:
Public company
Revenue:
439 million AUD (2019)
Employees:
150 (2019)

Contact Details

Address:
136 Buckhurst St, South Melbourne, VIC, 3205, Australia
Freecall:
1300 304 292
Website:
www.kogan.com

Products / Brands

Kogan
Kogan Fridges & Freezers
Kogan Soundbars
Kogan E-commerce
Kogan Air Purifiers
Kogan Electronics Stores
Kogan Televisions
Kogan Small Kitchen Appliances