Features
Features delivers in-depth coverage of the people, brands, and trends shaping the UK retail landscape. This section offers detailed reports, case studies, and interviews exploring innovation, strategy, and performance across high street, ecommerce, and luxury sectors. Retail Sector’s Features coverage provides retail leaders, managers, and suppliers with contextual insight into business transformation, consumer behaviour, and the evolving commercial environment driving long-term success.
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May- 2021 -14 May
The return to the high street: friend or foe?
With our clocks adjusted to British Summer Time and Government guidelines easing off shopping restrictions for non-essential shopping, the return to the high street is back in swing. However, with non-essential shops implementing social distancing measures to ensure they remain as safe as they can be, the handling of stock…
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5 May
Why space is so important to D2C retailers
It seems like there’s a gold rush at the moment for warehouse and fulfilment space as online retailers and direct-to-consumer operators wrestle for every last inch of viable commercial space across the UK. Research by Knight Frank backs this up, with 40 million square foot of new commercial space slated…
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4 May
Has social media freed Cuthbert the Caterpillar?
For such small creatures, two caterpillars have kicked up a particularly large fuss this April. An intellectual property case turned social media frenzy, Marks and Spencers’ legal action against Aldi over its Cuthbert the Caterpillar cake has cut open the multiple layers involved in copyright infringement for all to see.…
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Apr- 2021 -22 April
SCA exemptions: A merchant’s best friend, with complications
When it comes to online commerce, much of Europe is living in a new payment regulation era — and the UK will soon follow. It’s an era of two-factor authentication, exemptions, step-ups, transaction legs that are either in or out — and a more secure ecommerce shopping experience for consumers.…
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20 April
How retailers can ensure frictionless trade despite Brexit paperwork boom
Despite the promises, both anecdotal and data-backed evidence suggests that the UK’s transition out of the European Union has not been as smoothed as hoped. Official government figures state that exports of goods to the EU fell by 40% in January 2021, with imports dropping 29%. The Federation of Small…
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19 April
The Suez Canal blockage: An accident with lasting ramifications
Some six days the Ever Given spent blocking the Suez Canal before it was refloated on 29 March, with the Suez Canal Authority (SCA) claiming that the global shipping route was once again “operating in full capacity” on 31 March. However, the fallout and impacts of the week-long incident on…
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16 April
Real time data underpins retail success with unpredictable shoppers
We live in unprecedented times and for retailers this challenging environment throws a new curve ball each week. Shopper behaviour is not easy to predict in normal circumstances and Covid-19 has exacerbated this challenge. This can, for example, be seen in foot traffic to stores – a key indicator of shopper…
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14 April
A repackaged retail strategy – How FMCG brands are innovating to stay ahead
The FMCG category has been buffeted by unprecedented change over the past year with huge disruption to traditional routes to market and dramatically altered customer behaviour. With consumers stuck at home, brands have been forced to overhaul long-running product distribution strategies and completely rethink marketing plans for product launches. Encouragingly…
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13 April
Eight ways retailers can use TikTok to create a marketing storm
TikTok has come into its own during the pandemic. The social platform has 100 million monthly active users across Europe, according to latest Kantar figures, and was the most downloaded app of 2020. That’s perhaps unsurprising given what we’ve all been living through – our need for light relief has…
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6 April
Offering a positive returns experience for retail consumers
Returns are a well-known pain point for retailers. Today returns are being exasperated by online purchases where vetting product quality is notoriously difficult. This means people are buying multiple items of similar descriptions to check the quality before returning those which aren’t up to scratch. Although this may seem like…
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