Asos to close US distribution centre with customers served from Barnsley instead January 15, 2025 Online fashion retailer Asos will close its distribution centre in Georgia, USA, in another effort to boost profitability and streamline operations. From late this year, US customers will be served from Asos’ automated UK fulfilment centre in Barnsley, and through a “smaller, more flexible local US site”, the company said. The Atlanta warehouse will be [...]
Fortnum & Mason to ‘limit price rises’ as it battles surging costs January 14, 2025 Iconic London store Fortnum & Mason has vowed to limit increasing prices in the wake of tax rises by the Labour government. The retailer, which can trace its roots back to 1707, has said the outlook for its operating costs in 2025 “remains challenging”. The company pointed to inflation, labour costs, tax increases, raw materials, [...]
Ocado shares surge after online grocer reports record-breaking year January 14, 2025 Ocado Retail’s sales boomed in the weeks leading up to Christmas, vastly outperforming the broader market with double-digit revenue and customer growth. In a trading update issued today, the company, a 50:50 joint venture between Ocado and Marks and Spencer, reported revenue growth of 17.5 per cent in the 13 weeks to 1 December. Ocado [...]
JD Sports shares plunge after retailer warns on profit January 14, 2025 JD Sports shares plunged more than 12 per cent this morning after the company issued a profit warning. The FTSE 100 giant forecast full year profit before tax at between £915m and £935m, down from its previous estimate of £955m to £1.035bn. This morning, the retail giant told markets sales fell 1.5 per cent across November [...]
Next: FTSE 100 retailer hikes profit guidance but warns on costs January 7, 2025 Retail industry bellwether Next has upgraded its profit outlook for the year after sales and growth exceeded expectations during the Golden Quarter. The FTSE 100 company hiked its expected profit by five per cent as sales jumped six per cent in the nine weeks to 28 December, nearly double its previous guidance of 3.5 per cent. [...]
Retail gloom as festive season fails to save 2024 trading January 7, 2025 High street stores showed anaemic growth in the 2024 festive season, despite hopes that Christmas trading would inject some cheer into the sector. Sales grew just 0.3 per cent overall in the ‘golden quarter’, which includes Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Christmas, according to the British Retail Consortium (BRC). Online sales continued to beat in-store, [...]
Westfield slashes loss ahead of huge funding boost January 6, 2025 The company behind the Westfield shopping centres in London has recorded its lowest pre-tax loss since 2019 despite its turnover being slashed by over 30 per cent. Westfield Europe, which includes sites in Stratford and Croydon, has reported a pre-tax loss of £25.2m for 2023, according to accounts filed late with Companies House. The latest [...]
Not-so-golden quarter: Retail footfall slumps in another disappointing year January 3, 2025 A dull December marked the end of yet another “disappointing” year for UK retail footfall as fresh data has revealed 2024 was the second year in a row to see a decline. According to recent Sensormatic data by the British Retail Consortium, UK footfall fell by 2.5 per cent year-on-year during the three months to December, [...]
Retailers get festive boost as more people head to shops January 2, 2025 There was an increase in the number of people who headed to the shops in December amid fears retailers face uncertain times after the festive season, analysts say. The 7.1 per cent increase in footfall in December from November is the greatest month-on-month rise since an 8.7 per cent jump was recorded in the same [...]
Post-Christmas shopping to rise as bargain-hunters ’emerge’ – analyst December 28, 2024 Post-Christmas shopping is expected to pick up on Friday after data showed there were fewer consumers hitting the high streets for Boxing Day bargains. By midday on Friday, footfall at shops across the country was eight per cent higher than the same day last year, according to retail analysts MRI Software. It follows refreshed figures [...]