Retail news

• Waitrose to set aside quarter of delivery slots for elderly shoppers

  27-03-2020 19:24
  
  Supermarket says it will prioritise deliveries amid concern over food supplies for vulnerable peopleCoronavirus – latest UK updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageWaitrose is setting aside at least a quarter of its online grocery delivery slots for elderly and vulnerable shoppers amid rising concern about food supplies for those isolated at home.The supermarket is also expanding its online delivery operation as Tesco limits online shoppers to 80 items per order to free up space in delivery
  
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• Retailers under pressure to close online operations

  27-03-2020 19:10 via ft.com
  Yoox-Net-a-Porter and Paul Smith join list of brands that have suspended ecommerce sales
  
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• The Guardian view on empty supermarket shelves: panic is not the problem

  27-03-2020 19:03
  
  The coronavirus pandemic is beginning to expose the fragility of our food system. But will we choose long-term solutions or short-term fixes?Coronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageUntil a couple of weeks ago, the idea of waiting in an Ocado queue of 73,735 shoppers, or of supermarkets rationing milk and baked beans, would have sounded like satire. For too many people in the UK, food scarcity is the norm, with mothers and fathers going hungry to ensure their children ar
  
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• Carluccio’s set to file for administration amid coronavirus shutdown

  27-03-2020 19:01
  
  Restaurant chain and rent-to-own retailer BrightHouse among first high-street casualties of crisisCoronavirus – latest global updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe Italian restaurant chain Carluccio’s and the rent-to-own retailer BrightHouse are expected to be among the first high-street casualties of the coronavirus shutdown, putting about 4,400 jobs at risk.Carluccio’s is understood to be preparing to file for administration. FRP Advisory, the restructuring specialist, c
  
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• What exactly does qualify someone as sufficiently vulnerable? | Letters

  27-03-2020 18:52
  
  Readers react to the news that the UK government is helping supermarkets target deliveries to vulnerable people, and question the effectiveness of its databaseCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageYour report (UK government helps supermarkets target deliveries to vulnerable shoppers, 25 March) misses those who fall through the cracks. My 92-year-old mother does not have a computer or accounts with supermarkets. Therefore, she will not be contacted by the supermarkets
  
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• Five practical tips for physical distancing while shopping

  27-03-2020 17:56
  
  Buying essential supplies can be tricky during the coronavirus lockdown. Here’s how to navigate the new rulesCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageWith lockdown conditions imposed in many countries to try to prevent the spread of coronavirus, everyday activities such as shopping are going to be different from usual for some time. Here are some tips on how to practise physical distancing while purchasing essential food and medical supplies. Continue reading...
  
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• Coronavirus: Is it ‘survival of the fittest’ when it comes to retail?

  27-03-2020 17:19 via retailgazette.co.uk
  It’s no secret that the UK is in uncharted territory – especially when it comes to retail.
  Prime Minister Boris Johnson recently highlighted that coronavirus was “the biggest threat this country has faced for decades”, and retailers are subsequently faced with increased pressure as the pandemic wreaks havoc across supply chains and shoppers desert high streets and shopping centres.
  The coronavirus crisis has had an impact on almost every sector in retail – grocery,
  
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• Zalando warehouses stay open despite Covid-19 affecting demand

  27-03-2020 17:00 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Zalando warehouses to continue operating amid pandemic
  // Zalando maintained its staff’s safety remains a priority
  // The retailer blamed country lockdowns on fall in consumer demandZalando has reportedly said it will keep warehouses open to maintain “business continuity” despite a decline in consumer demand due to the coronavirus pandemic.
  The online retailer will keep warehouses and distribution centres operating, but has put measures in place to protect its staff, Retail
  
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• Coronavirus: Rationing rule proves effective, Aldi CEO says

  27-03-2020 16:25 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Aldi writes to customers about changes implemented in stores due to the Covid-19 pandemic
  // It has placed 2-metre markers to ensure social distancing is undertaken by customers
  // The grocer also installed perspex screens to minimise the risk of transmissionAldi has implemented new protective measures in stores to prevent the transmission of coronavirus amid the pandemic.
  The German discounter’s chief executive Giles Hurley wrote in a letter to customers that they may “notice a f
  
