SnapShop Blog
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Nothing Better To Do? |
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Posted At: 22 July 2010 00:15 AM
Related Categories: Retailers |
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Architectural foodsmith Sam Bompas spends much of his time fiddling with food. He and his mate Harry Parr particularly like Jelly - www.jellymongers.co.uk – and have obviously found a niche market of people with more money than sense and a distinct lack of realisation that it all goes the same way. However, they seem to be having fun and their jelly architecture is quite awesome in an absurdly frivolous way
Anyway, Sam’s taken a sideways step from jelly to jam and, with the realisation that the WI pretty much have the market cornered, has had to do a little bit of lateral thinking. Young Sam bought a hair belonging to the late Diana, Princess of Wales, from eBay, infused it with gin and combined it with milk and sugar. Hey presto, a jam that retails at £5 a jar. Currently only available at The Surreal House art show at the Barbican, but with a retailing trend for quick start, short lived pop-up shops, maybe in a shopping centre near you soon.
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A Vision in Green |
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Posted At: 21 July 2010 11:21 AM
Related Categories: Retailers |
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Back in March of last year, we pondered the idea of Liam Gallagher joining the long list of celebrities believing that the susceptible public would buy things just through association. OK, we’re converted. Seems he’s making a success of it and having to pop up a shop to cope with demand. Having scrolled through the comments on the Pretty Green site, seems that the inarticulate are defo gonna try and get down (sic). Shame you can’t respond to their enquiries as to whether you’re actually going to be there Mr Gallagher, or whether your temporary shop really will be gone again soon? I actually doubt that myself. Association sells, and there’s nothing like a perceived end to focus one’s mind. And then there’s the good old band-wagon – how many new openings at the moment are not pop-up?
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SnapShop and FSP to expand |
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Posted At: 15 July 2010 12:00 PM
Related Categories: FSP News |
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Visitors to the FSP website may note that our services are in demand. A recent business review has identified space in the market to grow our specialised retail consultancy services. Our expert team is being augmented by the addition of two new roles. Our Retail Knowledge Executive will ensure that SnapShop's history of holding the most comprehensive and up to date retailer information is maintained; whilst our Marketing Executive will ensure you always know what we have to offer you.
At interview, both candidates expressed a strong desire to be part of such a vibrant, well respected and growing business. For more information about FSP and the services provided, please contact Geoff Nicholson.
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Another small nail |
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Posted At: 14 July 2010 13:40 PM
Related Categories: E-tailing, Future of Retailing |
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FSP applauds the Post Office’s lethargic ability to move with the times. We see today that about 650 of the 1,400 delivery offices across the UK will stay open until 8pm on Wednesday evenings and 2pm on Saturdays for those who are not at home to receive items during the day. Bravo! Not quite the major supermarket stance of 24 hour opening, but a step in the right direction of keeping up with the times and the needs of the consumer.
But the worrying part is captured in this quote from the Post Office’s Mike Brown: “With online sales continuing to grow, this initiative demonstrates our determination to develop products and services that help both retailers and their customers have greater choice and control over the delivery of items.”
Our own MD, Geoff Nicholson recently noted “The migration of shopping away from town centres is accelerating. It is going to the more efficient and convenient supermarkets, to out-of-town retailing and to the internet. Without action, the UK will follow the United States into suburbanisation with largely lifeless town centres”
Our SnapShop data shows us just how many retailers now have a transactional website – and we barely touch on those who are solely online (N Brown owns 33 of them!). So, for those with bricks and clicks, the multi-channel offer should enhance the high street by selling the in-store experience, as well as offering the convenience of online shopping. Retailers need to focus on why their customers should visit the store by making it an enjoyable event, not a chore. Then the Post Office can return to the dark ages!
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Roches, Faith, onward, the World! |
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Posted At: 13 July 2010 00:28 AM
Related Categories: Retailers |
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In trawling the FSP Retail Database to ensure SnapShop is up to date, I’ve noticed a bit of trend towards world domination by . . . . . Debenhams!
