Melbourne, Australia, 4 August 2011 – Ruslan Kogan today announced Kogan’s divorce from traditional retail, citing “irreconcilable differences.”

He said the calls that Australia is in a two-speed economy are ignoring the major structural shifts in how Australians shop, and the emergence of online retail as the third speed.

“Many economic commentators are today claiming that Australia is in a two speed economy – given the strong mining sector, and the purportedly slow retail sector.

“But Kogan is not an ordinary retailer – we are online only, and online retail is booming. Why do economists assume that online retail and traditional retail are married – grouping them together under the one family? If we have been grouped with traditional retailers, then we want a divorce!

“There are irreconcilable differences between us – they are traditional where we are innovative, they want to raise taxes when we want open competition, they want fat margins when we want to please our customers, and most importantly they are slowing down while we are speeding up!

“Reports this week indicate that the Internet contributed $50b to Australia’s GDP in 2010 – this number will only continue to grow. This means that the Internet economy in our country rivals that of iron ore!

“So, the time has come to stop treating online retail as part of the same family as traditional retail – we are running at our own speed – the new third speed in what was formerly the two speed economy,” Kogan said.