John Lewis sales hit by fine weather March 30, 2012 John Lewis, Britain’s biggest department store chain, said today hot weather held back last week’s sales growth, as shoppers spent more time outdoors, in addition to tough comparative numbers last year. The retailer said department store sales rose 6.5 per cent to £57.9m in the week to March 24. This was a slowdown from the [...]
UK’s online retailers prepare for record breaking Cyber Monday November 21, 2012 CHRISTMAS is expected to result in the biggest day in online retailers’ history this year, with visits to shopping websites due to top 100m for the first time. Retailers have flagged Monday 3 December – dubbed “Cyber Monday” as the most intense day of Christmas shopping this year. This is down to a combination of [...]
Rapid responses January 2, 2013 Groundhog year [Re: 2013 will prove the power of global events to shape our economic lives, yesterday] Mark Malloch Brown’s concerns about the Asia Pacific in 2013 are essential reading. As he correctly points out, problems in the Eurozone and the continuation of political impasse in the US have been priced into the markets. But [...]
Waitrose rise in sales sparks hope for Xmas December 3, 2012 WAITROSE, the upmarket supermarket chain owned by John Lewis, said shoppers stocking up their pantries with Christmas staples helped drive sales up 7.8 per cent in the week to 1 December. Heston Blumenthal-branded Mulled Cider Gammon and Cropwell Bishop Potted Blue Stilton were among the best-sellers, with sales of the latter up 34.5 per cent. [...]
John Lewis is upbeat on 2012 March 7, 2012 THE CHAIRMAN of John Lewis has predicted a modest recovery for retailers this year despite unveiling a sharp fall in annual profits. Charlie Mayfield told City A.M. the sector would shift from “decline to growth” this year following a “bloody difficult” 2011. He added: “I’m not in any way underplaying how serious the challenges are. [...]
Rapid responses November 15, 2012 Stale bank lending [Re: The real reason businesses aren’t borrowing from their banks, yesterday] Anthony Browne’s argument about small business lending is stale. In his early days in post, we hoped that the chief executive of the British Bankers’ Association (BBA), would have shifted the debate onto more fertile ground. The enormous rise in lending [...]
FTSE mettle is tested by slump in commodities January 7, 2013 AS THE markets settled into the first full week of trading of the year, the FTSE had its 2013 bull run checked, dropping 17 points yesterday. The commodity and miner-heavy benchmark index had been pushed to multi-year highs by the effects of a global risk-off sentiment, with the FTSE breaking the psychologically significant 6,000 level [...]
How much Christmas shopping will you do online? November 21, 2012 CHRISTOPHER JENNER SWISS RE I’ll probably do about 85 per cent of it online due to laziness. Compared to last year, I do think my Christmas online shopping has progressed substantially. I mainly order vouchers for people and get my shopping done throughout December. PAMELA HARTLEY STANDARD BANK I imagine I’ll do about 50 per [...]
Smartphones take centre stage in the Christmas shopping rush November 25, 2012 CONSUMERS will not be far from their smartphones when stocking up on gifts this Christmas, with some £3.5bn sales expected to be purchased on or influenced by smartphones, according to business advisory firm Deloitte. The accountancy firm predicts 10 per cent of in-store Christmas sales (£3.2bn) will be influenced by smartphones, with another £330m of [...]
Asda takes on John Lewis exec February 27, 2012 ASDA has poached John Lewis exec Richard Mayfield to fill the role of chief financial officer. Mayfield, director of partnership services at John Lewis, is to join the retail giant in the summer, replacing acting CFO Rob McWilliam, who is moving to parent firm Wal-Mart as a strategy director. Before working for John Lewis, Mayfield [...]