Black Friday: Rumours, deals and speculation at retailers including Amazon, Argos and Tesco November 11, 2016 Ah, Black Friday. It may have started as an American tradition – but in recent years it's become more British than watching the Queen's speech while wearing a jauntily-angled Christmas cracker hat. This year, Black Friday falls on 25 November. But sharpen those elbows, people, because the Black Friday 'period' begins NEXT WEEK. Here's what retailers [...]
Alibaba smashes record sales on Singles Day November 11, 2016 E-commerce giant Alibaba has topped its sales record for its annual Singles Day savings event in China. The biggest retail event in the world totted up $1bn worth of sales in the first five minutes, the retailer claimed, and by 20 hours in had reached $15bn (£12bn) as people snapped up bargains in its annual sale. Total [...]
Singles Day: What can British retailers learn from China’s version of Black Friday? November 11, 2016 Today marks the world’s largest e-commerce event. No, it’s not Black Friday yet – Singles Day is taking place in China, and it’s bigger than Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined. At midnight local time it took Alibaba just 52 seconds to take its first 1bn renminbi (£116m) and just under seven minutes to reach 10bn [...]
Football Association chief executive Martin Glenn blames Fifa’s new leadership for poppy row overshadowing England v Scotland match November 10, 2016 Football Association chief executive Martin Glenn has blamed the row over whether England players should be allowed to wear poppies on the new leadership of world governing body Fifa. The FA is set to issue players with black armbands embroidered with a poppy for Friday's match against Scotland, despite warnings from Fifa that the move would breach rules [...]
It’s finally arrived: How to trade US election night November 8, 2016 Even with her exoneration by the FBI at the weekend, a victory for Hillary Clinton is not yet guaranteed. Just a few hours before an expected 130m Americans head to the polls, it is still unclear which candidate will enter the Oval Office next year. She may have the edge – Nate Silver’s FiveThirtyEight had [...]
Trump versus Hillary: How to make money whoever wins the US presidency November 8, 2016 This presidential campaign has been nothing if not unpredictable. Less than a fortnight ago, a victory for Hillary Clinton looked all but certain. Then it emerged that the FBI was investigating a new set of emails connected with her private server. Now, she has been cleared, but Donald Trump is arguing that her latest exoneration [...]
Retail sales up in best month since January November 8, 2016 UK retail sales were up 1.7 per cent from last October, boosted by strong online sales of 11 per recent in the last three months. Shoppers appear to be unfazed by the prospect of Brexit and the declining pound and are continuing to spend. However, the drop in Sterling is likely to have led to [...]
Black Friday could end up being a flop-day this year November 8, 2016 Demand for bagging a bargain on Black Friday has dropped this year, as the novelty of the promotions day seems to be wearing off. Just 21 per cent of consumers say they will take advantage of the Black Friday promotions this year, on a day intended to drum up sales as retailers slice their prices. This is [...]
What’s ticking? All the latest watch news from across London November 4, 2016 Salon selectives Last night, the doors of Chelsea’s Saatchi Gallery opened once again for the annual extravaganza that is SalonQP – back for an eighth year. What started as something of an insider’s showcase has become an integral part of the global watch-event calendar; for many brands a chance to premier their latest timepieces exclusively [...]
The UK high street gets an early Christmas present as high street sales get a boost for the first time since January November 4, 2016 Is the high street back on track? High street sales are back in positive territory after falling for the past nine months. Read more: Retailers in Mayfair and Bond Street to be hardest hit by rates hike According to data from accountants BDO, sales on the high street grew 0.7 per cent year-on-year in October. [...]