Christmas
This coverage explores the critical Christmas trading period in the UK retail sector, focusing on sales performance, promotional strategies, consumer trends, supply chain planning, and operational challenges. Reporting highlights how retailers prepare for and execute peak season campaigns to maximise revenue and manage demand. Designed for executives and managers, it provides insights into effective planning and competitive positioning during the festive season.
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Apr- 2018 -12 AprilNews
Rise in profits for Central England Co-operative despite “challenging trading environment”
Central England Co-operative has announced its year end results, to 27 January 2018. Gross sales and operating profit were up compared to the previous year despite the Society operating in “a challenging and highly competitive trading environment.” Growth at the member-owned co-operative business has been driven by continued strong sales…
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3 AprilDepartment Stores
House of Fraser gets additional £15m cash injection
House of Fraser has received a further £15m investment from its Chinese owner Sanpower Group after it suffered a drop in sales over the Christmas period. The company lost £9m last year and saw its sales fall by 2.9% during the festive period. Sanpower, chaired by billionaire Yuan Yafei, put…
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Mar- 2018 -28 MarchOnline & Digital
Online retail orders on the up
Online retail delivery order volumes were up 7% year-on-year in February, according to the latest data from the IMRG MetaPack UK Delivery Index. The month-on-month drop from January in terms of volume was expected, though the 21% decline was sharper than it has been over recent years. This sharp drop…
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27 MarchNews
Easter chocolate launches rise by 23%
There has been a 23% rise in Easter chocolate product launches between March 2017 and February 2018. According to Mintel Global New Products Database (GNPD), Brazil accounted for 11% of global Easter chocolate product launches in 2017. Germany is also host to plenty of Easter chocolate innovation, sharing second place…
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19 MarchClothing & Shoes
Next expected to post profits drop, say analysts
Analysts have predicted that clothing chain Next will be latest retailer to report a fall in profits this Friday. It is expected that the 154-year-old company will report earnings of £725m – an 8% drop in annual pre-tax profits compared with last year’s figure of £790m. However, analysts also said…
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7 MarchDepartment Stores
Debenhams to rent flagship store space to hot-deskers
Debenhams is reportedly looking for a way to make use of its flagship store’s excess space by renting it to a working space company. The retailer is said to be in the early stage talks with hot-desking firm WeWork. The news comes after Debenhams chief executive Sergio Bucher announced plans…
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1 MarchEconomy
Shoppers shun high street for online as January sees strongest growth since 2013
Online retail delivery order volumes were up 20.6% year-on-year in January, according to the latest data from the IMRG MetaPack UK Delivery Index. This was the strongest January growth for online order volumes since 2013. During the same period, footfall fell to its lowest January rate in five years –…
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Feb- 2018 -28 FebruaryAnalysis
Cyber security threats in retail
Retailers have had little choice but to transform their IT infrastructure as customers increasingly move to online shopping and high street-based revenues decline. Retailers and most of their customer interactions and data are now online and as such, many retailers are adopting Cloud for some, or all, of their customer-facing…
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26 FebruaryHigh Street
Primark sales drop due to ‘unseasonably warm weather’
Sales at Primark took a hit in autumn following a spell of unseasonably warm weather, but the fashion retailer still expects profit growth to pick up this year. In the 24 weeks to March 3, Primark’s owner Associated British Foods (AB Foods) said like-for-like sales at Primark were expected to…
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22 FebruaryAdvice
An algorithmic approach to more personalised customer relationships
Personalisation in retail is not new – this is what retailers have been doing since the days of the little black book. However, machine learning and automation of marketing and loyalty communications are proving to be game changers in terms of delivering individual experiences, more efficiently. Increasingly we are seeing…
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