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Feb- 2020 -20 February
Boeing’s tanks fuel new concerns, house prices on the up, Lloyds in the doldrums, hazardous chemicals a pest in poorer countries
Boeing’s faulty plane woes have worsened after ‘foreign object debris’ (FOD) was found in the fuel tanks of two ground 737 Max aircraft – that’s the model that has had two fatal crashes and become the subject of Congressional investigation in the United States. The manufacturer had to ground the…
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20 February
Mindfulness in omnichannel retail – the key to a successful future
Mindfulness and being more conscientious about the impact of retail operations is fast becoming a top business priority for online brands, and one we will continue to see develop in 2020. With 88% of consumers wanting retailers to help them make a difference, being aware of the implications that retail…
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19 February
Inflation jumps, physical money nearing the end, immigration to prioritise skills, £150m film studio to launch
Inflation has reached its highest rate in six months, at 1.8%, after the price of fuel and energy rose over the course of the last year. The consumer prices index (CPI) which measures the rate by monitoring the price of consumer goods, was expected to come in at 1.6%, so…
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19 February
The single customer view in a connected world
We used to talk a lot about sectors. When it comes to consumer data – in terms of both risk and opportunity – it is clear that segmenting the world into sectors has less and less meaning. Consider the long-time holy grail of the “Single Customer View” (SCV). Retail businesses…
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18 February
HSBC to cut 35,000 jobs, new chancellor sticks to schedule, Bezos creates $10bn ‘Earth fund’
HSBC has announced plans to cut 35,000 jobs over the next three years after a dire set of financial results. Profits have fallen by 33% year on year and that is before the impact of the coronavirus can even be fully measured in Q1 and the months to come. The…
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17 February
The evolution of the Ikea experience: What’s next?
With the news last week that Ikea is to shut its first big UK outlet in Coventry, we can take this as a sign that the Swedish furniture retailer – the world’s largest – needs to accelerate the evolution of its customer experience. Arguably, the first of the real experiential…
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17 February
Online vs offline – are physical stores starting to fight back?
More than half of UK consumers are now shopping online, with UK online spend forecasted to increase by 29.6% between 2019 and 2024, according to retail analysts at GlobalData. As a nation, we spend roughly £1 in every £5 online; a figure which has remained relatively steady in recent years. …
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14 February
German stagnation, Javid out, RBS gets environmental, Norton no-show
The German economy has stagnated due to significant falls in spending and exports. New figures show that GDP ‘flat lined’ (financial jargon for neither growing nor contracting) in the final quarter of 2019, bad news since economists and analysts had hoped that it would grow about 0.1%. It means Germany’s…
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12 February
Parasite boosts Spanish crisp sales
Now that’s the kind of headline journalists like to write. But unfortunately, now that you’re reading the article, the subterfuge must be exposed. We’re not talking about parasites that look for hosts, and we’re not talking about infected food. Instead we’re talking about the Korean movie sensation that just won…
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12 February
How to adapt rapidly to grow your business
Post-Christmas is always a time for the retail sector to regroup, scrutinising what’s gone well, where the challenges lie and what needs to change in 2020. Retail is undergoing change at pace and survival depends on being able to adapt at pace too. According to the British Beauty Council, fast…
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