Retail news

• Tesco warns of higher prices if UK and EU fail to agree Brexit deal

  09-12-2020 18:43
  
  No deal would trigger shortages and tariffs on some fresh items, says chairmanShoppers face temporary shortages of some fresh foods and higher prices if the UK fails to strike a Brexit deal with the EU, the chairman of Tesco has warned.John Allan said a no-deal Brexit would trigger tariffs, “which can be quite substantial on some food items”. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Big Interview: Debbie Bond, Chief Commercial Officer, Lovehoney

  09-12-2020 17:59 via retailgazette.co.uk
  The sex toy market has no doubt enjoyed a bumper year of sales as the Covid-19 pandemic forced people to spend more time at home.
  In the first two weeks of the first UK-wide lockdown, sex toy sales in the UK increased by 25 per cent and the amount spent on them rose by 23 per cent, according to cashback and voucher codes website Quidco.
  The trend even led to discount retailer Poundland launching a new £1 vibrator in May, just days after revealing a surge in the sales of pregnancy test kit
  
  Read more

• Lidl to slash customer grocery bills in run-up to Christmas

  09-12-2020 16:25 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Lidl GB invests millions to slash grocery bills for customers in the run-up to Christmas
  // The scheme will see shoppers enjoy £10 off their shop if they spend over £40 in storeLidl has announced a multi-million pound price investment campaign to help British shoppers cut their grocery bill in the run up to Christmas.
  As part of the campaign, the discount grocer is allowing shoppers to enjoy £10 off their shop if they spend over £40 in store.
  The decision comes less th
  
  Read more

• Currys customers furious after “technical fault” forces them to pay full price on Black Friday deals

  09-12-2020 15:17 via chargedretail.co.uk
  
  Currys PC World has come under fire from furious customers after a “technical fault” meant many were forced to pay full price on Black Friday deals.
  Currys is facing growing calls to honour the discounts it advertised on Black Friday after a website glitch due to high traffic prevented many customers orders from going through.
  Customers have taken to social media to complain after being informed on the day their products were meant to arrive that their original orders had failed, and
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• How to create a digital in-store retail experience for less with mobile computer vision

  09-12-2020 15:00 via retailgazette.co.uk
  Amazon Go takes the frictionless shopping experience even further. Using a proprietary combination of scales, pressure sensors, RFID tags and readers, as well as computer vision technologies, Amazon Go shoppers can pick what they want and simply go.
  Scandit recognises that a move to becoming a digital in-store retailer is daunting for many traditional retailers. And scaling the equivalent of an Amazon Go to already established retail outlets in the short-term is simply not viable or desirable be
  
  Read more

• Tupperware-style retail sees 45% growth in 2020

  09-12-2020 14:16 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Survey of direct-to-consumer “social shopping” retailers outlines average growth of 45.5% in 2020
  // Survey respondents also report 46.4% average increase in people joining DTC sector to earnTupperware-style retail enjoyed significant growth this year, with data suggesting that a correlation with an increase in people looking for new income streams due to the pandemic.
  According to a new survey from the UK industry body for direct-to-consumer “social shopping” retail,
  
  Read more

• Retailers hit by Covid-19 given one last extension to eviction ban

  09-12-2020 13:47 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Moratorium on evicting retailers who can’t pay rent extended until the end of March
  // BRC welcomed the move, saying it came “in the nick of time”
  // The ban was initially meant to expire at the end of this yearRetailers and other businesses hit by the coronavirus pandemic will be protected from eviction until the end of March under the “final extension” to the ban.
  The retail sector said the announcement on Wednesday came “in the nick of time”, with
  
  Read more

• Hammerson’s build-to-rent scheme for Leicester to provide over 300 homes

  09-12-2020 12:44 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Hammerson launches new build-to-rent residential scheme for Leicester City Centre
  // The scheme will provide over 300 new homes for locals
  // Private-rented-sector specialist Packaged Living is hired as Hammerson’s development managerHammerson has announced a new build-to-rent residential scheme for Leicester City Centre, which will see over 300 new homes being built for locals.
  Private-rented-sector specialist Packaged Living has been hired as Hammerson’s development manager to f
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Billionaires made $1tn since Covid-19. They can afford to protect their workers | Chuck Collins and Omar Ocampo