Some while ago, Debenhams took over the Irish Department store retailer Roches, but this wasn’t a new thing, even then. Brown’s of Chester were swallowed up on the 1970s. And not just in the UK either, with Magasin du Nord of Denmark now part of the group.
But not content with gobbling up independents, Debenhams is making headway with absorbing concession retailers too. When Mosaic Fashion hit the buffers in early 2009, the newly created Aurora Fashions washed its hands of Principles and Debenhams scooped up the brand name and stock. And just recently, Faith, following a very rocky history, has followed a similar path and Debenhams has picked up the pieces of concessions already trading in their stores.
Where next? With Morrisons and Peacocks taking a lead in dressing your spuds, should we be looking out for Tesco and Debenhams signing a pact for world domination?
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Wired Wellies |
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Posted At: 17 June 2010 10:20 AM
Related Categories: Social Commentary |
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Nowhere is safe from technology. Festival goers may have to put up with crowds, communal loos and a distinct lack of basic sanitation, however, they will no longer be out of touch with their mates back home.
Orange, being fully aware that green presents a huge marketing opportunity, has launched wellies which can recharge a mobile phone handset using a "power-generating" sole. Developed by renewable energy experts GotWind the wellies convert heat from the feet into an electrical current. And there will undoubtedly be plenty of hot feet!
SnapShop can see a couple of downsides: you’ll need to stomp your feet for 12 hours to power your phone for one hour and what if the festival mud is wellie-topping?!
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SnapShop Is Changing |
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Posted At: 03 June 2010 11:13 AM
Related Categories: SnapShop Developments |
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SnapShop Is Changing |
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Next week, an enhanced SnapShop site will be launched, with exciting new features aimed to improve your experience and help you manage your retailer information.
Everyone gets the benefit of enhanced search facilities, printable lists, more easily navigable records and lists of similar retailers. Click here for a guide to the changes.
Members of SnapShop with Full access will also benefit from the new Favourites Lists and Email Alerts. If you're interested in a selection of retailers, this new facility will help you keep on top fo the changes. For more information, click here
The next update will be next week when the new site is live, but if, in the meantime, you have any questions, please call the office or email the SnapShop Team. | |
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Bossy Boots and Spoil Sports |
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Posted At: 07 May 2010 16:57 PM
Related Categories: Environmental, Retail Suppliers, Retailers, Social Commentary |
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So, Poundland and B&M have been selling Boots’ products on the sly then eh? Tut tut. Although, not really, because it was completely above board and everyone involved was aware…anyway…
Apparently a couple of students from Aberystwyth University uncovered the ‘labeling scam’ - as its being called - after buying a body sculpting cream from their nearby Poundland and discovering a rogue label underneath the existing (why would a ‘couple’ want body sculpting cream? Was the girl just too afraid to break the story alone or what?). For some as yet unknown reason, the label was removed and the Botanics branding was revealed, causing the nation to step back and take a collective gasp of horror! Or not, because no one cares – probably due to some small election thing that’s happening, or maybe just because it’s massively irrelevant to most people, who knows.
So, what most people would have done is keep it to themselves – they bagged a bargain right? At the most, they should have maybe told a few friends to get in on the action. It was clearly not in anyone’s interest for this story to be leaked, and I am dismayed at the fact that they decided bypass both of these options and go to the papers, probably motivated by the thought of some, ahem, monetary remuneration, for their story. Honestly, is everything for sale now? Why couldn’t they just be happy that they’d been lucky enough to discover this amazing cost saving tip?
Yes, I’m sure at least one of Boots’ many millions of customers will be outraged to hear that they’ve been ripped off, but that same customer is probably a) not even in Poundland's demographic and b) a bit naïve anyway, since I find it hard to believe that any creams cost anywhere near the £8 that Boots were charging for the product in question to make. (Said customer should’ve watched Gok Wans beauty tests – they’re all basically the same, no matter how much they cost).
The only people who have lost out here are the consumers, because I’m sure that this practice will now be stopped. Boots were right to sell off their excess produce rather than dumping it the oceans like many others would, and the company to whom they sold it would have clearly had to ask their permission to rebrand it. Poundland have confirmed that the supplier have an agreement with Boots, so they were obviously completely aware of where this ‘excess’ stock was going, and have used the ‘should be going abroad’ line to save face.
