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Here's everything you need to know today - in under 3 minutes.

Today's big stories:

🧻 Google-owned drone company Wing is comin' to Aus

🥩 Coles is canning in-store butchers

🛍 Westfield launches its own online shop

Oh and get this...

Get ready, team. Flux's Credit Score Restore is comin' to a Flux app near you on Monday. We'll be dropping exclusive weekly content to help you get your head around credit...and smash your financial goals. Download the app so ya don't miss out!

Cya Aus Post, Google-owned drone delivery service Wing is coming to Oz

Background: Back in 2020, life was a 'lil different. We were in lockdown...and out of toilet paper. So, Google thought it would kill two birds with one...drone. And it created a company called Wing.

What happened: Wing was sending toilet paper and medicine to residents in the US state of Virginia who were in lockdown. Now, as all good things do, Wing is coming to Australia.

What else: Wing has inked a deal with owner of Aussie shopping centres, Vicinity Centres. Now, the Wing drone will be doing the last mile delivery for goods from a Vicinity Shopping Centre in Logan, Queensland. And it could be going national soon!

So what's the key learning?

💡The "last mile" of delivery is a term that literally describes the final leg of getting your parcel to your door. But this segment in the delivery process is actually the most expensive and time consuming.

💡The last couple of miles of delivery makes up 15 to 20% of the total cost of shipping. In metro areas, delivery drivers get stuck wasting time in traffic, ringing doorbells, avoiding growling dogs and avoiding swooping magpies.

💡But Wing reckons drone deliveries are paving the way for the future of local deliveries...so we can say hello to shorter delivery times.

Coles is putting its in-store butcher service on the chopping block

Background: Back in August, Coles made the controversial call to cancel its in-store butcher service. And that day has finally come, my friends. From Sunday onwards, Coles is switching to pre-packaged meats only.

What happened: Coles claims that by providing only pre-packaged meats, it'll be ready for customers whenever they want to shop - not just when they've got stock in the deli.

What else: But unions reckon it's really just a cost-cutting exercise. Regardless, the 1,570 staff who work in the meat department will either be made redundant, or redeployed to other non-butcher-areas of the business.

So what's the key learning?

💡A genuine redundancy is when a company lays off staff...

• Because the employee's job doesn't need to be done anymore, or
• Because the company becomes insolvent or bankrupt.

It means a company can't claim a staff member is being made redundant...just to hire a new person to do the redundant person's job.

💡When a staff member is made redundant, they're usually entitled to some kind of compensation. Ya know, like a little 'sorry we don't need you anymore' payment.

💡Redeployment on the other hand is the option to move to a different area within the business. In Coles' case, staff have been given the opportunity to be redeployed. But if the offer doesn't suit them, they can opt for redundancy instead.

Westfield gives us all another excuse to shop with the new Westfield Direct

Background: Aussie Westfield centres are owned by real estate company Scentre. And despite it being a tough year for retail, Scentre Group recorded a 28% increase in its half-yearly profit for the six months to June 30.

What happened: Now, Scentre is introducing Westfield Direct, an oneline one-stop-shop from retailers that are already operating in the Westfield shopping centres.

What else: Essentially, consumers can make online purchases from over 100 retailers all in the one place. Then, they can collect that purchase from a Westfield Direct pick-up point (which is in the Westfield shopping centre), or get it delivered to your house instead.

So what's the key learning?

💡The lines between physical retail and digital retail are starting to blur before our very eyes. We have Amazon (an online-only marketplace) planning to open a physical store...and now the opposite for Westfield.

💡As we know, COVID shut down the activity of most Aussie shopping centres over the last year. So, for shopping centres, the focus on building an e-commerce marketplace has become even more important.

💡According to a 2018 consumer survey from eMarketer, nearly half of all shoppers begin their online search on a marketplace - rather than a store. Now, Westfield has a ticket to play in the digital game. And, it gives small and big retailers another opportunity to build awareness and distribution via another website.