Retailers set for best Xmas sales since pre-crisis October 14, 2013 BRITISH retailers are set to enjoy their best growth in Christmas sales since the financial crisis, according to a report published yesterday that forecast consumers would spend at least £2bn more than in 2012. Market research specialist Verdict predicted that spending in the fourth quarter would rise 2.2 per cent from the same period in [...]
Argos’ MyTablet aims for mobile retail shoppers October 14, 2013 ARGOS has become the latest retailer to join the tablet market fray with the launch of its £99 MyTablet today. The release follows Tesco, which launched its own Hudl tablet on 30 September with a massive in-store advertising push. The new device is targeted at enabling customers to make further Argos purchases on the tablet, [...]
Bottom Line: This odyssey might just be a step too far October 14, 2013 DESPITE having been around since 1968, when Arthur C Clarke first envisioned “the newspad” in 2001: A Space Odyssey, tablets still feel pretty fresh. Apple’s sector-defining iPad may have landed in 2010, nine years late for Clarke, but it’s not taken long for everyone to want a piece of the action – from natural competitors Samsung [...]
Sainsbury’s to open dark store to meet online demand October 13, 2013 J SAINSBURY is to open its first dark store to support fast-growing demand for its online grocery service in London and the south east. The dark store – so-called because it is not open to the public and only fulfils online orders – will open in Bromley-By-Bow, east London, within the next few years, the [...]
Asda considers new George home brand October 9, 2013 BRITAIN’S second largest retailer Asda is considering launching homeware under the George brand. The Walmart–owned group has applied for the trademark George.home according to filings published last week on the Intellectual Property Office website. A spokesperson for Asda refused to confirm whether it was planning to launch a new homeware brand and said: “We register [...]
Tesco hit by ratings warning as it unveils refreshed luxury range October 7, 2013 TESCO yesterday relaunched its Finest range of luxury produce, though the redesign was not enough to stop a debt rating warning from Moody’s last night. The supermarket, which spent tens of millions of pounds and the better part of a year on the redesign, has recently lost out on UK sales growth to both the [...]
Tesco revamps Tesco Finest in bid to boost sales October 7, 2013 Tesco has announced its plans to improve its Tesco Finest food line. Just days after announcing a pretax profit slump of 23.5 per cent in the first half of 2013, the supermarket giant has said the new food lines will include 400 new products with three-quarters of the current 'Finest' products being new or improved. [...]
Tesco hopes to win back sales with new items October 6, 2013 TESCO will today unveil a revamped version of its Finest range, which Britain’s biggest supermarket hopes will win over shoppers and shareholders following grim half-year results. The FTSE 100 firm, whose market share is dipping as the discount supermarkets grow, is expected to lay out 1,500 new or redesigned products ahead of the Christmas rush. [...]
London Report: BP’s court win sees FTSE defy US shutdown October 3, 2013 THE FTSE 100 rose yesterday, boosted by heavyweight BP which won a rare legal battle related to its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, but ongoing US government shutdown uncertainty sapped momentum. Energy firm BP – the UK’s fifth biggest company by market capitalisation – rose 1.1 per cent after it won a legal [...]
…as Tesco plans China venture after profits fall October 2, 2013 BRITAIN’S biggest supermarket chain Tesco is pinning its hopes on a new joint venture in China after reporting a sharp slump in European profits and flat UK sales in the first half. Trading profits in Europe collapsed by 69 per cent, dragging Tesco’s overall profit before tax down by 24 per cent to £1.39bn. In [...]