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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Apr- 2018 -23 April
Retailers should capitalise on the fluid workforce to gain competitive advantage
The rise of digital has completely transformed the retail landscape, bringing with it a raft of new opportunities – and challenges – for companies to grapple with. Not least among these is the emergence of a new generation of ‘asset-light’, pureplay ecommerce businesses, which have dramatically ratcheted up the level…
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20 April
SD-WAN de-mystified
IDC predicts that the SD-WAN market will be worth $2.1bn (£1.4bn) in Europe by 2021. That’s a staggering 92% growth each year. The technology has been gathering pace in the US for some time, where it is being widely adopted as the next generation WAN providing cloud access, improved application…
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19 April
The best omnichannel retail experience is an invisible one
Have you ordered pizza from Dominos recently? If you have, it’s unlikely that you called the nearby store on the phone to place your order. Online sales in the UK, which includes practically every digital platform imaginable, were up 14.5% year-on-year, representing 77% of all system sales. Once you have…
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18 April
Why retailers shouldn’t roll over on their recycling obligations
It can often be a difficult task for retailers to remove, transport and dispose of mattresses and figures show that in the UK, only a small percentage of mattresses are recycled responsibly, with 7.5 million discarded to landfill sites – usually the cheapest, quickest option. From a policy point of…
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17 April
How retailers can embrace the power of digital
By 2020, customers will manage an estimated 85% of brand interactions without speaking to a human. The prevalence and richness of digital touchpoints means that companies are accumulating a huge volume of measurable information about their customers. This information is power, and leaders are using it to learn from…
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16 April
What you need to know about consumer packaged goods companies going direct-to-consumer
The retail industry is going through major disruption as more and more innovative consumer packaged goods (CPG) brands are jumping on the direct-to-customer (D2C) e-commerce bandwagon. Given the potential for higher margins, along with direct access to consumers and their data, D2C presents a mouth-watering opportunity many leaders want to explore.…
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13 April
Retail finance should be celebrated, not feared
Let’s face it: consumer finance gets a bad rap. Only recently did UK Finance release figures showing that debt on UK credit cards is growing at the fastest rate since before the financial crisis. The stats show that the annual growth rate in outstanding credit card debt reached 8.3% in…
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12 April
Why retailers should be empowering staff with the same tech they offer customers
Often, tech is the only thing that really differentiates one business from another, so it’s clear to see why retailers place such importance on empowering consumers in any way they can. Whether it’s click and collect, online shopping, next day delivery or improved in-store experiences, there’s constant one-upmanship. As a…
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11 April
Top tips for PPC retail campaigns
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) advertising is a vital part of any retailers online marketing strategy. But how can you ensure you’re getting it right and not wasting that all-important budget? Perhaps you’re investing a lot into your Google AdWords account, but not seeing the return? A successful PPC account is always a…
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10 April
Are you maximising paid search?
Whilst key events, such as Black Friday, the January Sales and Bank Holidays, provide a massive opportunity for retailers, they also bring with them increased competition as the sector ramps up paid search activity consecutively. The key to success over competitors lies in smart forward planning and specifically, maximising these…
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