Newspaper retail round-up
A roundup of retail stories from the newspapers this week… Christmas Crackers, John Lewis, Best Buy, VAT, smartphones, deliveries
Morrisons crackers are bang on
Morrisons has topped The Telegraph’s poll of the best Christmas crackers. It has a score of 38/50 while Sainsbury’s came bottom with only 23/50. The crackers were scored on their ’bang’, appearance, hat, trinket and joke.
SuperGroup shares dip
Shares in SuperGroup, which owns the Superdry fashion chain have dipped 18% despite reporting bumper sales and profit in the first six months of the year.
Big ticket items boost sales
John Lewis says Christmas sales are being boosted as shoppers bring purchases of big ticket items forward to avoid the January increase in VAT.
From The Telegraph
Best Buy Europe outperforms US
Best Buy’s European business reported a 2% rise in sales in the third quarter, while its US business reported a 5% fall. The group reported a drop in profit to $217m (£137m), down from $227 (£145m) a year ago.
From The Times
Shoppers will use VAT rise to hike prices
Shoppers will face even higher process in January as more than 60% of retailers say they will use the VAT rise to add further increases to prices, according to KPMG.
Bad weather suspends Scotland deliveries
Marks & Spencer, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Boots have stopped taking online orders for customer deliveries in Scotland as bad weather and snow is affecting delivery times. The retailers have waned shoppers that orders may not arrive in time for Christmas.
High street faces more labour accusations
Marks & Spencer, Next, Monsoon, Debenhams, Dorothy Perkins and Miss Selfridge have been accused of using factories that exploit workers by anti-poverty groups War on Want and Labour Behind the Label. The retailers are accused of paying poor wages and breaking labour laws.
Smartphones are changing how we shop
Vodafone UK CEO Guy Laurence says that retailers have lost control of their shoppers as smartphones have changed the way be behave on the high street. The mobile provider has identified hotspots of mobile internet use in changing rooms as shoppers use their phones to get fashion advice from friends.
From The Guardian
JC Penney integrates e-commerce with Facebook
US retailer JC Penney has launched a Facebook integrated e-commerce application as part of its wider strategy to us social networking to drive sales.
From The Financial Times
