Articles in category: Opinion Time

Opinion time is the voice of retailers & retail industry figures, find out what they have to say here on Retail Times

What changes in parcel delivery should we expect from Covid-19?

Covid-19 is wreaking havoc around the world. Forcing many countries, including the UK, into lockdown, life is very different now to how it was a month ago.

Recruiter responds to self-employed income support scheme

Richard Harris, chief legal officer at global recruitment consultancy (31 countries) Robert Walters, said: "The Chancellor's announcement offers a package of support for vast swaths of the self-employed and freelancer community.

Digital marketer has five ideas for dentists during COVID-19 lockdown

The outbreak of the novel COVID-19 changed the pace of normal life for millions of people around the world. The dental sector did not remain untouched as well. With practices shutting down or limiting to emergency cases only, many dental

How the high street is helping students

You may remember a time not too long ago when going into your local town or city for some recreational spending would take the best part of a day. Relying on public transport, finding the item you want, the perpetually

Ubamarket: contactless payments threshold increased to £45, but how about skipping the tills altogether?

Retail technology Ubamarket offers Scan, Pay, Go! technology which enables customers to pay in app and bypass the checkout. Will Broome, CEO of Ubamarket, discusses the importance of convenience and hygiene amidst Coronavirus fears and discusses role of tech in

Institute of Customer Service on maintaining and building customer loyalty during the COVID-19 crisis

The unfolding COVID-19 crisis presents the greatest challenge in recent history for businesses and organisations across the globe. Widespread closures, mass isolation and the effects of panic buying are impacting organisations across all sectors to an unprecedented degree. As they

Construction must end to keep workers and public safe: clearer guidance needed, says British Safety Council

As the UK heads into at least three weeks of lockdown, concerns are being raised across the country as thousands of construction workers headed out to work, including on packed London Underground trains.

Retail Resilience: advice for online retailers on maximising productivity during Covid-19

Unless, like certain FMCG retailers who are experiencing a surge in online sales, chances are, due to the uncertain times we find ourselves in, that your sales have suffered a dip. Couple that with the potential of a complete lockdown,

KPMG: considerations for business directors in a challenging financial climate

“In the current environment of dramatically falling consumer demand and great uncertainty, those running the UK’s businesses will wish they had all the answers – but the truth is no one does. The best way to be armed for the

H&M set to close 3,441 stores worldwide and lay off staff to cut costs

Following the news that clothing retailer H&M is closing 3,441 stores out of 5,062 worldwide and even laying off staff in a bid to cut costs, Andy Barr, retail expert and co-founder of online price tracking website www.alertr.co.uk said: “With

Community retailers provide a lifeline in a crisis, says Egremont Group

The rise of the convenience store has been the one bright spot in a fairly dismal retail outlook, just over six months ago new forecasts from IGD predicted that the UK convenience market is set to grow by £6.9bn in

Covid-19 separates e-commerce leaders from rest, says Scope Ratings

Europe’s retailing sector is reeling from the shock of lockdowns across the region to limit the spread of the Covid-19 pandemic, but the impact on the sector’s credit outlook will be uneven, says Scope Ratings.

Kantar analysis: impact of consumer stockpiling on supply chains

Ray Gaul, senior vice president of retail insights EMEA at Kantar, analyses the supermarket supply chain challenges in wake of Covid-19

Five top tips on remote work best practices during COVID-19

Marten Mickos, CEO of HackerOne, offers five top tips on remote work best practices during COVID-19

Supply chain services company Bis Henderson responds to COVID-19

In response to the Coronavirus crisis, Bis Henderson Group, the ‘talent-to-solutions’ supply chain services company, is ensuring the wellbeing of all its employees by taking the precautionary steps recommended by the government, including remote working for all its consultants and

Human behaviour expert explains psychology of bulk buying

The reason we are panic buying due to the imminent threat of COVID-19 is because the brain’s survival mode overrides any rational decision making, says Dr. Ali Fenwick, an expert in human behaviour at Nyenrode Business University

Huge increase in online sales across Italy offers hope for struggling retailers in the UK and Ireland, says Kooomo

Global financial markets continue to suffer from the impact of coronavirus, with economists predicting the slowest rate of global growth since 2009. However, the current lockdown taking place in Italy has actually instigated a significant boom in e-commerce sales.

Jefferies on Covid’s impact: how will we live, work and play?

Financial services company Jefferies has explored speculative hypotheses for how Covid-19 might affect our lives – and the knock on effect on which sectors and stock picks stand to gain. “Bullish for humanity”, it looks at the way we might

Resources for designing your own clothes

Passion and creativity in the clothing industry go hand in hand. To come up with good designs, you need to have a good sense of creativity. However, it doesn't matter how creative you can become. Without being passionate about the

CAMRA responds to the Government’s measures to mitigate the impact of COVID-19

Following the Chancellor's announced measures to mitigate the impact of COVID-19, please find below comment from CAMRA's national chairman, Nik Antona: "The Government's announced measures to mitigate the devasting impact of COVID-19 do not go far enough in ensuring no