  09-12-2020 12:32
  
  In a holiday shopping season with rampant rates of Covid-19 infection, we must protect frontline workers before it’s too lateThere are few scenes more sordid than the surging wealth gains of the world’s billionaire class during an unprecedented pandemic when millions have lost their lives, health, and livelihoods.As the US heads into another wave of Covid-19 infections, the wealth of 650 American billionaires has increased by over $1tn since mid-March, the beginning of the pandemic l
  
  Read more

• Covid has finished off the old high street, but we can replace it with something better | Owen Hatherley

  09-12-2020 12:31
  
  Preston and Wrexham show that the collapse of retail in city centres needs solutions beyond shoddy housing conversionsIn 2011, a new kind of shopfront started appearing in towns and cities across the UK. It would bear the name and photograph of something that wasn’t actually there – Virtual Gift Shop, Virtual Fashion, Virtual Sports Shop, to name three I saw in Redcar. What was so depressing about this was the absence of any new ideas, any conception that there was anything else the
  
  Read more

• Brexit: no checks on supermarket supplies to Northern Ireland

  09-12-2020 12:31
  
  Trusted traders in food sector to be given waiver potentially for months before checks applySupermarkets will be permitted to continue to supply Northern Ireland shops without special Brexit checks that will kick in, deal or no deal, on 1 January. In a concession by the EU, Sainsbury’s, Marks & Spencer, Asda and other trusted traders in the food sector will be given a waiver potentially running to a number of months before checks apply. Related: UK drops plans to break international la
  
  Read more

• Amazon sellers slam new stock limits “killing” their Christmas sales

  09-12-2020 11:47 via chargedretail.co.uk
  
  Amazon’s third-party sellers have slammed its new quantity limits which are preventing many from meeting demand for their goods this Christmas period.
  Amazon’s fulfilment service, Fulfilled by Amazon (FBA), which stores, packs and ships items for third-party sellers in exchange for a percentage of their sales, imposed strict new stock limits in August.
  The newly imposed limits, which have been applied to all product categories, were designed to help Amazon conserve warehouse space in
  
  Read more

• Burberry launches recycling scheme for UK fashion students

  09-12-2020 11:23 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Burberry introduces new fabric recycling scheme to donate leftover fabrics to fashion students
  // The scheme called ReBurberry Fabric programme is in partnership with the British Fashion Council
  // The BFC will oversee the logistics of the fabric donationsBurberry has launched a fabric recycling scheme in an effort to donate leftover fabrics to fashion students most in need across the UK.
  The pilot scheme, which is called ReBurberry Fabric programme, is in partnership with the British Fashion
  
  Read more

• Arcadia Group “legally robbed by the Greens”, says peer

  09-12-2020 10:12 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Lord Blencathra says Arcadia Group was “legally robbed by the Greens” to the tune of £1.2bn in dividends
  // Meanwhile, Lord Goddard renewed calls for Green to be stripped of his knighthoodHouse of Lords peers have rounded on Sir Philip Green over his Arcadia Group retail empire fell into administration and the impact on employees’ pensions.
  Tory former minister Lord Blencathra said Arcadia Group was “legally robbed by the Greens”.
  Meanwhile Liberal Democrat
  
  Read more

• Tesco finalises £8bn sale of Asia business

  09-12-2020 09:33 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Tesco to complete sale of Asia business
  // It is selling its Thai and Malaysian business to buyer CP Retail Development Company
  // The acquisition was given the green light by Thai authorities last monthTesco is set to complete the £8 billion sale of its Thai and Malaysian business to buyer CP Retail Development Company.
  The acquisition was given the green light by Thai authorities last month and CP Group has now confirmed it is “satisfied with the formal notice of appro
  
  Read more

• Tesco scraps over 20m pieces of single-use plastic from Christmas range

  09-12-2020 08:56 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // Tesco removes over 20 million pieces of single-use plastic from its Christmas range
  // The retailer has taken the initiative in an effort to reduce plastic pollution
  // Tesco said its own-label crackers were plastic-free for the first timeTesco has scrapped over 20 million pieces of single-use plastic from its Christmas range – including crackers, lights, cards and the packaging for puddings.
  The retailer has taken the initiative in an effort to reduce plastic pollution.
  Tesco 
  
