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Retail Update - July 2016 |
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Posted At: 21 July 2016 16:16 PM
Related Categories: Administrations, Retail Marketing, Retailers |
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A lot has happened since our last update – 52% of the UK decided we would be better off out of the EU; BHS has started closing stores as no buyer has been found; Taking Shape has shut all UK stores and appointed a liquidator to its UK subsidiary; My Local fell into administration; and, Store Twenty One is looking to close 82 stores having had its CVA approved.
Brexit has certainly ruffled feathers throughout the UK as a whole. GfK ran a one-off Brexit special online with 2002 respondents between 30th June and 5th July 2016, in which GfK’s Consumer Confidence Barometer core Index fell 8 points to -9. All of the key measures used to calculate the Index fell. This long-running survey dates back to 1974, and there has not been a sharper drop than this for 21 years (December 1994). It will be interesting to see how this Index fairs over the coming months as plans start to emerge surrounding the future of the UK and our position in Europe.
In other news, over 30 new towns have applied to Business in the Community’s programme to revitalise high streets, including Falmouth, Falkirk, Barrow-in-Furness, Huddersfield and Maidstone, bringing the total enrolled to 100. The programme, which launched in 2014, aims to increase footfall by 10%, reduce the number of vacant properties by 20% and stimulate the creation of new jobs.
A study of 30,000 consumers by British Land and Verdict has found that 89% of all UK retail sales in 2015 touched a store through physical sales, click & collect or online sales browsed in store. The research found that this boosts physical retail by 5% and further demonstrates how physical and online complement each other, something that we at FSP have always maintained.
Internet sales continue on the upward trajectory, seemingly unfazed by the Brexit decision. Shoppers spent 17% more online in June than they did at the same time last year, and IMRG said that it had so far detected only a short blip after the poll. While smartphone spending soared, growing in June by 69% year-on-year, sales made over tablets grew by just 0.4%.
Finally in environmental news, Oxford Street is set to be pedestrianised by 2020, with all traffic banned as part of mayor Sadiq Khan’s plans to tackle air pollution.
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Black Friday & Cyber Monday: What lessons can be learnt? |
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Posted At: 03 December 2014 16:30 PM
Related Categories: Retail, Retail Marketing |
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With the chaos of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, the US retail trends seem truly embedded in the UK shopping calendar.
The retail events have had positive results for some retailers. John Lewis, for example, saw a 21.8% rise in sales over the last week. Overall, it’s estimated that British shoppers spent nearly £810 million on Black Friday alone, with The Telegraph reporting that 404,835 orders were placed by 6pm Friday evening.
In comparison, Cyber Monday wasn’t as widely adopted, with 267,370 orders logged by 6pm Monday evening. This is despite estimations that Cyber Monday would generate £650 million worth of spending from UK shoppers. Experts believe that improved delivery times from major retailers and the rise of click and collect services means shoppers are more confident leaving online orders until closer to Christmas.
Considerable negative coverage has been generated by the trend – beyond media questioning how US-led trends have a place in the UK market. In-store and online, a number of retailers were unable to keep up with the high demand; Argos, Boots and Tesco all experienced website issues due to unexpectedly high traffic volumes. Additionally, high volumes of footfall experienced by most of the four big supermarkets required extra security and police support for crowd control.
For us at FSP, it’s clear that these two US trends are being firmly adopted in the UK by retailers looking to kick-start seasonal shopping. We’re certainly intrigued to see the sustained impact on sales for retailers such as John Lewis, when compared with last year’s figures – will people spend more overall, or are they just shopping early for Christmas?
Our personal Black Friday experiences identified clear winners and losers, with Amazon – a trailblazer of the trend here in the UK – emerging well, with minimal disruption despite promotional offers. With a business record of 5.5 million orders placed on Friday globally, Amazon revealed that by engaging with customer wish lists, the organisation was better placed to predict demand. Leveraging this data is a clever yet simple way of forecasting consumer behaviour, ensuring a positive customer experience.
Compare this with less experienced online retailers such as Smyths Toys, whose back log of orders from Black Friday has led to cancelled orders due to items no longer being in stock. The result? Disappointed, frustrated customers whose trust in the brand has been damaged.
From our own personal experiences and the rolling news reports, retailers looking to tap into this marketing phenomenon must ensure they can meet their consumer’s demands, be it integrated real-time stock information online or to extra in-store security.
Ultimately, this is a great opportunity for retailers. But the lack of preparation and failure to deliver this year could disengage consumers in the long run. Lessons learned from last weekend will be key to next year’s Black Friday and Cyber Monday events.
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Swimwear Launch by Sainsbury’s |
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Posted At: 04 May 2011 14:00 PM
Related Categories: And Finally, Retail Marketing, Retailers |
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We are beginning to witness some creative marketing strategies by retailers. Following on from Bare Shoppers discussed in And Finally last month, we now hear that Sainsbury’s has launched a daring campaign for its TU beachwear. Models showed commuters the new bikini collection today on London’s Westminster Bridge.
News was unveiled soon after it was revealed in new data from Kantar Worldpanel Fashion that TU is currently seventh largest by volume, behind Marks & Spencer, Primark, Asda, Tesco, Next and Matalan. It has a 3.3% share of clothing, footwear and accessories and is gunning to become one of top five clothing retailer.
Swimwear and kaftans are forecast to be big sellers for Sainsbury's, with the retailer already seeing over 100% sales uplift in the category, which has expanded this year to offer hundreds of styles at prices starting from just £5.00. The new multi-million pound womenswear campaign premieres on TV today.
With all these outstanding performances we are sure to face great difficulty in selecting winner of our FSP Marketer of Year Award.
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