Retail Economics

Head over to your favourite podcast platform or click the link below to listen to this week's episode of the Retail Roundup Podcast! 🎙️ We cover key stories on Tesco, WHSmith, Dunelm and more! Join the conversation and discover what’s shaping the retail landscape. With fresh episodes every Monday at 6 am, the Retail Roundup Podcast is your go-to source for staying informed on the latest happenings in the retail world. Whether you're a seasoned professional or new to the industry, our podcast delivers essential insights and the most current retail news to keep you ahead of the curve. 🔗 Tune in now: https://lnkd.in/e8Urgs3g #RetailRoundup #RetailPodcast #IndustryInsights #StayInformed #MondayMotivation #RetailInsight #Podcast #BusinessPodcast #InsightOnTheGo #RetailEconomics #RetailUpdates

What’s been happening in retail this week? 💿 After a 30-year hiatus, WHSmith is bringing vinyl records back to 80 high street stores across the UK, responding to growing customer demand. Vinyl sales rose by 11.7% in 2023, marking 16 years of consecutive growth. 🌸 The Perfume Shop has launched “Eau De-Liveroo Rider,” an on-demand service in London, Manchester, and Bristol through Deliveroo. Customers can order free 5ml samples of popular perfumes via WhatsApp, delivered within 15 minutes—ideal for last-minute fragrance needs. 🏟️ Fanatics, the digital sports platform and merchandise retailer, will open its first standalone UK store on Regent Street, London. The company, which partners with major global sporting organisations, first entered the UK market in 2016. 🔋 Tesco has agreed to purchase nearly two-thirds of the output from the £450m Cleve Hill Solar Park, covering up to 10% of its power needs over the next 15 years. CEO Ken Murphy called it a "significant step" towards Tesco’s carbon neutrality goal by 2035. The site is expected to be fully operational by 2025. 💳 SHEIN has launched its first branded credit card in partnership with Mexican fintech Stori, offering points for purchases. This move comes as Shein prepares for a potential IPO on the London Stock Exchange, having appointed major banks as bookrunners. 🍗 From 30 October, Aldi UK will roll out updated packaging for its fresh chicken products, showcasing increased stocking density standards, giving chickens 20% more space than the industry average. 🎁 Poundland & Dealz's new rewards programme, "Poundland Perks," became the top free app on the Apple and Google Play stores just one day after its nationwide launch on 16 October. 👟 Hotter Shoes is boosting UK manufacturing to produce one million pairs annually, increasing domestic output from 25% to 75%. WoolOvers Ltd, the new owner, has reversed plans to phase out Skelmersdale production to maintain quality and margins. 👓 Snap Inc. launched ‘Snap Street,’ a two-day event on 19-20 October in Brick Lane, London, featuring augmented reality (AR) retail experiences. Brands like Boots UK, Depop, and Cosmopolitan participated, offering AR-enhanced interactions, beauty products, fashion, and pop-up experiences. ⛔ Frasers Group has decided not to pursue a revised £111m bid for Mulberry England, citing governance concerns and a lack of a clear commercial plan. However, it remains supportive of the brand. 🚚 Amazon extended its same-day delivery to over 80 UK towns and cities, including Middlesbrough, Aberdeen, and Plymouth. With demand doubling since 2023, it’s investing £580m in robotics and AI to improve fulfilment efficiency. This is just a selection of news this week. Sign up below for more insight ⬇️ https//lnkd.in/d-z25aM