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• Retail Gazette Loves: Supermarkets giving a helping hand amid Covid-19

  27-03-2020 15:33 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Amid the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, British grocers have been dealing with an influx of customers and soaring demand which they’ve never had to deal with before.
  As customers continue to flood into supermarkets to stockpile, many supermarkets been under strain. It has led to countless unhappy customers taking to social media to air their grievances – especially in the early days of the pandemic.
  Despite this, some customers took to social media not to complain but to thank grocers fo
  
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• 2400 jobs at risk as BrightHouse lines up administrators

  27-03-2020 15:22 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // BrightHouse poised to appoint accountancy firm Grant Thornton as administrators on Monday
  // Move will place 2400 jobs across 240 stores at risk
  // Investors had withdrawn support for a proposed restructuringBrightHouse is one step away from collapse after it reportedly lined up administrators that will step in within days, placing the 2400 jobs at risk.
  According to Sky News, the UK’s biggest rent-to-own retailer is poised to appoint accountancy firm Grant Thornton as administrato
  
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• The Co-op fills the 5000 temp jobs on offer within a week

  27-03-2020 13:18 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // The Co-op has already filled the 5000 temporary jobs it advertised last week
  // The recruitment drive was advertised as part of the grocer’s response to the coronavirus pandemic
  // The Co-op said it had taken on many who found themselves unexpectedly out of work due to the crisisThe Co-op has filled all 5000 temporary store jobs it created last week in a record seven days following an “unprecedented” response to the retailer’s recruitment drive.
  The grocery retailer sa
  
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• Coronavirus: Govt teams up with supermarkets to help those at risk

  27-03-2020 13:09 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // UK government set to aid supermarkets to target elderly and at risk customers
  // Tesco boss urges shoppers to leave online delivery slots for the vulnerableThe UK government will give supermarkets access to its databases in a bid to prioritise deliveries to elderly and vulnerable customers during the coronavirus pandemic.
  It comes amid reports from food charities that millions of people nationwide will need food aid in the coming days, unless the government intervened.
  Online delivery slots f
  
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• Self-employed to receive financial support during coronavirus pandemic

  27-03-2020 12:34 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Chancellor Rishi Sunak sets out a new financial support scheme for the self-employed
  // Will benefit individuals in retail who run their own businesses, such as small shop owners or online stores
  // Scheme includes a taxable grant worth 80% of average profits over the past three years, up to £2500 per monthSelf-employed individuals in retail are part of the latest government support package aimed at helping them mitigate the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on their businesses.
  Yester
  
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• Amazon “living hell to work for” as staff complain operations continuing as usual

  27-03-2020 12:28 via chargedretail.co.uk
  
  Amazon warehouse workers in the UK have complained that the company has become a “living hell to work for” as they face a surge in demand.
  Amazon’s warehouses have remained open and workers have been told to continue to work to provide essential goods to those in lockdown.
  However numerous anonymous sources have complained that swathes of non-essential orders were being fulfilled and workers are being put at unnecessary risk.
  One anonymous worker told Mirror Money tha
  
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• Tesco limits online orders to 80 items to speed up deliveries

  27-03-2020 12:22
  
  Supermarket says it aims to get more orders on to each van to reach more customersCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageTesco is limiting online shoppers to 80 items per order as part of a plan to increase the number of delivery slots available to vulnerable households.Supermarket home deliveries usually contain fewer than 60 products but some worried shoppers have been placing orders of more than 100. Continue reading...
  
