Tesco quarterly sales show sign of turn around following profit warning December 16, 2014 Tesco has enjoyed its best quarterly sales performance since June, according to the latest industry data, giving investors in the troubled supermarket chain some reason to cheer following last week’s profit warning. Sales fell by 2.7 per cent in the 12 weeks to 7 December, a slowdown on the 3.7 per cent decline recorded in [...]
Grocery deflation continues to tumble as Aldi and Lidl ramp up supermarket price war December 16, 2014 The supermarket sector has nudged back into growth after the surprise decline recorded last month. Figures out today from Kantar Worldpanel show that for the 12 weeks to December 7, the grocery market grew 0.1 per cent. The data company said this was down to “shoppers putting slightly more in their baskets compared with [...]
Lidl and Aldi see spending growth soar over 30pc December 14, 2014 Discount supermarkets, such as of Lidl and Aldi, are on track to be the clear winners in the lead up to Christmas with year-to-date spend growth of 31 per cent. Meanwhile, their mainstream rivals, including the big four of Tesco, Asda, Sainsbury’s and Morrison’s, have seen spending fall 4.1 per cent in the same period, [...]
From Grumpy Cat and falling oil prices to Google blackouts and the weather bomb: Here are 10 things we learned this week December 12, 2014 It's been another busy week… here's our pick of the things we learned. 1. Grumpy Cat may not look too impressed but for once she certainly had something to smile about. Turns out the feline internet celebrity earned £32m last year. That's more than a host of business bosses, including Sir Martin Sorrell, Jamie [...]
Which supermarket has the cheapest petrol? Supermarkets announce price cuts as oil falls December 12, 2014 Major UK supermarkets have announced cuts in the cost of petrol and diesel in response to the fall in global oil prices. The biggest discounter is Asda, which will cut 2p per litre off the price of both petrol and diesel on 13 December. Sainsbury's was the first to cut prices on 11 December, announcing a cut of [...]
Blackstone mulls £1.5bn takeover of drinks bottler December 7, 2014 US PRIVATE equity giant Blackstone Group is considering a £1.5bn takeover bid for Refresco Gerber, Europe’s largest soft drinks bottler, it emerged yesterday. The US investment specialist is among several interested parties weighing up bids for the Anglo-Dutch company. Blackstone’s private equity rival KKR and CVC Partners are also rumoured to be circling, with bids [...]
South African retail billionaire to launch stores on UK high street December 7, 2014 SOUTH African retail magnate Christo Wiese is poised to make a move on the UK high street by opening a new discount fashion chain led by former Asda boss Andy Bond. Pepkor UK, a vehicle named after Weise’s holding company, was set up on Companies House earlier this year. Former Asda chief executive Andy Bond [...]
Goodbye Christmas jumpers – hello Christmas suits? The must-have self-purchase for 2014 revealed. Maybe December 2, 2014 Christmas wouldn't be Christmas without a novelty outfit of some sort. The Christmas jumper has been a long-time favourite but, as with the Shoreditch beard that has grown in popularity over a similar period, it's safe to say we've now reached peak-jumper. Last year every retailer from Tesco to John Lewis jumped on the [...]
Amazon Black Friday deals deliver busiest day ever as shoppers surge online ahead of Cyber Monday November 29, 2014 It's not even Cyber Monday yet, but Amazon has clocked up its busiest ever day of sales in the UK thanks to Black Friday, selling 64 items every second yesterday. Shoppers ordered more than 5.5 million items such as TVs, tablets and toys with huge price reductions, beating last year’s Black Friday sales of four [...]
Asda’s Black Friday deals attract 2 million shoppers on its busiest day of the year so far November 28, 2014 Asda has pulled in more than two million shoppers on Black Friday, making it the busiest day of the year so far for the supermarket. That’s more than 8,000 sales every minute, or more than 130 every second since it opened its doors at 8am. The Walmart-owned retailer said it sold more than 8,000 TVs within [...]