🔐 Cybersecurity tops the list of retailer risks in 2024 🛡️ Cyber security is the number one risk retailers face, according to Retail Economics and Barclays Corporate Banking recent report on retail resilience, and it was high on the agenda at Barclays’ recent 2024 Retail Conference on Wednesday 9 October. On a panel exploring the topic, our experts flagged how common cyber attacks have become – a significant threat for all kinds of organisations, and the reality of operating a business in 2024. The panel advised retailers to take a range of measures to both prepare for a possible attack, and to mitigate the effects should one occur. 👉 Communication is key: Jack Cordery, CEO of retailer and manufacturer Mole Valley, which suffered a cyber attack in 2023, said a key part of what got the business through the aftermath was strong communication, with leadership visiting stores and sites constantly to keep people informed. Businesses should also expect and acknowledge a sometimes-emotional response from customers and colleagues. 👉 First 90 minutes: Security experts flagged that the first 90 minutes of a cyber attack is critical – ideally, retailers will be able to identify where in their systems the hackers are, and shut everything down to prevent them getting further. 👉 Rehearse responses: Even those businesses who are prepared can be taken by surprise by different elements of the post-attack clean up. Common mistakes include not having policies and systems documented, not having things backed up, and not having a rehearsed response. 👉 Basic measures: Basic security measures such as two-factor authentication and a robust password policy can go a long way towards stopping attacks occurring. 👉 Moving systems on to cloud technology, and ensuring it’s not too easy to move between different systems, can also help limit the damage hackers can do. 👉 New technology: Generative AI is bringing a new wave of risks, such as fake videos and voice biometrics, and disinformation. A significant part of retailers’ ongoing response to this will need to involve colleague engagement and training. 👥 Thanks to our panel: Helena Brown, partner, commercial and data protection and head of data at law firm Addleshaw Goddard Jack Cordery, chief executive of retailer and manufacturer Mole Valley Farmers Stephen Howells, director of intelligence delivery and transformation at Barclays, and Scott T., director of the cyber security operations centre at Barclays. To read more about the risks retailers are facing and how they’re handling them, download Retail Economics’ and Barclays UK Corporate Banking report on Retail Resilience here. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eNGvUg5G

🏆 Culture is key to retail resilience: Insights from Timpson’s success story Several of the sessions at Barclays Corporate Banking’s recent 2024 Retail Conference investigated how and why culture, people and leadership are the foundation of any work to improve resilience. 💻 Whether retailers embrace technology, training or investment in security to mitigate the various risks they face, this work will have shaky foundations without the right culture. 📚Retail Economics’ chairman Stephen Robertson spoke about how a strong culture has underpinned Timpson Group’s success, where he was until recently a non-executive director. 📈 The family-owned Timpson Group includes Snappy Snaps and Johnsons dry cleaners in addition to its namesake shoe-repair and key-cutting business. It doubled comparable profits to £36.5m in the year to 1 October 2022 and sales rose to £297.4m, up about 40%. 👥 Staff turnover at Timpson is 17%, compared to an industry average of 51%. In July, it topped the Institute for Customer Service’s UK Customer Satisfaction Index, beating well-known brands including Nationwide and John Lewis. 🏗️ Stephen said: “Timpson’s leadership John and James [Timpson] have built a commercially successful business by focusing on their culture. It starts with hiring for personality, not on qualifications. They know that great service comes from people who are naturally friendly.” While a long list of benefits helps boost retention – from free company-owned holiday homes to a week off for anyone getting married – it is this focus on keeping the right people that makes the biggest difference. “Everyone notices if management take no notice of people who have the wrong attitude. It damages the entire team.” To read more on the biggest challenges facing retailers today and how they’re tackling them, download our report, written in partnership with Barclays UK Corporate Banking, here. https://lnkd.in/eNGvUg5G

🌍 Sustainability is still a growing priority despite other immediate risks While sustainability and ESG have fallen down the agenda slightly for retailers, who have been dealing with other, more immediate risks, ESG is still the risk expected to grow the most over the next five years. We partnered with Barclays Corporate Banking on its recent 2024 Retail Conference to explore this topic, among others, and heard from a panel of experts on how it’s evolving. 👉 Profitability: Sustainability efforts are often seen as being at odds with profitability, but our panellists highlighted how they can work in its favour. For some, this will look like cost efficiencies such as lower travel or energy costs, while for others, it will come from increased customer loyalty and lower customer acquisition costs. 👉 Leadership: ESG and environmental efforts need to be embedded into day-to-day and financial targets, or they risk being viewed as non-business critical when times get tougher. Leadership, managers and colleagues all need to be fully engaged, and clear finance-linked targets will help to strengthen sustainability as a priority from a reputational point of view. 👉 Culture: Building the right culture in which teams are motivated to outperform in this area is the best way to generate impressive results. Once leaders have empowered and motivated teams to question and push limits, they are more likely to be able to create a business known for its sustainable leadership. 👉 Embracing technology: Innovations such as digital product passports will become increasingly necessary for retailers as more ESG-focused regulation comes into effect. Using technology to gain a clearer picture of the supply chain will help with everything from tracking scope 3 emissions to verifying suppliers’ claims. 👥 Thanks to our panelists on the day Laura Galvin, global head of sustainable transaction banking at Barclays Andrew Murphy OBE, group chief executive at Teal Group Technologies, Inc Mike Pickering, head of sustainability at The Midcounties Co-operative and Andrew Xeni, founder and chairman of Nobody's Child To read more about the risks retailers are facing and how they’re handling them, download Retail Economics’ and Barclays’ report on Retail Resilience here. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eNGvUg5G

