Comment
Comment features expert perspectives and thought leadership from across the UK retail industry. This section includes opinion pieces, analysis, and commentary from senior retail executives, analysts, and sector specialists on the commercial, strategic, and operational forces shaping retail. Retail Sector’s Comment coverage explores issues such as consumer behaviour shifts, technology adoption, sustainability, regulation, and leadership — providing retail professionals with authoritative insight to inform decision-making and strategic planning.
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Aug- 2021 -6 August
How can etailers prevent fraud without impacting on the customer journey?
Over the last couple of years there’s been a huge growth in online sales. Not long ago the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed e-commerce sales increased 46 per cent in 2020, compared with 2019. The fastest increase since 2008. The worry for retailers is that this growth in online…
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5 August
Future gazing last-mile delivery
In 2020, there was a significant increase in online shopping. According to an Ofcom report, customers across the UK spent over £110bn last year, a 48% increase from 2019. Whilst this is a relatively recent trend, it shows no signs of slowing down. Our survey found that 85% of online…
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4 August
Why the coming economic boom will be bigger than we think
The world has been turned upside down in the past 18 months, making predictions a tougher game than ever. Economists are used to using metrics like inflation, consumer spending or job markets to predict what would happen. In this new world of Covid, furlough and post-Brexit trade, traditional measures are…
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2 August
Impulse buying can help an online brand grow, if it’s done correctly
Impulse buying isn’t just a tactic used by bricks & mortar retailers, where shoppers are tempted with inexpensive treats as their defences are down as they make the final approach to the till. In fact, research from Kantar has found that more than 31% of us are now spontaneously splurging…
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Jul- 2021 -29 July
Why you should use Covid recovery funds for staff testing
Freedom week has brought a mixture of relief and happiness for some along with remaining anxiety and caution. We are living with Covid and retailers need to go beyond the minimum to flourish. Managers with a clear purpose to protect their staff and customers will be the ones to define…
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23 July
The big retail health check: Why HFSS is in fact a golden opportunity
The UK government is clamping down on junk food advertising and promotion in a bid to tackle the obesity epidemic, which is affecting one in every 4 adults and one in every 5 children aged 10 to 11 according to the NHS. In a drastic move to combat this trend,…
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14 July
Closing the feedback gap during the rise of eCommerce
Gone are the days where online retail was solely for large resellers. With more brands launching online versions of their stores over recent years, shoppers have seen huge growth in e-commerce. A boom further caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, pushing people to shop online, rather than in-store. With this trend…
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12 July
Getting email right for a successful Christmas season
Annual retail sales and profits skyrocket over the Christmas season, According to the National Retail Federation, Christmas sales can be 20-40% of a retailer’s annual sales. Given the stop-start nature of 2021, most UK retailers want to close out with the biggest revenues they can this year. During the pandemic,…
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6 July
Retail sector valuations in the current climate
The current pandemic has caused widespread disruption to the retail sector, with many struggling to maintain a healthy cashflow and revenues and profits down on previous years. Knowing the different types of valuation methods and when to use them can help business owners know what their company is worth now, helping to support their…
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2 July
Scalable commerce – Why you should be thinking about this now
If, like me, you’re of a certain age, you’ll be able to remember the first version of the Apple website. It was all text, had an appalling layout and was light years from today’s sleek offering. Although that was all of ten years before the first iPhone appeared so we…
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