What I find more interesting than this silly labeling story is the ingenuity of the Poundland business model, and the way they have been able to offer many openly-branded products at such a low price, completely legally without compromising on quality.
Rather than being painted as ‘criminals’ maybe the two retailers involved should be commended on their ability to ‘think outside the box’ in an effort to recuperate some cost, provide the customer with a lower priced item and for attempting to save the environment! Honestly. Some people spoil it for everyone!
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Basket of Goods |
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Posted At: 16 March 2010 10:17 AM
Related Categories: Retail Statistics, Social Commentary |
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ONS have just released the CPI/RPI Basket of Goods and Services update for 2010, and though it may not look too interesting on the face of it (unless stats are your thing), it becomes a fascinating read when you trawl back through the archives and consider the influence of outside factors on our buying decisions.
From what I remember of 2009, it wasn’t a great year. There were bushfires, earthquakes, tsunamis and an economic meltdown, and it was a spectacularly bad year for music and film fans, with the deaths of Michael Jackson, Les Paul, Patrick Swayze, Brittany Murphy & Farrah Fawcett to name but a few.
But did this have an effect on what we purchased?
Favourites such as garlic bread, liquid soap, cereal bars and hair straighteners have been added to the basket product list, while pitta and squash court hire have been removed. It looks to me like we were struck with a case of the ‘why waste your time on the squash court when there is so much life to be out there living’?
Of course I don’t know if this is the case, but personally, disasters such as earthquakes and tsunami’s make me realise how precious life is, and that frankly, I’d rather be out there enjoying myself rather than worrying about how healthy my diet is or how I’ve missed one of my twelve sessions in the gym this week. So yes, I’d much rather have some garlic bread than dealing with rubbish dry pitta, thanks!
And if you look back to 2003? Pot noodles, slim fast and Ikea bookshelves were the order of the day, while electronic keyboards, tinned spaghetti and vinyl floor coverings were no longer en vogue!
See, fascinating!
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Growing Old Gracefully |
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Posted At: 12 March 2010 17:28 PM
Related Categories: Future of Retailing, Retailers, Town & Shopping Centre Management |
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Age. Sometimes having lots of it is good – think cheese, whiskey, doctors (no one wants a young doctor), and sometimes its bad – old cars, for example, are quite unreliable.
When it comes to retailing, I guess the jury is still out on whether age really matters; take Woolworths, 100 years of experience couldn’t save them. People were fond of them, sure, most of us had grown up stealing pick n mix from the local Woolies*, but fondness doesn’t pay the bills.
On the flip side there’s ASOS, just ten years old and turning over £165m. And catering to the most fickle market of them all; youth.
So, is it a big deal? Probably not to most. Knowing that Forfars has been baking since the 1500’s isn’t going to influence me when purchasing a pasty, and I won’t be going to D&A over Specsavers purely based on their ‘oldest opticians’ boasts, but it does provide some comfort to see ‘old faithfuls’ when visiting an unknown town or city.
I sometimes wonder if, in ten years’ time, there will be any grandma and grandad retailers left on the high street at all. As companies get taken over, department stores get purchased and renamed, and others simply fail to move with the times only to disappear, more of the old gets pushed out and more of the new comes stomping its big noisy neon feet in.
Life is moving quickly and trends have become fads – is the key to the future keeping things fresh and new, or will our inability to incubate brand loyalty encourage the manufacture of poor quality, throwaway products? And will we become ‘less British’?!
These things have to be considered. They should be considered. When you dismiss M&S as too ‘fuddy duddy’ and nip on over to Superdry, are you destroying English heritage or are you creating new?
I’m not sure, but I don’t see many retailers striving gain for loyalty; it seems like ‘sell, sell, sell’ to me, and to hell with longevity. Keeping things new and interesting isn’t bad, not at all, but it would be a shame to keep loosing traditions, bit by bit.
What do you think…? Comment below.
*Not me, of course, other miscreants
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