Sainsbury’s to trial selling clothing online June 9, 2014 Sainsbury is to take on its high street and supermarket rivals by selling its clothing brand TU online for the first time. People close to the company previously said that clothing margins were too low justify delivering clothes bought online to customers. However in a statement yesterday Sainsbury’s said it will pilot selling [...]
South African retail tycoon eyes UK move with new shell vehicle June 9, 2014 SOUTH African retail magnate Christo Wiese has created a shell company in the UK, in a sign that he is poised to make a move on the UK high street. According to Companies House, the name Pepkor UK was set up earlier this year. Former Asda chief executive Andy Bond and his business partner Mark [...]
Transport for London looks for £3.5bn of commercial revenues June 2, 2014 TRANSPORT for London (TfL) has begun searching for a new sponsor of the city’s bicycle hire scheme, hoping to bring in more money and a long-term partner following Barclays’ departure. The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has written to 200 of TfL’s biggest advertisers to gauge interest in sponsoring the bicycles, which were launched on [...]
Supermarkets are getting a quiet boost as entertainment spend booms online May 29, 2014 In the UK, one third of our spend on entertainment – so on CDs, DVDs and games – is now done online. Data from Kantar Worldpanel, covering the first part of this year, show that one in every three pounds people spend on physical entertainment objects is online. Interestingly, 20 per cent of all online [...]
London to lead UK growth for years to come May 27, 2014 THE CAPITAL will keep on booming over the next five years, economists predicted today, leading the UK’s spreading recovery. The positive forecast came amid a raft of strong data, with a survey from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) which showed services firms are more upbeat than at any time since 1998. Households are now [...]
Asda returns to sales growth as price cuts kick in May 15, 2014 SUPERMARKET giant Asda said yesterday it had returned to underlying sales growth in its first quarter as price-cuts started to attract thrifty shoppers. Asda, which trails market leader Tesco by annual sales and is vying with Sainsbury’s to be the UK’s no2 grocer, said like-for-like sales rose 0.1 per cent in the 15 weeks to [...]
CollectPlus plots growth plans to rival Post Office May 12, 2014 COLLECTPLUS launched a fresh assault on the Post Office today after announcing plans to expand its parcel returns and delivery service to 7,500 stores over the next 12 months. The company was launched in 2009 and has grown rapidly thanks to the boom in online shopping, click and collect, and consumers demanding more convenient ways [...]
The week in brief May 11, 2014 Publicis Group and Omnicom merger falls apart Publicis and Omicom, two of the world’s biggest advertising firms, have called off ther proposed merger. The $35bn (£22.8bn) deal would have formed the world’s largest ad agency. It was claimed last July that the merger would enable the two giants to compete more effectively in the digital [...]
Clipper Logistics plans London float as it eyes European growth May 6, 2014 LOGISTICS firm Clipper yesterday unveiled its plans to float on the London Stock Exchange, as it looks to accelerate its European expansion drive and take advantage of the growing online retail market. The company provides tailor-made logistics solutions for pure-play online retailers such as Asos and traditional high street retailers adopting multichannel strategies such as [...]
Analysts predict price cuts at Sainsbury’s April 29, 2014 Analysts at Deutsche Bank issued a positive note on Sainbury’s today ahead of its full-year results next week, arguing that the supermarket group could be a relative winner in the sector compared to its rivals but warning that it will have to join them in slashing prices to stay ahead of the game. The [...]