Head over to your favourite podcast platform or click the link below to listen to this week's episode of the Retail Roundup Podcast! 🎙️ We cover key stories on Currys plc, Sainsbury's, Boots UK and more! Join the conversation and discover what’s shaping the retail landscape. With fresh episodes every Monday at 6 am, the Retail Roundup Podcast is your go-to source for staying informed on the latest happenings in the retail world. Whether you're a seasoned professional or new to the industry, our podcast delivers essential insights and the most current retail news to keep you ahead of the curve. 🔗 Tune in now: https://lnkd.in/e8Urgs3g #RetailRoundup #RetailPodcast #IndustryInsights #StayInformed #MondayMotivation #RetailInsight #Podcast #BusinessPodcast #InsightOnTheGo #RetailEconomics #RetailUpdates

What’s been happening in retail this week? 💄 Boots UK recorded its 14th consecutive quarter of market share growth, with a 6.2% rise in Q3 retail sales and a 6.9% increase for the full year. Digital sales surged 18.7%, driven by beauty product demand and strong Boots app usage. 👗 Marks and Spencer launched a 27-piece collection with designer Bella Freud on 17 October, featuring cashmere sweaters and a pin-striped suit. This partnership blends Freud's signature style with M&S’s renowned quality, appealing to a broader audience. 🤖 Starship Technologies has partnered with Bolt to launch an autonomous grocery delivery service in Tallinn, Estonia. Around 180,000 residents can now order groceries via the Bolt Food app, using robots to reduce traffic and emissions. 🎓 Lidl GB launched its first retail leadership degree apprenticeship with Kingston University, welcoming 51 apprentices. The four-year programme combines academic study with hands-on experience, offering participants the potential to earn up to £46,000 by their final year. 💳 Currys plc unveiled flexpay, a new credit option that allows customers to choose between fixed monthly payments or buy now, pay later plans. This initiative aims to simplify access to technology with personalised credit solutions. 🧸 The Entertainer has launched over 850 toy concessions in Tesco stores across the UK and Ireland, creating 1,200 jobs. This expansion, averaging 100 stores a month, increases toy accessibility for more than 90% of UK shoppers. 🧵H&M introduced a pop-up shop for its premium kidswear line, H&M Adorables, at Selfridges. This collection, featuring high-quality materials like cashmere and organic cotton, marks H&M’s first entry into department stores, aiming for timeless, long-lasting style. ♻️ eBay is expanding its Circular Fashion Fund, committing $1.2m (£921,000) to fashion start-ups by 2025. The fund, which supports circular fashion initiatives, offers mentoring, with applications open until 15 November 2024. 📈 Joshua Alliance, a member of the family who built N Brown Group, has made a cash offer of 40p per share, valuing the home shopping retailer at £191m. The bid, through Falcon 24 Topco Limited, aims to address liquidity concerns and support growth. 🎁 Poundland & Dealz introduced its Perks rewards app nationwide after a £20m investment. Following a successful trial in 100 stores, the app offers discounts on brands and aims to attract over 500,000 users. 🚚 wilko has teamed up with Deliveroo to offer on-demand delivery of over 3,000 home and garden products in as little as 25 minutes. Initially available in 10 locations, the service will expand to 50 by the end of the year. This is just a selection of news this week. Sign up below for more insight ⬇️ https//lnkd.in/d-z25aM

