The comment column is for retail professionals to have their say. Whether responding to published opinion, reacting to or challenging reports or commenting on retail trends and predictions this is where you can gauge sentiment on all sorts of retail focussed topics.
The budget measures that have the greatest long term impact are not always the ones that capture the initial headlines. James Walton, IGD’s chief economist, considers five potential game changers for the food and grocery sector 1. Changing VAT rules Another
High street stores must improve shopper experience to buck the trend of outlets failing. That’s the warning from Tensator, a global leader in queue management technology to enhance the customer journey. With uncertainty looming large in the retail market, and
Salman Malik, CEO at Brightpearl, a supplier of cloud-based business management software, on the retail potential of the UK eBay phenomenon The number of Britons using the UK eBay site has seen double digit growth year-on-year, so it’s no surprise
David Martin, co-managing partner at the London retail design and branding agency, M Worldwide, believes e-tailers are poised to lead the resurgence in UK high streets High street occupancy levels are at an all-time low, internet shopping is increasing exponentially,
In his regular column for Retail Times, Simon Chinn, lead consultant at retail research agency, Conlumino, reports on the seasonal opportunity for pop-up stores Throughout last year, QR codes – those little barcodes of black and white squares that you
Our resident business law firm, DWF, provides retailers with topical legal advice. Here Kevin Feehan and James Haddleton, retail specialists at DWF, advise retailers on the measures they can take to deal with anti-social behaviour in their stores Since their
Simon Kendrew, digital director at Leeds-based advertising agency, Gratterpalm, looks at how new marketing and advertising trends can help retailers reach out to each and every one of their customers Retailers looking at the year ahead and wondering how to entice
The director general of a leading UK think-tank is backing a campaign opposing plain cigarette packaging and claims there is no evidence it will stop people smoking. Speaking at the launch of the Hands Off Our Packs campaign, organised by smokers’
Leading North West accountancy firm, Mitchell Charlesworth, is urging retailers to be aware of looming changes to payroll law. HMRC is trialling a new system called Real Time Information (RTI) to improve the operation of Pay As You Earn (PAYE). Ken
Oliver Moazzezi, technical architect at cloud service provider, Cobweb Solutions, and a Microsoft MVP (Microsoft Exchange Most Valuable Professional), explores the retailer benefit for cloud computing. Cobweb also reveals how it has helped smoothies brand, Innocent Drinks, develop an outsourced IT
Shopper research has become widely recognised among brands and retailers as the best method to gain insights into customer purchasing decisions. But what are the current methodologies? How are they used and what are the industry challenges? Phillip Adcock at shopper behaviour researcher,
Draft legislation is the latest indication of flawed government strategy on energy efficient lighting, according to LED specialist OCG Lighting Draft legislation drawn up by the European Commission proposes low voltage halogens be banned from next year as part of the
E-commerce platform provider, ChannelAdvisor, claims UK retailers will increasingly embrace e-commerce as a key sales channel. Commenting on news Britain is now eBay’s fastest growing market and the number of UK consumers using eBay is enjoying double-digit growth year-on-year, Seamus
In a Retail Times exclusive, Andy Wood, managing director at database marketing and loyalty schemes specialist, GI Insight, argues high street stores are becoming the showrooms for online shoppers and staff must adapt to provide consumers with a seamless shopping experience across
Carl Dyer, retail partner at law firm Thomas Eggar, claims attacking the growth of bookmakers and betting shops on UK high streets is shortsighted in the current economic climate This week’s prediction by the Local Data Company high street vacancies
Steve Winwood, group commercial director of Culina Logistics, says the retail supply chain trend for shorter and leaner lead times is a challenge and a business opportunity Retailers are encouraging their supply chain partners and suppliers to revise their delivery patterns
Jason Stockwood, CEO at business insurer, Simply Business, offers five top tips to help UK retailers beat the post-January slump February is a pretty miserable month for retailers. The January bounce is well and truly over, and businesses across the
Roland LaPlante, CMO at domain registry operator, Afilias, on the likely benefits of new dot brand domains The beginning of the year saw the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Number (ICANN) open the doors to a dot brand new
John Milliken, managing director of the mobile payments service chaired by Sir Stuart Rose, Mobile Money Network, claims virtual shops (such as being implemented by House of Fraser) can help boost the high street. Responding to figures out today from
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
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
Management consultants AT Kearney say UK retailers should be bracing themselves for a tough 2012 and the latest ONS retail sales figures for December 2011 disguise a drop in earnings, resulting from deep discounting Anne-Isabelle Choueiri, manager of the retail practice
Retailers need to collaborate with manufacturers to anticipate demand for products featured in consumer magazines and on social networks, argues Wayne Usie, senior vice president of retail, JDA Software Retailers are entering uncharted territory with consumers – the economy is
Figures from Defra showing UK households through away 17% of all food bought could be slashed if they opted for frozen equivalents instead, claims the British Frozen Food Federation (BFFF). Commenting on the Department’s findings, Brian Young, director general of
1. Social commerce – merchants will become more in-tune with consumer social media activity and harness this to target customers with special offers, rewarding them for loyalty. For example, if a customer ‘likes’ a page on Facebook, merchants can identify a
