Archive for June 2010
Asos close to launching Click & Collect in Boots’ stores
Customers of online fashion retailer Asos will soon be able to collect their orders from Boots stores. The pure play merchant has recognised the massive demand from consumers to buy online and then collect in-store. Soon to be a pick-up point for Asos Boots represents a non-competing retailer with an attractive national store coverage that would be powerful to Asos. The company had…
Read MoreClone Towns part 2 – the least boring shopping areas outside London
Shopping malls are largely given a bad mainstream press because the perception is that they all house the same old stores and besides providing a place to shelter from the rain are believed to offer little else to the shopper. We may have to think again if the research from retail location specialists CACI is…
Read MoreThe difference between Tesco and RBS
An interesting little insight into Tesco and Sir Terry Leahy came out of this week’s Retail Bulletin Loyalty Conference. Steve Gray, former MD at dunnhumby and now chairman of Emnos, recalled the time in 2004 when dunnhumby client US-based Kroger was looking to do a banking joint-venture with RBS. Sir Terry: Top of the pile Such a…
Read MoreWho cares what t-shirts the Scots wear.
What to make of all this fuss around the sale of anti-English World Cup merchandise. It seems the Scots have been entertaining themselves by buying t-shirts with ‘Anyone But England’ emblazoned across them. The offending t-shirt: would look quite stylish on a Scot Well they need something to do in addition to twiddling their thumbs because…
Read MoreHigh streets are boring shoppers
To state the blindingly obvious – high streets are having a tough time. Many retailers blame landlords and they are largely right. The greedy men in suits simply charge too much rent. Where this has really been felt is with smaller independent retailers. Not only have they had difficulty coming up with the high rentals demanded – compared with the…
Read MoreWhen will the City get Asos?
Continuing to misvalue online fashion retailer Asos seems to be one of the consistencies in the City, with retail analysts perenially underestimating its growth prospects. Last week’s results – for the year to March 31 – were a typical example. There was much talk ahead of the results about Asos needing to deliver strong numbers to justify its high…
Read MoreCause of Richard Brasher’s downfall
Tesco commercial director Richard Brasher’s failure to secure the chief executive role at Tesco has been revealed at the BRC Annual Retail Conference this week. In his earlier years at the company he was sent out to manage a store. He got it badly wrong over Christmas and was running a store with very little…
Read MoreNetto’s owners never really understood UK market
Asda might have paid a high price for the Netto supermarket chain but the expectation is that it will squeeze significantly greater revenues and profits from the business than its Danish owners. It intends to attract more people doing their full weekly shops through increasing the SKU count and boosting the fresh food offer. It will also…
Read MoreWhere are all the women?
We all know that women holding senior positions in the retail sector are an extremely rare breed. But the reality is that the retail industry is hardly unusual in having its most powerful roles held predominantly by men. This is a universal scenario that is common to all sectors. This poor situation was brought home to me…
Read MoreDoes Ocado really need eight banks advising on its flotation?
Home delivery company Ocado is taking no chances in being short of advice for its float as five more banking names signed on the dotted line to receive fees if the company does actually float (Retail Week, June 1). It seems staggering that a business looking to raise a modest £150 million (against an admittedly…
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