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• Coronavirus: H&M gives landlords ultimatum over store leases

  27-03-2020 12:13 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // H&M has told landlords it will abandon store leases if turnover does not return to normal levels beyond the pandemic
  // The group wrote to landlords to agree to terms that could see it break a store lease with 1 month’s noticeH&M has issued its landlords an ultimatum that it will abandon store leases if it does not see its turnover return to pre-coronavirus levels once the pandemic ends.
  The fashion retail group wrote to landlords to ask them to agree to terms that could see it
  
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• Sports Direct’s Mike Ashley apologises for coronavirus response

  27-03-2020 12:03 via ft.com
  Letter to government over stores’ status during UK lockdown ‘ill-judged and poorly timed’
  
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• Coronavirus: UK shoppers spend an extra £467m on grocery

  27-03-2020 11:41 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Grocery sales in the UK increase by over 22% compared to the same period in 2019
  // For the first time during the Covid-19 outbreak sales surged for beer, wine and spiritsData has revealed that grocery sales at UK supermarkets during the week ending 14th March increased by over 22 per cent compared to the same period last year.
  This is the same as an additional £467 million more in purchases than this time last year, according to new data released from Nielsen.
  The significant rise in s
  
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• Tesco imposes 80-item limit on online orders

  27-03-2020 11:09 via chargedretail.co.uk
  
  Tesco has imposed limits on online orders in attempts to limit panic buying and ensure everyone has access to essential goods and food.
  Tesco.com customers will now be limited to 80 items in their basket, according to an email sent by the UK’s largest grocer this morning.
  “We’re doing everything we can to increase the number of customers we can safely deliver to,” it said.
  “That’s why we’ll be making some changes. From today, we’ll be capping the n
  
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• Coronavirus: Net-a-Porter shuts services after backlash, Boohoo carries on

  27-03-2020 10:45 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Net-a-Porter to close UK warehouse after backlash
  // Boohoo asks staff to come into work despite pandemic
  // Asos accused of “playing Russian roulette with people’s lives”Net-a-Porter has announced it will temporarily close its only UK distribution centre in London in a bid to protect its staff from the coronavirus outbreak.
  The decision comes after the online luxury retailer was accused by workers’ union GMB of “putting fashion before lives” by refusing to
  
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• I joined Tesco for a stress-free life but now I'm on the coronavirus frontline | Simon Lord

  27-03-2020 10:00
  
  As a checkout supervisor, one of the rewards of my job was the positive interaction with customers. All that has changed I joined Tesco seven years ago this week, after a disastrous 12 months working as a manager for a small business in which I was bullied by the owner. I deliberately looked for as simple a role as possible where all I had to do was clock in, do my shift, clock out and go home without worrying about what the next working day would bring.Now I find myself on one of the frontline
  
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• I joined Tesco for a stress-free life but now I'm on the coronavirus frontline

  27-03-2020 10:00
  
  As a checkout supervisor, one of the rewards of my job was the positive interaction with customers. All that has changed I joined Tesco seven years ago this week, after a disastrous 12 months working as a manager for a small business in which I was bullied by the owner. I deliberately looked for as simple a role as possible where all I had to do was clock in, do my shift, clock out and go home without worrying about what the next working day would bring.Now I find myself on one of the frontline
  
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• Coronavirus: Moody’s downgrades M&S’s credit score

  27-03-2020 10:00 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Credit ratings agency Moody’s downgrades M&S’s credit
  // The coronavirus pandemic is expected to dent the retailer’s outlookMoody’s has downgraded Marks & Spencer’s credit rating as the coronavirus outbreak is expected to affect the company’s outlook in the weeks ahead.
  The influential credit ratings agency downgraded and placed on review for further downgrade M&S’s senior unsecured long-term ratings to Ba1 from Baa3 and the company&r
  
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• Asda extends coronavirus support for staff who are carers

  27-03-2020 09:58 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Asda extends 12 weeks of full pay for isolated staff who are carers of the vulnerable
  // Staff working in depots and stores where social distancing can be difficult also given full pay during isolation
  // Asda has already implemented a raft of other measures to protect staff and customersAsda has announced that it is extending its support for workers who are impacted by Covid-19 and needing to self-isolate by giving full pay to staff who are carers.
  The Big 4 grocer has already committed to p
  
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• Sports Direct's Mike Ashley apologises for poor Covid-19 actions

  27-03-2020 09:23
  
  After trying to keep shops open, boss says emails to government were ill-judged and poorly timedCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageMike Ashley has issued a public apology after his spat with the government to try to keep his Sports Direct chain open when non-essential businesses were ordered to close.Ashley’s Frasers Group, which includes House of Fraser and Evans Cycles, had intended to keep Sports Direct open as other non-essential retailers closed, on the
  
