Alibaba wants a chief cuteness officer (no dogs allowed) October 28, 2016 Forget the days of shelling out money to get Kim Kardashian to promote your products. Alibaba has come up with the idea of recruiting for a "chief maimeng officer" (that translates as "selling its cuteness") to help sell its products and promote its bumper sale on Singles' Day next month. The Chinese e-commerce giant is hoping the successful [...]
Burger King spooks McDonald’s with Halloween stunt October 28, 2016 Scratching your head over what you can whip out as a last minute Halloween costume? Well, it doesn't matter what you go for as Burger King has already won Halloween this year. The restaurant disguised a location in Queens, New York as a McDonald's ghost (though still let its Burger King branding show through the eye [...]
BHS has launched its first clothing range since undergoing an online makeover October 28, 2016 It's that moment we've all been waiting for. No, not the latest development in the Frank Field MP vs. Sir Philip Green feud, as exciting as that has been so far. But the unveiling of BHS' first clothing range, since the retailer moved online. It's starting by rolling out a small number of women's and [...]
AB InBev’s not toasting Brazil as brewer posts drop in profit and cuts revenue forecast October 28, 2016 Anheuser-Busch InBev has been celebrating the £79bn takeover of SABMiller earlier this month, but Brazil spoiled the party for its third quarter results. The world's biggest brewer reported a surprise drop in third-quarter profit and cut its revenue forecast. And it's all Brazil's fault apparently – one of the brewer's most important markets. Read more: AB InBev shares [...]
Expedia posts healthy revenues in the third quarter October 27, 2016 Holiday website Expedia reported healthy growth in its revenues in the third quarter of 2016. For the third quarter ending 30 September, revenue grew 33 per cent to $2.6bn (£2.14bn). Gross bookings increased 21 per cent year-on-year to $18.6bn. Read more: Expedia revenues dip on higher promotions and discounts The website's portfolio of places to [...]
Cruisey McCruiseface? P&O launches Boaty McBoatface-esque contest to name new liner with public vote October 27, 2016 P&O Cruises announced today that it will allow guests to choose the name of its newest ship, which will be launched in 2020. In an echo of the famous public vote to name a new polar research vessel Boaty McBoatface, P&O revealed on Twitter that it would pick a moniker for its new ship by [...]
Brexit hits trading as C&C revenue falls 8 per cent but cider sales are up October 27, 2016 Drinks Group C&C said its revenue was down more than eight per cent due to investment in marketing and the volatile behaviour of customers after the Brexit vote. The drinks company, who produce Bulmers and Magners cider, said that its half-year performance was "defined by currency headwind and investment in marketing and price support to drive momentum in our core [...]
Shares in Debenhams leapt this morning on solid annual results. But analysts are still waiting to see what the new chief exec will do October 27, 2016 Department store Debenhams' share price headed north by nearly four per cent this morning after revealing a decline in full year profits that still beat analyst expectations. The figures Gross transactional values, basically the company's sales before taking into account discounting, were up by 1.3 per cent to £2.9bn. However revenues – what it says on the [...]
John Lewis retail boss appointed chief exec at Moneysupermarket.com October 27, 2016 Price comparison website Moneysupermarket.com has appointed John Lewis' retail boss as its new chief executive. Current chief exec Peter Plumb announced that he would be leaving the firm in August and the company said today that John Lewis' retail director Mark Lewis will take over on or before 4 May 2017. Lewis joined John Lewis in [...]
Land of Beds: Running a family business isn’t always bed-lam October 27, 2016 With any family business, when fresh blood comes along, they need to make their mark,” says Mike Murray, managing director of Land of Beds. In 2008, that’s exactly what he did when he joined the family business, embarking on the process of taking the reins from his father, Michael Murray (Senior) – who 30 years [...]