Company Results
– Beaverbrooks have reported a 13.2% increase in sales to £113m for the year to February 2015. Pre-tax profits were reported at £12.5m for the same period. (Source: Retail Week)
– The Co-operative Group have reported a 2.1% decrease in group sales to £4.6bn for the 26 weeks to 04 July 2015. Statutory profit before tax was reported at £36m for same period.
– Halfords have reported a 1.3% decrease in like-for-like retail sales for the 8 weeks to 28 August 2015.
– Jimmy Choo have reported a 6.5% increase in sales to £158.5m for the six months to 30 June 2015. Like-for-like sales increased by 3.3% while pre-tax profit was reported at £20.2m for the same period. (Source: Retail Bulletin)
– John Lewis have reported a 3.4% decrease in sales for the week to 29 August 2015. Fashion, Home and Electricals & Home Technology sales decreased by 0.9%, 0.4% and 9.3%, respectively. Sales at johnlewis.com increased by 6.9%.
– Joules have reported a 22.0% increase in revenue to £117.1m for the 53 weeks to 31 May 2015. Pre-tax profit before exceptional items increased by 36% to £5.0m for the same period. (Source: Retail Bulletin)
– McColl’s have reported 3.0% increase in group sales for the 13 weeks to 30 August 2015.
– Peter Vardy have reported a 10% increase in turnover to £224m for the six months to June 2015.
– Space NK have reported a 14.0% increase in turnover to £79.8m in the year to March 2015. Company profit increased by 87.0% to £4.4m for the same period. (Source: Verdict)
– Vertu have reported a 5.0% increase in group revenue for the five months to 31 July 2015. (Source: AM Online)
– Waitrose have reported a 1.7% increase in sales (including petrol) for the week to 29 August 2015.
Lifestyle saw a slight decline in like-for-likes of 1.3% which, although negative, is the strongest performer across the three bricks-and-mortar sectors covered by the tracker. The sector was lifted by a number of small ticket giftware retailers reporting positive like-for-likes throughout the month.
Fashion retailers had a particularly disappointing month, with like-for-likes plunging by 5.5% for the month. Specialist fashion retailers largely reported the best month, with mass market fashion only enjoying a slight uplift in the last week of the month. Department store sales of fashion suffered particularly this month with declining footfall. Discounting was less prevalent this summer than in August 2014, with better control of stock this year meaning many retailers had less items to offer in sales.
Homeware like-for-likes slumped by 3.3% in August, led primarily by a decline in expenditure on large items such as furniture. Home improvement was also weak this month due to many consumers delaying household improvements until their return from holiday.
Non-store sales are continuing to mature. After we reported the largest fall in like-for-likes In July To a rise of just 14.6%, like-for-likes for remote sales reached a new low this month, rising by just 11.5%. The Trend seems to mirror the sector wide issue of consumers being less willing to spend, although the last week of August saw a slight improvement in non-store sales, providing a glimmer of hope for improved expenditure through this channel in Autumn.
Clothing, Footwear & Accessories
– ASOS have appointed Nick Beighton as their new Chief Executive Officer, replacing Nick Robertson, with immediate effect. (Source: Company Press Release)
– Ecco have announced plans to open 25 new stores in UK and also to reopen their flagship store in London’s Oxford Street following refurbishment. (Source: The Telegraph)
– Mulberry have announced that their Finance Director, Roger Mather, has resigned from the company, though he will remain with the company till 30th June 2016 to oversee smooth transition. (Source: Company Press Release)
– Net-a-Porter have announced the departure of their Executive Chairman, Natalie Massenet, ahead of retailer’s merger with Italian firm Yoox. (Source: Financial Times)
– Oliver Bonas have announced plans to pay ‘Living Wage’ to their employees and third party contractors. (Source: The Independent)
– Thomas Sabo have announced plans to open their first store in North East at Newcastle’s Intu Eldon Square. The 1,000 sq. ft. store will open in Autumn 2015. (Source: Retail Bulletin)
– Very, online fashion retailer, have been named as ‘Official fashion partner’ for the X Factor series 2015. (Source: Retail Bulletin)
As per Gekko, 50% of the shoppers felt that lack of in-store staff impacted their final decision to make a purchase. The research also revealed that 36% of shoppers use advice from an in-store expert to influence their purchase decisions. Regardless of the assumption that young people prefer to shop and research products online, the study found that a third of 18-24 year olds said that they preferred receiving in-store advice from staff to help them with their purchasing decisions. The opportunity to discuss intended purchases with staff increased dwell time to more than ten minutes for 33% of consumers. A further 29% of shoppers said they would return to a store if they received helpful feedback on the shop floor. The study also suggested that brands need to strike the right balance to improve the in-store experience. Shoppers were found to be quick to criticise staff, with 52% complaining that they were too pushy when making a sale.
Electrical & Entertainment
– Amazon have announced plans to open their tenth fulfilment centre in the UK, in Doncaster. The 250,000 sq. ft. centre is set to open in Autumn 2015. (Source: Verdict)
– Stanfords, travel book retailer, have launched their Edward Stanford Signature Logo brand and the digitisation of their historic archives to market their collection of historic cartography to potential licensees. (Source: Retail Bulletin)
– Tesco have announced plans to sell Vinyl records for Iron Maiden’s new album in their 55 Tesco Extra stores. The album will be launched on 04 September 2015. (Source: The Guardian)
As per the new study by Salmon, Black Friday 2015 is set to be UK’s first £1bn online shopping day. The research found that 30% of UK shoppers plan to buy online during Black Friday in 2015 as compared to 8% in 2014. The study also revealed that the demand is expected to surge before Friday 27 November 2015 with shoppers increasingly savvy to retailers listing sale items early.
Food & Drink
– The Co-operative have launched a local supplier initiative with 50 local manufacturers in Yorkshire, under which the retailer will stock 130 new products made across the county. (Source: Retail Bulletin)
– Heineken has boosted its on-trade presence in the UK through the purchase of 13 pubs from Greene King (Source: Just Drinks)
– Molson Coors has announced a GBP2.8m marketing campaign for its Coors Light brand in the UK. (Source: Just Drinks)
– Poundland have launched a transactional website to test online selling, offering over 2,000 products ranging from chocolate bars to soft drinks and cosmetics. (Source: The Guardian)
– UK beer sales slipped in the past 12 months as the industry struggled against a football-free summer, new figures have shown. (Source: Just Drinks)
Household
– John Lewis have announced details of five industrial placement schemes for 2016-17, with candidates able to apply from 01 September 2015. (Source: Company Press Release)
– Notonthehighstreet.com have launched a cross-channel campaign in the North West of England to drive customer acquisition through a combination of retail and roadside locations. (Source: Retail Bulletin)
Courtesy of ‘Barclays‘
Tagged: Amazon, asos, ECCO, Jimmy Choo, Net-a-Porter, Space NK