Market influencer: City brokers look for the likes as social media boosts brands’ growth August 21, 2018 Brokers are hitting “like” on companies that have strong social media engagement, as UBS yesterday became the latest to factor Instagram influence into its ratings. The Swiss bank announced that it will now track the performance of 19 luxury brands on Instagram and Google Search,tracking “social media heat”. Analyst Julie Zhuang said there is a [...]
Why Debenhams has had three profit warnings in a year and could Mike Ashley help? June 20, 2018 City grandee Crispin Odey, whose hedge fund holds a short position in Debenhams, said last year that the retailer was in a race with House of Fraser “as to who will go down first”. While House of Fraser’s fate will be sealed at its CVA on Friday, Debenhams’ future looks dark, with the embattled department [...]
Struggling House of Fraser’s brand perception is in decline June 13, 2018 Last week, retail store House of Fraser announced plans to close 31 of its 59 shops – including its flagship Oxford Street store – as part of a ‘rescue deal’. If the plans go ahead it could lead to the loss of 6,000 jobs across the UK. It is yet more bad news for the [...]
Boohoo revenue jumps more than 50 per cent as it plugs ‘record levels’ of investment into infrastructure June 12, 2018 It might be carnage on the high street for numerous big names at the moment, but Boohoo is going from strength to strength in online retail. It has reported a 53 per cent rise in revenue for the first quarter of the year as it eyes more market share gains. The figures Boohoo has set [...]
On trend: Invest in the new era of British fashion brands February 21, 2018 The past few days have been some of the most important in London’s fashion calendar. As Fashion Week graced us with its presence once more, City A.M.’s Alys Keys reported on the shift towards a more democratic industry, propped up by the power of digital influencers. The internet will continue to redefine how we shop, [...]
Online stalwart Asos is in for a fashion face-off with Amazon’s wardrobe service January 26, 2018 What do Debenhams, House of Fraser, Mothercare and Asos not have in common? Cracking Christmas clothing sales. While the high street’s stalwarts struggled to attract bargain-hunting shoppers over the festive season, their smaller online-only rival yesterday revealed a 30 per cent rise in sales for the final four months of 2017. Asos, or as As [...]
The AIMperor’s new clothes: Sosandar and Footasylum notch up share price rises after IPOs November 2, 2017 Two clothing retailers entered London’s junior market today, with shares in both jumping during their first day of trading. Footasylum, the sportswear retailer which is the branchild of JD Sports co-founders John Wardle and David Makin, debuted on the market with a price of 164p per share. They hit a high of 207p and closed [...]
Augmented reality startup Snatch wins £4.4m in latest funding and backing of LastMinute.com founder Brent Hoberman November 2, 2017 Augmented reality game Snatch has won £4.4m in seed funding from a raft of investors, including the co-founder of Lastminute.com The startup, established by British co-founders Joe Martin and Jamal Hirani, officially launches its app in the UK this week. It has attracted backing from LastMinute.com founder and cexecutive chairman of First Minute Capital Brent [...]
UK online retailer Sosandar thinks it can score better margins than Boohoo and Asos October 30, 2017 The giants of e-commerce have become experts at selling catwalk looks to cash-strapped millennials online, but new entrants are looking to take advantage of gaps in the online market. Founders of newcomer Sosandar, Ali Hall and Julie Lavington, are targeting wealthier women who have grown up buying clothes from Asos, but now want to buy [...]
When will it stop? Boohoo upgrades sales forecast yet again February 28, 2017 Boohoo has upgraded its sales forecast yet again, saying this morning that sales will double this year. Previously, Boohoo said its sales growth would be in the range of 46-48 per cent for the full year to 28 February. The online retailer, which targets millennials, said it had also improved its operations, meaning its margins [...]