With the festive season fast approaching and consumers across the UK hitting the shops for those all-important seasonal gifts, American Express is once again running its Shop Small Offer to support local small businesses at this vital time. From 4-15 December 2021, American Express Cardmembers will receive a £5 statement credit when they spend £15 […]
A sustainable business whose offering includes hand-crafted products made from upcycled materials has launched following support and advice from Business Gateway. Made in Greenock’s core mission is to reduce and eliminate the negative environmental impacts of waste by giving unwanted materials a new lease of life. Products include Sri-Lankan inspired jewelled bangles made from Pringles tubs and spare saree fabric which are decorated with glass beads and […]
As thoughts start to turn to the festive period, UK retailers are preparing for a strong uplift in sales this holiday shopping season. According to Mastercard SpendingPulse™, which measures in-store and online retail sales across all forms of payment, UK sales* are expected to grow by 8% between 1 November and 26 December compared to […]
Susannah Streeter, senior investment and markets analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown: ‘’The customer trolley dash for treats at Marks and Spencer, which has prompted the retailer to raise its forecast for full year profit, shows just how lucrative the food arm of the business has become. Marks and Spencer may have been late to the grocery e-commerce […]
Despite expectations that an early start to festive spend might herald a return to growth in October, online retail sales have continued to remain low, falling by -11.2% Year-on-Year (YoY). This is according to the latest IMRG Capgemini Online Retail Index, which tracks the online sales performance of over 200 retailers. While the Month-on-Month (MoM) […]
More than half of small (58%) businesses in the UK are expecting their best ever Christmas, as the pandemic shift towards online shopping means consumers are starting their Christmas shopping earlier and spending more. New research by connectivity provider TalkTalk Business found that two thirds (65%) of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) say shoppers […]
Now that we have passed the period from 2020 that was under strict lockdown conditions, this analysis will return to primarily reporting the sales results on a year-on-year basis. However, for certain measures a two-year comparison remains useful, which will be clearly signposted below. Covering the five weeks 3 – 30 October 2021 On a […]
Covering the four weeks 03 October – 30 October 2021 2020 was a turbulent year in which much of retail bounced between being open and closed, impacting footfall significantly. To make meaningful comparisons to changes in footfall, all 2021 figures are compared with 2019 (pre-pandemic). This means our 2021 figures are now year-on-two-years (Yo2Y), rather […]
60% of UK retailers are taking more business risks than before the Covid-19 pandemic. According to research conducted by Opinium and LiveArea, a Merkle Company, businesses are reacting to changes in consumer behaviour and gambling on new services or offerings. As well as taking more risks, the process of implementation has sped up. When it […]
Period Covered: 01 – 07 October 2021 Shop Price annual deflation eased to 0.4% in October compared to September’s decrease of 0.5%. This is a slower rate of decline than the 12- and 6-month average price decreases of 1.3% and 0.7%, respectively. This is the slowest rate of decline since January 2020. Non-food deflation was […]
