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Get ready to celebrate independent Record Store Day

18 Apr 2024

Independent record stores around the country are preparing to celebrate all things vinyl for this year’s Record Store Day on Saturday April 20th. 
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Indies encouraged to put themselves forward for Retail Business of the Year award.

18 Apr 2024

BIRA, the British Independent Retailers Association, has announced its partnership with this year’s SME National Business Awards., joining the 2024 awards as a leading sponsor, backing... Read more…

Family-run Polesworth fish and chip shop celebrates 40 years in business with half-price chips.

18 Apr 2024

A Midlands fish and chip shop is celebrating 40 years in business and offering half-price chips to mark the milestone.
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Assault of shop workers to be made specific criminal offence

18 Apr 2024

Assaulting a shop worker is to be made a separate criminal offence in England and Wales as part of a government response to a wave of retail crime. 
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New stores helping Cardiff arcades buck retail trends.

18 Apr 2024

Eleven new businesses that have opened in the last year in the historic arcades of Cardiff city centre’s Morgan Quarter, made up of the Morgan and Royal arcades, have helped the arcades... Read more…

Study highlights impact of rising staff costs for convenience retailers.

3 Apr 2024

Research by the University of Stirling and the Scottish Grocers’ Federation has shed light on the impact of rising staff costs on the convenience retail sector in Scotland.
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Independent department stores hitting a sweet spot on local high streets.

3 Apr 2024

With large national chains increasingly disappearing from the high street, Drapers magazine has been looking at how independent department stores are stepping up their offerings to... Read more…

Entries open for 2024 Baking Industry Awards

2 Apr 2024

The Baking Industry Awards return for their 37th year and are once again ready to recognise and reward the very best people, products, and businesses in the sector. The awards showcase the... Read more…

Family-owned cycle shop celebrates 90 years trading in Walsall.

2 Apr 2024

Walsall's cycling community has been celebrating a family-owned business which celebrates its 90th anniversary this year.
 
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Payment-processing outages at UK retailers raise reliability issues for cashless transactions.

2 Apr 2024

Recent payment disruptions at supermarkets and fast-food outlets have raised questions on the need for improved reliability.
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Retailer tactics that shone online and over the Christmas trading period

Posted on in Business News

walking, cycling and public transportJD Sports, Shop Direct, Boohoo Group and New Look have all reported rising sales.

Why is this? Especially when figures from the Christmas period and into the New Year show a decline in footfall, sales and an increase in returns.

Internet Retailing reports on the rising sales over the Christmas period.

JD Sports has reported that the increase in its sales is down to the multichannel model it has employed and the aversion to discounting which supported JD Sports to grow over Christmas. JD Sports implementation of the multichannel model has also assisted in the wider store growth over the first 48 weeks of its financial year.

Shop Direct offered cheaper prices without hitting profits, however, the successful use of machine-learning in chatbots helped reduce calls by 30%, flagging up its tactic of beaming prices and availability to high streets. The use of chatbots increased the number of mobile sales and boosted the share of sales to mobile devices.

The Boohoo Group in offering cheaper prices across the Christmas period also didn't reach profits, but strengthened the trust in chatbots and increased mobile sales.

New Look took on a multichannel trading model similar to JD Sports moving away from unsustainable discounting towards profitable sales to move from high levels of debt to equity. New Look's model has seen a hit on online sales but support towards maintaining a stable store, focused on driving sales into stores though click and collect.

It is becoming more and more evident that retailers are recognising the faults in harsh discounting and the need to implement different models and strategies, listening to the consumer rather than following the out of date strategy that discounting is always the solution.  

What can independent retailers learn from larger retailers like the Boohoo Group and JD Sports who are moving away from the traditional discounting business strategy model? 

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