In the first Retail Times and Euromonitor International Retail Spotlight feature, Jon Wright, head of retailing research at Euromonitor International, considers the global impact of modern grocery retailing The pace at which grocery retailing is modernising
The Commonwealth Business Council (CBC), the Commonwealth’s agency for the promotion of trade and investment, has appointed Sir Alan Collins as its new director general. Sir Alan will take over from Dr Mohan Kaul, CBC’s founding director general, in April
John Lewis has joined the list of retailers accepting multi-store bonusbond gift vouchers. Bonusbond gift vouchers are claimed to be the longest established multi-store gift vouchers in the UK and are operated by business services and mystery shopping company, Grass
Retail Times is taking part in a Transport for London (TfL) workshop on 9 February 2012, designed to help the retail trade manage transport during the Olympic Games. The session is also designed to show how retailers can plan ahead
Instant, ground or whole bean coffee are the most popular choices for the at-home barista but single cup coffee still has an audience, according to new Mintel research. It found 17% of coffee drinkers say they prefer their coffee one
Tesco’s share of the UK grocery market has fallen below 30% for the first time since May 2005, according to the latest grocery share figures from Kantar Worldpanel for the 12 weeks ending 22 January 2012. Tesco grew at 2.1%
Smokers’ lobby group Forest has launched a website that gives opponents of plain packaging of tobacco the opportunity to petition the Westminster government when it begins a UK-wide public consultation on the issue in the spring. The petition, says Forest, is in response
Shoe retailer, Office, has reported a 26% growth in like-for-like sales in the 5 weeks to 31 December 2011 and appointed former Asda boss, Allan Leighton, as non-executive chairman on its board. Leighton’s appointment is the second senior appointment to
Ocado claims it is well placed to exploit the expansion in online grocery shopping in the UK. Announcing a 16.6% rise in gross sales for the 52 weeks ending 27 November 2011, CEO Tim Steiner, said: “Against the backdrop of
PomeGreat, the UK’s leading producer of pomegranate juice and juice blends, is launching its first TV advertising campaign as part of a £2m relaunch of the brand, which also includes print media, social media, PR and in-store promotional support. Launching
Shopper analytics firm, Experian FootFall, has launched cloud-based software for retailers and shopping centres, which it says will allow businesses to analyse store insights to improve performance. According to Experian, its Site Analytics has been developed to give store managers
Spar UK has appointed Mark Steven in the new role of business development controller. Steven joins Spar from Palmer & Harvey where he was regional sales manager and held senior positions with Keystore and Spar (Botterills) multi-site retailers. According to
Most shoppers are not prepared to wait in a queue and, faced with one, a third would go online and a fifth to an alternative store, new research from YouGov reveals. Its study found 59% of consumers reluctant to queue,
Over 55s are the UK’s biggest online shoppers with 86% shopping regularly online, according to new research from web hosting company, BaseKit. It found 36% of these silver surfers say they do their majority of shopping online, rather than on
Hummingbird Bakery, the American-style bakery founded in 2004, has opened its fifth London store. The bakery has taken a 1,226sq ft retail unit at the Angel Building in Islington. The company was created by Tarek Malouf in response to what
Marks & Spencer has won the Retail Award in the inaugural PEA (People & The Environment Achievement) Business Awards 2012 for its Plan A Team. Thornton’s Budgens, Suma Wholefoods and Junky Styling were all shortlisted in the category, sponsored by
A Co-operative Food customer is celebrating the start of 2012 with a new car, after winning the food retailer’s Best of British competition. Paula Jones, from Beighton, near Sheffield, won a Union Jack-branded Mini Cooper, after buying potatoes in her
Consumer behaviour analyst Experian has released shopper footfall data for the week commencing 16 January 2012. It reveals: Experian FootFall Retail Index – UK National Weekly: Change for week 03 (16– 22 January 2012): -3.5 % Change for week 03 year-on-year:
The top five retailers in the ChannelAdvisor UK Facebook Commerce Index – Topshop, ASOS, New Look, River Island and Urban Outfitters – accumulated an impressive 909,000 fans in December, with Topshop continuing to dominate and pulling further away from the
The Co-operative Food is launching two new Truly Irresistible Fairtrade Easter Eggs: a hot cross bun-flavoured egg and a butterscotch variant. The two new premium eggs will be in store from 29 February 2012 and are made with 100% Fairtrade
Darina Kerr, partner in the real estate team at law firm, Dundas & Wilson, considers the likelihood of retail landlords taking enforcement action against defaulting tenants and pulling the plug after a rather disappointing Christmas trading period “After a tough
Camping equipment retailer, GO Outdoors, has appointed Advanced Supply Chain to manage a fulfillment warehouse and UK distribution operation to its retail stores. The three-year contract will see Bradford-based Advanced invest in excess of £5m into its warehouse in Corby,
Customers at toy retailer The Entertainer have raised over £100,000 for charity in six months by donating their electronic ‘spare change’. The donations, made through the Pennies electronic charity box, gained a boost in the run up to Christmas, culminating
UK toy sales grew by 3% in 2011, according to new research by The NPD Group. The NPD Group said the modest overall growth rate last year was a result of disappointing results in September, when the value of sales
The UK Gift Card & Voucher Association (UKGCVA), the trade body representing the UK’s £4bn voucher, gift card and stored value solutions industry, has announced a number of new members to the Association over the last two months. AGI-Shorewood, Card
