John Lewis defies retail troubles as it reports festive sales rebound December 18, 2018 John Lewis has bucked the downward retail trend, reporting a rebound in sales last week as it matches rival pre-Christmas promotions. The department store said total sales for the week to 15 December were up 1.8 per cent compared to the same period last year. The employee-owned company said the sales boost was due to [...]
Angling Direct sales jump 32 per cent after bumper Black Friday December 18, 2018 Fishing specialist Angling Direct saw its sales soar in the four months to the end of November as customers rose to the bait of its Black Friday offers. Angling Direct reported a 31.5 per cent increase in sales to £14.6m, boosted by a 24 per cent rise in online sales and record Black Friday trading. [...]
DEBATE: Is the Asos profit warning a sign that online retailers face the same challenges as the high street? December 18, 2018 Is the Asos profit warning a sign that online retailers face the same challenges as the high street? Scott Guthrie, a digital strategy consultant, says YES. Online retailers have previously appeared immune to the hardships faced by their high street rivals. Yet there are many marketplace similarities between the two opposing business models – especially in [...]
Focus On Bow: A population boom and the commercial success of nearby Stratford is boosting plans for new homes in E3 December 17, 2018 It may seem like a distant memory now, but the London 2012 Olympic Games promised a lot in the way of legacy. It anointed six east London areas – Newham, Tower Hamlets, Waltham Forest, Greenwich, Barking & Dagenham and Hackney – ‘Growth Boroughs’ and predicted that the money pouring into Stratford would emanate out to [...]
Sotheby’s wine sales hit $100m in record-breaking year for fine wines at auction December 17, 2018 Annual wine sales at Sotheby's this year surpassed $100m (£79.35m) for the first time, driven by growth in its retail arm and record-breaking auction sales. Earlier this year, the auction house broke the record for the most expensive bottle of wine ever sold under the hammer with the $558,000 sale of a 1945 Romanée Conti Burgandy wine. Another bottle of the same wine sold [...]
H&M shares tumble as sector uncertainty outweighs sales growth December 17, 2018 H&M today reported a rise in sales in the three months to the end of November, but saw its shares tumble amid doubts about the company’s recovery. The Swedish fashion brand said sales rose 12 per cent year-on-year to 56.4bn Swedish krona (£4.9bn). But the positive trading update did little to prevent a fall in [...]
What this year’s Christmas adverts can teach us about making a great ad campaign December 17, 2018 With just over a week to go until Christmas Day, the big question is: have you bought all your presents yet? (I haven’t.) If you have, did any of this year’s festive ads sway your opinion? Did Elton John tickling the ivories mean that retailer John Lewis tickled your fancy, or did you feel like doing [...]
A-SOS call: Four factors to blame for star online retailer’s shock profit warning December 17, 2018 Online fashion darling Asos' shares fell to their lowest since February 2016 this morning after a shock profit warning. Chief executive Nick Beighton said he's "astonished by an unprecedented level of discounting, something I've not seen before". At the time of writing, Asos was down more than 41 per cent to 2,439p. Here are four factors that led to Asos' [...]
Asos shares nosedive after it warns on bleak pre-Christmas trading December 17, 2018 Shares in Asos fell more than 35 per cent this morning after it warned of a “significant deterioration” in its pre-Christmas trading. The online retailer reported sales growth of 14 per cent in the three months to the end of November. But the company said it had seen the “weakest growth in online clothing sales [...]
SSE abandons takeover of rival energy provider Npower as government price cap takes its toll December 17, 2018 A planned merger between SSE and Innogy's Npower will no longer be going ahead, after the two gas and electricity firms were unable to reach an agreement on "revised commercial terms". SSE announced this morning that its board has decided the merger is "not in the best interests of customers, employees or stakeholders" following further discussions with [...]