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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Feb- 2020 -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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11 February
Yes, the trade barriers are coming
I think both Leavers and Remainers probably expected this in the long run – Michael Gove announced yesterday that businesses should “accept” that frictionless trade with the EU will be impossible whatever agreement is finally reached by the deadline of 31 December this year. This is the cost, he says,…
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11 February
Why Gearbest no longer has the right gear
Doing well online is part and parcel of a business nowadays. It’s well known that people browse and shop online, and the gift industry is no exception. It’s no longer good enough to have a solid presence in the high street. Customers, old and new, want to find businesses and…
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10 February
Ocado ditches Waitrose; Bill gates orders £500m beast-yacht; Boris to lower immigration wage threshold
A busy start to the week in the business pages. As the coronavirus story unfolds I am reluctant to spend every day providing updates on it, but it is worth noting quickly that there is likely to be some worldwide economic turbulence due to the latest developments. A slew of…
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7 February
Optimising your customer contact strategy
The way that retailers and brands communicate with customers has changed radically over the past decade, and it is clearly set to continue to evolve through the 2020s. Customers are spread over a variety of channels, each with their own unique benefits. Retailers must navigate this complex environment to maximise…
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