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.
-
Nov- 2019 -25 November
How can social media be used to build customer loyalty?
The UK’s high street retailers are continuing to struggle – in September 2019 analysts recorded the highest net closure rate since records began. 1,234 chain retailers closed shop in the first half of 2019, which is more than any other period since monitoring started in 2010. This is largely driven…
Read More » -
21 November
Why electric car charging is a problem retailers must solve in 2020
“Will there be parking?” was the problem which out-of-town shopping solved for customers in the 1990s and 2000s. “Will there be charging?” is the problem which retailers need to solve in the 2020s – because the consumer of the future drives, if not necessarily owns, an electric car. If you…
Read More » -
20 November
How AI can help implement a quick and seamless shopping experience
Earlier this year, Sainsbury’s announced it was in talks with Uber Eats to launch a grocery delivery service. Whilst most major supermarkets offer their own online delivery service, it’s this kind of innovative thinking and the alignment of offerings with services relevant to your audience that will help gain an…
Read More » -
19 November
What retailers can learn from Europe’s top performers about transformation
With e-commerce being the fastest growing segment of the retail market in Europe and North America, it would be natural to assume that the online store should be the key focus for retailers. However, in reality, this is not so clear-cut. Following recent research from Google and e-commerce consultancy Practicology,…
Read More » -
18 November
Mothercare: what was its formula for failure?
Last week it was announced that Mothercare, a constant of the British high street for over 50 years, had become the latest retail casualty — with all of its 79 stores set to close. But what went wrong for the maternity and baby brand? Mothercare is one of many brands…
Read More » -
15 November
Is Boris sticking two fingers up at the Treasury Select Committee on Business Rates?
The worst fears from those who have read and welcomed the recent Treasury Select Committee report into business rates- that the next Government could well ignore them,- seem to be borne out by the latest Conservative party announcements on the “broken” business rates issue. Announcements last night from the Conservatives…
Read More » -
14 November
How to avoid profit loss by keeping your retail store up to date
In the store many actions are taken just because management likes to do them a certain way. “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” it’s often said. And particularly in well-established stores with a reputation to uphold, keeping standards high might entail squashing innovation in order to protect a static…
Read More » -
13 November
A festive general election: how will retailers survive Christmas 2019?
For retailers, the closer it gets to Christmas, the more political uncertainty there is leading to dwindling consumer confidence and irrefutable anticipation of poor festive sales. After a year of struggle for retailers across the country and more odds against them, how can this festive season be the most profitable…
Read More » -
12 November
Why hackers or malware are not the biggest security risk for retailers
Attackers are successfully pivoting away from complex technical exploits and instead are identifying ways to exploit a business’s core functionality. These business logic attacks exploit legitimate functions like username and password login or pages to add new credit cards and changes to shipping addresses. These new attacks are significantly harder…
Read More » -
11 November
What implications will the Royal Mail strike have on UK retailers?
Royal Mail workers have voted to strike over job insecurity and employment terms and conditions, raising concerns that there could be walkouts in the run-up to Christmas. The announcement comes as we approach the retail industry’s crucial Q4 period where Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Boxing Day sales all take…
Read More »