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• Coronavirus: Next, TK Maxx, River Island shut down online operations

  27-03-2020 09:19 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Next closes online operations and warehousing operations after backlash from MPs and staff
  // Staff said they were being pressured into helping with online orders despite the nationwide lockdown
  // Other fashion retailers that have also shut down online and warehouses are TK Maxx & River IslandNext has been forced into a u-turn over its decision to keep warehouses open and ask workers to travel into stores for picking online orders, following backlash from MPs an staff.
  TK Maxx and River
  
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• Mike Ashley apologises to staff for handling of Frasers Group’s coronavirus response

  27-03-2020 09:02 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Mike Ashley writes open letter apologising to staff for how Frasers Group has handled coronavirus response
  // “Our emails to the government were ill-judged and poorly timed, when they clearly had much greater pressures than ours to deal with,” he wrote
  // Follows criticism around Sports Direct staying open during lockdown & reports of safety issues at its warehouseMike Ashley has apologised for “ill-judged and poorly timed” emails to the government and poor communi
  
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• Millions to need food aid in days as virus exposes UK supply

  27-03-2020 08:00
  
  Food charities warn of spiral of hunger unless government intervenesCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageMillions of people in the UK will need food aid in the coming days, food charities are warning, as the coronavirus outbreak threatens to quickly spiral into a crisis of hunger unless the government acts immediately to reinvent the way we feed ourselves.In just a few weeks, experts say, the pandemic has exposed the extraordinary fragility of the food system. And th
  
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• Virus impact on fashion and luxury to be ‘worse than recession’

  27-03-2020 06:00 via ft.com
  Sales forecast to drop by a third as lockdowns cut deeper than feared
  
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• H&M threatens to exit UK leases early without sales revival

  27-03-2020 06:00 via ft.com
  Fashion chain’s efforts to revise rental terms adds to pressure on shopping centres
  
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• Fashion brands want you to shop online. Should you?

  27-03-2020 06:00 via ft.com
  For designers facing store closures and unpaid invoices, ecommerce has become the only way to stay afloat
  
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• 'I’ve never seen it like this': why vegetables are so expensive in Australia at the moment

  27-03-2020 03:16
  
  Wholesale prices of some vegetables have risen dramatically but the coronavirus isn’t to blame for everything$11.50 for a kilogram of broccoli. $8 a bunch for fresh celery. The price of some vegetables in Australia has gone up considerably recently.These price increases have led many people to take to social media, accusing major supermarkets and independent retailers of profiteering and price gouging at a time of crisis. Related: Go to ground amid coronavirus: how to grow a living pantry
  
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• Wilko stores to remain open during coronavirus crisis

  27-03-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  After being designated an essential retailer by the government, Wilko has said that all of its stores will remain open throughout the coronavirus crisis. To protect... View Article
  
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• Pandora appoints chief commercial officer

  27-03-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Jewellery retailer Pandora has appointed Martino Pessina to the newly created role of  chief commercial officer. Reporting directly to the company’s chief executive Alexander Lacik, he... View Article
  
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• Next closes online operations due to coronavirus concerns

  27-03-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Fashion and homewares retailer Next took the decision to close its online operations last night following concerns expressed by staff working in its warehouses and distribution... View Article
  
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• Innovation: Videotel Digital set to debut industry leading RFID Interactive Solution

  27-03-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  A must-have for museums, retail stores, trade shows, healthcare, and just about anywhere people gather, a new interactive solution has come to play, literally. The latest... View Article
  
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• H&M’s social media to help circulate health and safety messages during Covid-19 crisis

  27-03-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Fashion retailer H&M is to allow global aid organisations such as the Red Cross to use its social media channels to spread messages on health and... View Article
  
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• H&M’s social media to help circulate Covid-19 health and safety messages

  27-03-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Fashion retailer H&M is to allow global aid organisations such as the Red Cross to use its social media channels to spread messages on health and... View Article
  
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• Dixons Carphone reports strong online trading during Covid-19 crisis

  27-03-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Dixons Carphone has given an update on the impact of the coronavirus outbreak on its business. While its stores in the UK and Greece are now... View Article
  
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