News
The latest news, updates and analysis on the the UK retail industry. Covering every segment of the market, Retail Sector’s business journalists keep you in the picture.
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Jan- 2018 -10 January
Tesco’s £1bn Christmas sales lift amid supermarket boom
Tesco recorded a 3.1% rise in sales in the three months ending December 31, according to the latest Kantar Worldpanel UK grocery market share figures. Comparatively Asda’s sales grew by 2.2%, Morrisons by 2.1%, and Sainsbury’s 2%. Kantar reported that Aldi and Lidl attracted nearly one million additional households to…
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9 January
Retail administrations increase in five-year-first
The number of retailers entering administration increased from 92 in 2016 to 118 in 2017, an increase of 28 percent, according to new analysis from Deloitte. This is the first increase in the last five years, as those administrations with more than ten stores rose from 11 in 2016 to…
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9 January
UK retail sales show marginal growth over Christmas
UK retail sales showed less growth over Christmas than they did last year, according to figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC). Retail sales increased by 0.6% on a like-for-like basis from December 2016, which was a decline compared to an increase of 1.0% from the preceding year. Over the…
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8 January
Retailers vow to control acid-attack ingredient sales
Some of the country’s largest retailers and independent business leaders have pledged not to sell the most harmful corrosive substances to under 18s, as part of a series of voluntary commitments proposed by the government to help limit acid attacks. Waitrose, B&Q, Morrisons, Wickes, Co-op, Screwfix and Tesco are among…
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5 January
Christmas discounts push shop price deflation to 9-month high
Shop prices in December fell at their fastest rate for nine months, having previously been “teetering on the edge of inflation,” according to new figures. The latest British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Nielsen Shop Price Index showed overall shop prices dropped 0.6% cent in December compared with the same month…
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5 January
Asda opens UK’s first ‘parcel vending machine’
A new automated ‘parcel tower’ for George.com’s click-and-collect service has been installed at Asda’s Trafford Park store following a successful trial by parent company Walmart in the US. The acts as a giant parcel vending machine. Customers can choose items available on George.com from their computer or smartphone, select the…
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4 January
Waitrose bans sales of high caffeine drinks to minors
Supermarket giant Waitrose has announced that it will ban sales of highly caffeinated energy drinks to minors. From 5 March 2018, stores will ask customers to provide identification proving that they are over the age of 16 when purchasing drinks containing more than 150mg of caffeine per litre. The move…
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3 January
Next boosts profit forecast by £7m after stronger Christmas sales
Clothing retailer Next has raised its full year profit forecast by £7m after delivering a stronger than expected Christmas sales period. The period yielded a 1.5% increase in full-price sales from November 1 to December 24, attributed to strong online sales for winter clothing as customers prepared for the cold…
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3 January
Retail entertainment reaches ‘all-time-high’ in 2017
The size of the UK’s retail entertainment market reached an all-time high of £7.24bn in 2017 driven mainly by digital streaming services, according to new data. In figures compiled by the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA), the market segment saw combined sales growth of 8.8% across music, video and games, compared…
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2 January
Festive footfall disappoints despite increase on New Years Day
Footfall dropped by -10.5% on New Year’s Eve compared with the previous year, according to new retail footfall data. Springboard, a provider of automated footfall monitoring services, reported footfall dropped significantly and unexpectedly on New Year’s Eve across the UK, declining by -10.5% over the 24 hours and by -7.2%…
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