  Read more

• M&S welcomes Bupa CEO as new non-executive director

  09-12-2020 08:40 via retailgazette.co.uk
  // M&S has hired Bupa CEO as non-executive director
  // Evelyn Bourke will join M&S from February 1Marks & Spencer has appointed the chief executive of Bupa Group Evelyn Bourke as a non-executive director.
  Bourke is set to retire from her current role at the healthcare group at the end of December.
  She will become a non-executive director at M&S from February 1.READ MORE:M&S welcomes Fill Your Own concept at third UK store to cut waste
  M&S refuses to return £83.7m bu
  
  Read more

• Tesco removes 20m items of plastic from Christmas range

  09-12-2020 07:01
  
  UK supermarket also eliminates glitter from single-use products and packaging to boost recyclingTesco has removed more than 20m pieces of single-use plastic from its Christmas range this year – including crackers, lights, cards and the packaging for puddings – as part of a national drive to reduce plastic pollution.The UK’s largest supermarket said its own-label crackers were plastic-free for the first time – cutting more than 14m pieces from the seasonal range – wh
  
  Read more

• 'I'm often faster': Milan's bicycling bookseller takes on the online giants

  09-12-2020 06:00
  
  Luca Santini took his fight against Amazon and others to the streets after having to close his bookshop
  Luca Ambrogio Santini is considered to be something of a knight-errant as he cycles around parts of Milan on his red cargo bike delivering books to people’s homes, so much so he is affectionately called the “Don Quixote of booksellers”.“Quixote went to fight against the windmills,” Santini said of the protagonist in the classic novel by Miguel de Cervantes. &ldquo
  
  Read more

• Tesco says all conditions have been satisfied for sale of Asia business

  09-12-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Tesco has confirmed that all conditions have been satisfied for the sale of its businesses in Thailand and Malaysia to CP Retail Development Company. In a... View Article
  
  Read more

• Tesco says all conditions have been met for sale of Asia business

  09-12-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Tesco has confirmed that all conditions have been met for the sale of its businesses in Thailand and Malaysia to CP Retail Development Company. In a... View Article
  
  Read more

• Swyft Home reaches £2.8 million in sales in first 12 months of trading

  09-12-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Online sofa retailer Swyft Home has announced that it has achieved £2.8 million in sales in its first 12 months of trading. After generating £52,000 worth... View Article
  
  Read more

• Royal Mail at Selfridges launches in London’s Oxford Street

  09-12-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Selfridges and Royal Mail have come together to launch an immersive experience spanning store and online at Selfridges’ London store. Called ‘Royal Mail at Selfridges’, the... View Article
  
  Read more

• Morrisons launches Christmas dinner box service

  09-12-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Morrisons is launching a new box service to enable self-isolating customers to get everything they need for Christmas dinner for two people delivered to their door.... View Article
  
  Read more

• Marks & Spencer hires new non-executive director

  09-12-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Marks & Spencer has appointed Evelyn Bourke as a non-executive director. Due to retire from her current role as chief executive of Bupa Group at the... View Article
  
  Read more

• IKEA turns the final page on its catalogue

  09-12-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  IKEA is to stop printing its catalogue as part of plans to become a more digital and accessible business. In a statement, the homewares and furniture... View Article
  
  Read more

• Fluid Commerce launches paid social service with appointment of Dominique Chainee Bell

  09-12-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Ecommerce agency Fluid Commerce has appointed Dominique Chainee Bell to head up its newly-launched paid social service. Joining the Manchester-based company as Paid Social Manager, Dominique... View Article
  
  Read more

• Bang & Olufsen to open new store at Bicester Village

  09-12-2020 01:00 via theretailbulletin.com
  
  Danish audio specialist Bang & Olufsen is to open a new store at Bicester Village. Due to launch on 12 December, the shop will feature the... View Article
  
  Read more

Follow @retailuknws on Twitter!