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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Nov- 2019 -8 November
Why retailers are responsible for customer experience this festive season
As retailers move into an annual festive shopping season that seems to arrive earlier each year, they would be wise to remember one particular lesson from Christmas past: when something goes wrong with their customers’ shopping experience, the retailer will get the blame, no matter who is actually at fault.…
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7 November
Sustainability Consumerism: How retailers are on the front line
We live in febrile times, and for once we are not talking about Brexit. Within the last year we have seen a global backlash against disposable plastics and mounting concern over climate change. Anxiety about deforestation, and especially the uncontrolled spread of industrial scale farming and ranching, also made the…
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4 November
How retail outlet destinations have evolved
Outlet shopping was born in the US in the 1930s through the development of standalone stores that enabled brands to sell-through damaged or excess goods. This evolved into the concept of a multi-store outlet shopping mall in the 1970s; a significant step for both retailers and shoppers alike. Large-scale US…
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1 November
How personalised strategies transform one-off festive buyers into loyal customers
News reports about post-Christmas sales slumps are becoming as traditional as turkey and stuffing. Whether it’s gifts for the kids or the dogs, everyone has a reason to shop during the festive season and any resulting casualties show just how competitive the retail landscape really is. With new customer acquisition…
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Oct- 2019 -30 October
What retailers can learn from the success of Downton Abbey
The film adaptation of the award-winning period drama, Downton Abbey, made its highly anticipated debut in cinemas recently. The film, which follows the lives of Downton Abbey’s well-loved residents – the Crawley family and its household staff – has currently amassed £27.3m, topping the cinema box office at home in…
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29 October
Can intelligent retail improve the shopping experience?
You would be hard pressed to find a retailer who doesn’t want greater insight into what is happening within its stores and warehouses – and why it’s happening. Perhaps that’s why Zebra’s 2019 Intelligent Enterprise Index revealed a record number of retailers accelerating their efforts to become ‘intelligent.’ According to…
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25 October
How retail businesses can reduce electrical consumption
Energy remains one of the largest in-store operating costs for UK retailers; and with electricity prices in particular continuing to rise, an increasing focus on decarbonisation and expectations for businesses to be more environmentally responsible, pressure is more intense than ever for the sector to meet these challenges head on.…
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23 October
How the barcode is continuing to impact the retail world
In our daily lives we hardly give the barcode a second thought. We only really come across it when we’re shopping and even then, it’s merely a ‘bunch of lines and spaces’ that helps us process the transaction and buy an item. But the barcode is so much more than…
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22 October
How retailers can guarantee success this festive season
Whether it’s Aldi’s Kevin the Carrot, or John Lewis’ The Bear and The Hare, Christmas adverts are often the ones that stick in our minds as consumers, with an influence that lingers long after the trees have been taken down and the turkey sandwiches devoured. For retailers, the festive period…
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21 October
How to bring the department store CX to your digital channels
The past few years have been cataclysmic for the health and beauty industry; with new pressures, market forces and trends at play, from sustainability, issues surrounding representation and transparency of supply chain management and ingredients. These moving parts have not been made easier by changes in consumer behaviour and a…
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