Future is sweet for Nectar as it ranks top of the loyalty schemes December 10, 2013 NECTAR has become the country’s most popular loyalty scheme, with 16.8m subscribers. A staggering 50 per cent of households now swipe their Nectar card when shopping in stores and online and it has become more popular than both the Tesco Clubcard and the Boots Advantage card. Gwyn Burr, Sainsbury’s customer director, said: “Customers are increasingly [...]
Tesco buys part of Asian grocer December 9, 2013 TESCO has bought a minority stake in south east Asia’s largest online retailer Lazada, the supermarket chain confirmed yesterday. Tesco declined to say exactly how much it had spent on the acquisition but said the deal was worth “ten of millions” of pounds. Lazada was founded last year by German brothers Oliver, Marc and Alexander [...]
Supermarkets grow ahead of shopping malls December 8, 2013 THE AMOUNT of space being added by UK supermarkets has overtaken that being added by shopping centres for the first time, despite some retailers calling an end to the space race as consumers shift to shopping online. The pipeline of grocery developments has grown by 67 per cent, or 19.24m square feet (sq ft) since [...]
Bottom Line: Despite the convenience boom, UK grocers are still thinking big December 8, 2013 IF YOU need reminding of the grocery sector’s continuing ambition, all you have to do is step outside your office to the nearest supermarket convenience store. These compact ventures have sprung up across city centres, going from 2,000 branches in 1998 to 14,000 and climbing today, a rate of increase that may seem to put [...]
Domino’s CEO resigns for new role in private equity backed firm December 6, 2013 The chief executive of Domino's Pizza Group, Lance Batchelor has resigned and will be leaving for a new job from 30 April 2014. Chairman of Domino's Pizza Group, Stephen Hemsley commented: Lance has been offered a new role in a significant private equity backed company and as a result has tendered his resignation. His new [...]
Tesco says £1bn plan on track as troubles mount December 4, 2013 TESCO boss Philip Clarke insisted yesterday that his £1bn investment plan to turn the retailer around was “firmly on track” despite posting a slump in trading across all of its markets. UK like-for-like sales fell 1.5 per cent in the third quarter to 23 November compared with flat sales in the second quarter and in [...]
Analyst Views: Is Tesco’s management pursuing the right strategy? December 4, 2013 JAMES GRZINIC | JEFFERIESTesco’s update confirmed not only the significant headwinds the group has had to contend with, but also the shape of a measured profit recovery in the coming year. We are encouraged by management’s clear rebuttal of a need for a UK profit rebasing, to us this would be an unnecessary profit sacrifice. [...]
Tesco sees UK sales drop 1.5 per cent in third quarter December 4, 2013 Tesco has announced a 1.5 per cent fall in like-for-like sales in the three months to 23 November, which it says is down to a weaker UK grocery market. Underlying sales fell in every country in which it operates. The sobering news is in line with predictions from Citi analysts. It doesn't bode well for [...]
City bosses call for shake-up of UK education December 3, 2013 BUSINESS leaders railed against the UK’s lacklustre education system yesterday, as international rankings showed that Britain is slipping behind many other countries. The UK did not make the top 20 list for mathematics, science or reading, according to the OECD’s latest Programme for International Student Assessment (Pisa), with the points awarded to UK students stuck at [...]
Investors dump Tesco as analysts slash price December 2, 2013 TESCO shares continued their downward slump yesterday, dropping a further two per cent after HSBC downgraded its stock to “underweight” and urged the supermarket to cut profit margins to win back customers. Analysts at the bank slashed the retailer’s target price from 400p to 340p and added their voice to the swathe of brokers who [...]