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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Mar- 2019 -25 March
It’s time for brands to prioritise the happiness of millennial shoppers
We now exist in a world where technological innovation is empowering customers to expect more from the brands they deal with, to switch when they’re not happy or satisfied, and share their negative experiences online. Results from a recent study show that millennials can be particularly hard to please. Over…
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22 March
Why retailers should put the customer at the heart of digital transformation
There are so many technology solutions available to the retail sector that arguably the most critical step in investing in this area is to separate the technology that will drive business growth from that which will end up being just another toy in the toy box. In previous eras, technology…
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21 March
How to curb e-commerce fraud as people migrate to online shopping
Figures from the annual BRC Retail Crime Survey report an exponential increase in e-commerce fraud, specifically fraudulent Card Not Present (CNP) refunds. As consumers shift away from spending on the high street and adopt a proclivity for online shopping, e-commerce fraud is growing at twice the rate of e-commerce sales.…
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20 March
Retail should embrace serial returners – not ban them
How do you solve a rising rate of returns? It’s a question which has been asked with more frequently over the last twelve months as retailers grapple with an increasingly returns-savvy customer base. There’s no denying that businesses are feeling the impact. Rebound data indicates that returns cost UK retail…
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19 March
Hard times on the high street
The widespread impact of digital is a daily reality, but few cases have been so apparent to the everyday consumer than the disruption of retail. This trend has contributed to familiar retail names like Toys R Us, BHS and HMV falling into the hands of administrators, at risk of joining…
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18 March
How retailers can keep up with the pace of change
Has the future of retail ever looked so bleak? From crumbling giants like HMV and Hammerson to headline-grabbing losses at Laura Ashley and Paperchase, it’s fair to wonder what the future holds for the high street. Factors like cold weather and inflation haven’t helped the recent slump, but it’s the…
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15 March
The future of advertising creativity in retail
One of the questions that I get asked time and again is: What is the future for advertising creativity in a retail world that is more and more being driven by data? It’s a tough one to answer but a guy called John Wanamaker – who was a US merchant…
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14 March
The click-and-collect phenomenon
The UK retail landscape is facing unprecedented pressures as British shopping habits continue to undergo a radical transformation. With consumers crying out for a more interactive, seamless and personalised experience in-store, it can be difficult for retailers to know how to keep footfall. Through merging the best of digital and…
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13 March
Reimagining the retail bridge between online and offline shopping
The rise of retail giants like Amazon is a widely documented trend with many digital, built-in-the-cloud market entrants having overtaken and displaced the entrenched high street brands we’ve loved and are now losing. However, as more bricks-and-mortar retailers expand their e-commerce offerings and online giants increasingly begin to physically ‘set…
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12 March
Personalisation is the key to lasting customer loyalty in fashion
Fashion is a fundamental form of human self-expression, so it makes sense that searching for the right clothes and shoes should be inspiring and delightful. All too often, however, retailers and brands allow complexity to spoil this experience, leaving customers confused and frustrated to grapple with the countless options, permutations…
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