📊Navigating Operational Risks in Retail🛠️📉 Operational risks are some of the biggest challenge retailers face in 2024, as we discussed at the Barclays UK Corporate Banking 2024 Retail Conference last week. The conference explored a wide variety of risks facing retailers, and the various ways retailers are dealing with them. As our chief executive Richard Lim said in conversation with Karen Johnson, Head of Retail and Wholesale at Barclays UK Corporate Banking, operational risks are high on the agenda, with business models changing quickly. He said: “The thing that stands out to me is the pace of change. The customer journey has become so much more complicated – it used to be very one dimensional. Today shoppers almost unconsciously bounce between channels on their path to purchase.” In response, retailers need to build agility and adaptability into their business models as much as possible, and cater to the needs of consumers. “Operating models are evolving and models are under significant pressure to make sure they’re fit for tomorrow’s consumers.” Generative AI is set to turbocharge the pace of change further. One change already happening is in the area of search and discovery, with generative AI starting to shift how consumers (especially younger people) discover or look for products. But retailers are still on the fence as to what it could mean for the sector more broadly, with respondents to our survey unclear as to whether it is a threat or an opportunity. One thing that is clear, however, is that retailers are using a wide range of technology to drive operational efficiency and protect profitability in difficult times. To read more about how retailers are embracing this, read our report – written in partnership with Barclays Corporate Banking– on Retail resilience here. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eNGvUg5G #RetailEconomics #BarclaysUK #Barclays #BarclaysUKCorporateBanking #2024RetailConference #OperationalRisks

Excited to share our latest research with DS Smith—a first-of-its-kind study examining the scale of plastic packaging in European grocery retail 🛒 Our team of analysts audited 1,500 food and drink items, visiting 30 leading supermarkets across six European markets, combining fieldwork with sophisticated economic modelling to quantify the amount of unnecessary plastic in grocery shopping. The UK was found to be the most reliant on plastic, with 70% of food and drink purchases wrapped in plastic, compared to 59% in France, which leads the way in reducing plastic use. Notably, over half of plastic in UK grocery baskets could be removed or replaced by other, more easily recyclable materials. This equates to an astonishing 29.8 billion avoidable pieces of plastic annually. The research was featured in: BBC Wake Up to Money – Taxing times The Times The Guardian The Daily Mirror [online] Daily Mirror [print] Daily Record [print] Materials Recycling World New Food Magazine Food Info Tech The Grocer Lets Recycle Resource Food Manufacture Packaging Portal Paper First Web   ...and in media outlets in France, Italy and Spain Check out The Material Change Index ⬇ 🔗 https://lnkd.in/e-TFiWd4 #PlasticWaste #Retail #PackagingInnovation #Sustainability

🚚 Top Delivery Frustrations in 2024: Insights for Retailers 📦 As the retail landscape continues to evolve, understanding consumer frustrations with delivery is critical for maintaining customer satisfaction and loyalty. Our latest research with GFS (Global Freight Solutions Ltd), identifies the top delivery challenges faced by consumers today: - Late Deliveries: 🚚⏳ A significant 42% of consumers report frustration with deliveries arriving late and nobody being home to receive them. - Unsecure Package Locations: 🔒📦 41% of consumers worry about packages being left in unsecure areas, increasing the risk of theft or damage. - Poor Packaging: 📦 ❌ 36% experience damaged items due to inadequate packaging. - Return Difficulties: 🔄😩 32% find it challenging to return items or process returns. - Stolen or Missing Parcels: 📦❌ About 32% report issues with parcels that are stolen or missing. - Inaccurate Tracking Information: 📍❌ 31% express frustration over poor tracking information, leading to uncertainty about delivery status. - Poor Communication: 📞😕 30% feel let down by inadequate communication from retailers and carriers regarding their deliveries. - Poor Quality of Service: 🙁📉 21% report dissatisfaction with delivery services, including rude delivery personnel. These frustrations not only impact the customer experience but also contribute significantly to basket abandonment, costing retailers £31.5 billion annually in lost sales. Retailers must prioritize enhancing delivery options to meet consumer expectations and reduce abandonment rates. Offering a variety of reliable delivery choices can turn these frustrations into opportunities for customer loyalty and satisfaction. For more insights on improving your delivery strategy, download our full report here. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/eHZE93Nn #RetailEconomics #DeliveryExperience #CustomerSatisfaction #Ecommerce #BasketAbandonment #GFS