Supply Chain
This coverage examines supply chain strategy and performance within the UK retail industry. Reporting highlights logistics innovation, inventory management, sourcing practices, supplier relations, technology adoption, and responses to disruption. Focused on efficiency, resilience, and commercial impact, it provides insights for retail executives and managers optimising operations and ensuring continuity.
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Jun- 2018 -19 JuneClothing & Shoes
ASOS to stop selling silk and cashmere in animal welfare policy update
Online retailer ASOS has announced that it will stop the sale of products made with silk, cashmere, angora, feather/down, bone, horn and shell as part of its updated animal welfare policy. It has also pledged to only sell leather, wool and animal hair which is a by-product of the meat…
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12 JuneComment
Fast Fashion: The global battle
The fast fashion landscape is a crowded space. Spend a couple of minutes on a train platform, browsing Instagram, scrolling through Twitter or watching YouTube and the vast array of adverts, celebrity endorsers, vloggers and other assorted brand affiliates makes it clear that a fierce battle for the wallets of…
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May- 2018 -8 MayM&A
Asda-Sainsbury’s merger fears voiced by industry bodies
Trade bodies and environmental groups fear the proposed merger of Asda and Sainsbury’s will further squeeze UK food producers and result in sliding ethical and environmental standards, Retail Sector can reveal. An array of industry spokespeople said the consolidated retail group would represent near-monopoly status in many towns in the…
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3 MayGovernment
Asda-Sainsbury’s merger: Committees pen letter fearing ‘dominance’
The Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (EFRA) and Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Committees have written a joint letter to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) regarding the proposed Asda and Sainsbury’s merger. The letter from Rachel Reeves, chair of the BEIS committee and Neil Parish, chair…
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Apr- 2018 -25 AprilAnalysis
The retail evolution and RFID – Ushering in the era of retail 3.0
Adoption of disruptive technologies is just that…disruptive. Yet, although implementing disruptive innovation can present a range of challenges, a business model that is stagnant for decades cannot remain successful indefinitely and is vulnerable to the next wave of innovation. This is the driving force behind the evolution of the retail…
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19 AprilAnalysis
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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16 AprilAnalysis
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 AprilDepartment Stores
Sanpower to introduce Chinese brands to Europe through House of Fraser
Sanpower Group has announced a new supply chain programme to introduce premium Chinese brands to the UK, Europe and rest of the world through House of Fraser. Launched at the first Sanpower Global Supplier Conference in Nanjing, China on 10 April, the global supply chain management platform aims to spur…
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4 AprilHigh Street
UK shop prices plummet to lowest point in a year
UK shop prices in March fell at their fastest rate since February 2017. Deflation in non-food prices decreased at a rate of 1.9% in March, according to the British Retail Consortium. Food inflation slowed down substantially in March, inflation standing at 0.4%, down from 1.6% in February. This is the…
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3 AprilAnalysis
Try-before-you-buy is causing a ‘returns tsunami’
Try-before-you-buy (TBYB) is a new shopping trend that enables customers to order multiple items before deciding what they’d like to keep. There is no up-front cost; shoppers simply pay for items they keep after a certain number of days – usually 30 days. They return unwanted items and are never…
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