In a new opinion column on Retail Times, Simon Cotton, founder and development director at leading UK alfresco design and build company, Breezefree, discusses the UK’s flourishing outdoor culture and why bamboo is becoming the timber of choice in alfresco dining When Thomas Cook, a 32-year old cabinet maker, developed the idea of social excursions in 1841 [...]
Online shopping site, mySupermarket, is on a roll. It is ratcheting up users, adding new brand stores, launching a transactional mobile website and expanding internationally on the back of a recent $10m investment led by WPP. James Foord, vp business development, tells Retail Times editor, Fiona Briggs, why the model is right for now and [...]
In a new opinion column on Retail Times, Andrew Southgate, managing director at at Zetes, looks at the importance of new generation proof of delivery and fulfilment solutions in an increasingly omni-channel world It is an interesting, albeit challenging time to be working in retail logistics. Together with difficult trading conditions, the proliferation of mobile devices [...]
Brown Cow Organics has introduced an organic beef gluten-free BBQ pack to mark Coeliac Awareness week (14-20 May 2012), a promotional campaign aunched by Coeliac UK to get the nation thinking about people with coeliac disease. The company’s beef burgers are already gluten free and for this new pack, Brown Cow Organics has also produced [...]
CJ Lang and Son has appointed Bill Mair as sales director for Spar Scotland’s independent retailer division. Mair’s career includes working with CJ Lang as a business development manager, supporting independent Spar retailers; followed by a period as sales and marketing director with Spar multi-site independent retailer, AJ Gillespie. Mair rejoined CJ Lang in April [...]
Dutch brewer Bavaria has launched a new loyalty scheme to encourage independent retailers to stock and sell its range of Bavaria 8.6 beers. According to the company, the promotion of these beers is well timed, with recent market data showing the impulse sector now accounts for 72% of value and 75% of volume in the category [...]
The Co-operative is hoping to help people get into the party spirit with a range of lines to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. They include commemorative Jubilee limited edition doughnuts, £1.29 for a pack of four; and a gingerbread bear biscuit, with a hand-decorated Union Jack top, retailing at 89p. Party products include Union Jack [...]
One in four (25%) people will regularly use interactive TV to shop by the end of 2014, generating direct sales worth an estimated £750m, according to an eBay-commissioned study carried out by Conlumino. Smart devices are also ranked as one of the top five predicted influential technologies for retail. The findings chime with research by [...]
Country lifestyle fashion brand, Joules, has teamed up with bed and bath brand, Bedeck, to develop its first bed and bath collection. Launching in early autumn/winter 2012, the collection will feature ranges for both adults and children including bed linen, cushions, blankets, bathrobes and towels. There are six bed sets for adults and four for [...]
UK shoppers spent an estimated £5.7bn online in April, a year-on-year growth of 10% and equivalent to £112.00 per person, according to the latest figures from the IMRG Capgemini e-Retail Sales Index. Although this growth level comes in lower than IMRG and Capgemini’s 13% estimate for the year, April 2011 was a strong performing month, boosted by the [...]
Global translation agency and a Deloitte Fast 500 Company, TranslateMedia, has surveyed 75 UK businesses with an online commerce business to assess the appetite for export. It found: Nearly one third said over half of their online related business comes from outside the UK 40% of companies identified Europe as a fast growth area for e-commerce (with a [...]
The Co-operative is kicking off Euro 2012 (8 June 2012) with a range of deals on food and drink to help shoppers enjoy Europe’s biggest football tournament. They include a three-for-£10.00 deal available on a selection of products, including The Co-operative Truly Irresistible Aberdeen Angus Beef Burgers, British Elmwood Hot and Spicy Chicken Thighs and Drumsticks, and [...]
UK Point of Sale is calling on independent retailers across Britain to snap a photo of their celebratory window displays this summer to be in with a chance of winning an iPad, to show its support of the sector and Independent Retailer Month this July. With the Jubilee, Wimbledon, Olympics and even England’s participation in Euro 2012 coming [...]
Discount household products supplier, 151 Products, has launched a range of grass seed called Super Patch. The collection, which has been developed at 151 Products’ in-house lab, helps to save water and is super-absorbent, encouraging quick, thick, strong grass to grow wherever required, the company claims. Super Patch can be used to cover bald patches that [...]
Unilever has appointed Tim Munden, a Unilever veteran of 18 years, as vice president HR of the UK and Ireland business. Munden joined Unilever as a graduate on the Unilever Future Leaders Programme after retiring from the Armed Forces for medical reasons. Since then, he has carved out a broad career around the globe, heading [...]
Business confidence among retailers and wholesalers has improved in the last three months, according to the latest ICAEW/Grant Thornton UK Business Confidence Monitor (BCM). However, despite a strong rebound in the Confidence Index overall, the BCM supports the view the UK’s economy will continue to zig-zag over the next 12 months, with economic recovery still [...]
Interflora was the third fast grower in April’s ChannelAdvisor UK Facebook Commerce Index, which ranks retail brands by their number of fans. The flower business achieved 35% growth last month taking its fan base to 25,650. According to ChannelAdvisor, Interflora has an advantage over many other retailers in the Index because it is a global [...]
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