All Opinion articles – Page 217
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OpinionBlog: Themes at NRF conference highlight diversity of retail industry
Many of the themes at NRF are familiar to most – omnichannel is everywhere, international expansion is the holy grail, shrinking store estates and the effects on the high street are on retailers’ minds.
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OpinionComment: Morrisons puts focus on quality and service
Morrisons’ festive trading figures were a bit gloomy. The grocer suffered a limp end to 2012 amid heightened competition from all flanks.
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OpinionComment: Are iPads the future of store design?
Remember the time when retailers seemed to think that if it moved then an iPad should be attached to it? It wasn’t actually that long ago.
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OpinionComment: from Andy Street to Jim McCarthy – my 2012 retail honours list
In a volatile economic climate it’s more difficult for retailers to shine. Following Jessops’ collapse, I wanted to hail successful organisations and the individuals who lead them.
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OpinionBlog: Interflora makes bouquet ordering easy with new technology
Online flower retailer Interflora has implemented innovative new technology to enable customers to design and purchase their own bouquets through a web application.
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OpinionComment: Who won the Christmas battle on the high street?
This week has been an eventful week for UK retail. Despite weak overall figures from the BRC there have been some clear winners and losers over the Christmas period.
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OpinionComment: M&S - the curious incident of the results in the night-time
The extraordinary mid-evening conference call on Wednesday night, when Marks & Spencer pulled forward its Christmas trading statement, has prompted speculation aplenty.
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OpinionComment: Christmas trends point to retail’s ‘new normal’
Christmas was neither cause for celebration, nor the disaster some had feared.
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OpinionComment: What to watch out for in 2013
This year won’t be an easy ride for retailers, but there will still be winners.
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OpinionRetail Surgery: How can I use online customer data to encourage people to visit my store?
How can I use online customer data to encourage people to visit my store?
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OpinionRetail Surgery: How can I avoid losing customers at the point of purchase in stores?
How can I avoid losing customers at the point of purchase in stores?
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OpinionComment: Amazon's same-day delivery boosts conversions but has few users
With all the attention recently being paid to same-day delivery by retailers including eBay, Walmart, Macy’s, Nordstrom and tons of others, here’s an interesting stat – and a delicious contradiction – from the largest same-day retail deliverer: Amazon.
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OpinionComment: Do retailers’ marketing efforts tally with Christmas sales results?
Have retailers’ Christmas performances tallied with the effort they put into their marketing? As they announce their sales figures for the Christmas period, MediaCom looked at social sentiment via its Twitter Tracker, YouGov’s BrandIndex and YouTube channels to track their impact.
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OpinionBlog: Tesco piles on the pressure
Tesco’s boss Philip Clarke seemed on relaxed form this morning. The Christmas like-for-like performance, up 1.8%, is the strongest its been for three years and - while a different reporting period - is higher than competitors Sainsbury’s and Morrisons.
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OpinionNick Bubb's Verdict: Cost control won't work forever at M&S
With CEO Marc Bolland under increasing pressure to get profits moving up at M&S, it is unhelpful to his cause that current year expectations have had to be notched down again, even though M&S promises to get its act together this autumn.
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OpinionComment: Tesco should be relieved but there are still more vices than virtues
Tesco is approaching the anniversary of a dark day in its history when it announced a major underperformance of its home market leading to a material acceleration in the group’s change strategy.
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OpinionComment: Jessops' dullness was its downfall
There was more gloomy news in the electrical retail sector over Christmas and the New Year with the combination of Comet’s demise and the news yesterday that Jessops has called in the administrators.
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OpinionComment: Facing up to this year’s challenges
As we move into 2013, I am confident that Usdaw is in a strong position to tackle the challenges that lie ahead for us and for our members during the current challenging economic circumstances.
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OpinionComment: Online retail can cause dilemmas for retailers
Digital retailing made Christmas for the industry, it seems.
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OpinionComment: Jessops' failure reflects declining market
The failure of Jessops would represent the latest in a long line of casualties within the UK electricals market.