Covid-19
This coverage examines the effects of Covid-19 on the UK retail industry, focusing on operational disruption, financial pressures, consumer behaviour shifts, and recovery strategies. Reporting includes lockdown impacts, safety measures, supply chain challenges, online growth, and leadership decisions that shaped responses to the crisis. Designed for executives and managers, it offers lessons and insights for navigating future disruptions.
-
May- 2021 -7 MayAnalysis
How Amazon delivered a smart retail customer experience with a human touch
Competition in modern retail is all about customer experience, and during the pandemic e-commerce and digital retail has accelerated rapidly, creating new customer expectations around digital experiences. According to the ONS, online retail sales grew by 46% in 2020 compared to the previous year – the largest increase since 2008.…
Read More » -
7 MayHigh Street
Fashion and lifestyle sales see record surge amid reopening
Retailers reported record results across fashion, lifestyle and homeware and sustained growth of online sales in April, as consumer confidence was boosted by the easing of lockdown and progress with the COVID-19 vaccination programme, according to BDO. BDO’s High Street Sales Tracker (HSST) found that non-store like for like sales…
Read More » -
6 MayClothing & Shoes
Next increases full-year profit guidance to £720m amid sales surge
Next has increased its pre-tax profits guidance for the full year to £720m from £700m after seeing a surge in sales. The retailer previously forecasted that in its 13 weeks to 1 May, sales would be down by 10%, however due to a 65% increase in online sales and Covid-19…
Read More » -
6 MayClothing & Shoes
Superdry revenue slumps 21% in full-year results
Superdry saw revenue fall 21% to £556.6m in the full-year ended 24 April 2021, despite witnessing a slight growth of 0.8% in its final quarter as restrictions began to ease across the UK. While store revenue was down by 50.9% to £140.9 amid ongoing store closures in the period, this…
Read More » -
6 MayCoronavirus
Retail workers suffer worst mental health of any employee group
Retail staff in the UK are currently suffering among the worst mental wellbeing of any employee group, according to the industry charity retailTrust. The survey of nearly 1,300 retail employees revealed their average wellbeing levels are much lower than in people who work in other industries, with 84% of workers…
Read More » -
4 MayHigh Street
Frasers Group to launch £60m share buyback scheme
Mike Ashley’s Frasers Group has announced that it is set to commence a £60m shares buyback scheme commencing today (4 May 2021). Lasting until the end of the group’s financial year on 25 April 2021, the programme will see up to 10 million ordinary shares purchased at an aggregate price…
Read More » -
Apr- 2021 -30 AprilHealth & Beauty
Unilever Q1 sales rise 5.7%
Unilever has announced that its underlying sales growth (USG) represented a 5.7% year-on-year rise for the first quarter of FY21. However, turnover for the first quarter of FY21 was £10.7bn, a 0.9% year-on-year decrease due to a negative currency related impact of 8%. The spike in sales was underpinned by…
Read More » -
30 April
Amazon sees Q1 profits surge to $8.1bn
Amazon has revealed that net income soared to $8.1bn (£5.8bn) in its first quarter results, up from a net income of $2.5bn (£1.8bn) the year prior, as more customers turned to online shopping amid the global pandemic. In the same period, its net sales increased 44% to $108.5bn (£78bn) in…
Read More » -
30 AprilEconomy
One in seven retail units remain vacant, says BRC
Retail vacancies in the UK have increased across all shopping destinations, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and Local Data Company’s (LDC) Vacancy Monitor. The trade association’s data revealed that one in seven of the country’s retail shops remain empty due to the pandemic. In the first quarter of…
Read More » -
29 AprilShopping Centres
Westfield owner sees Q1 shopping centre turnover drop 42.8%
Unibail-Rodamco-Westfield (URW), the owner of Westfield, saw a 30.1% year-on-year decline to £313.6m for its shopping centre revenues in Q1 2021. The group’s total turnover for the period fell 42.8% to £393.2m, as the company’s operations remained strongly impacted by ongoing Covid-19 restrictions. According to the group, the quarter saw…
Read More »
