Supermarket price wars: Sainsbury’s and Asda kick off new cost-cutting battle January 6, 2015 Asda and J Sainsbury fired the latest salvo yesterday in the supermarket price war, with Tesco also expected to launch a round of price cuts tomorrow as the big four battle it out to win over shoppers’ loyalty. Walmart-owned Asda pledged to spend £300m lowering prices in the first quarter of 2015 as part of [...]
Tesco backs Blinkbox with Clubcard rewards in fight against Netflix and Amazon June 17, 2014 Blinkbox, the Tesco-owned TV and film streaming service, is introducing customer rewards to attract and retain customers. Tesco is putting the weight of its Clubcard loyalty scheme behind Blinkbox in a bid to stand out from rivals such as Netflix and Amazon Prime Instant Video. The scheme is the biggest tie-up between the two [...]
Tesco seals deal to sell House of Fraser products June 2, 2014 TESCO has struck a deal with House of Fraser to sell the department store’s products on its website, the supermarket giant said yesterday, as it seeks to stem its declining sales. After trialling the offer earlier this month, Tesco said House of Fraser has agreed to sell 2,000 products from homeware brands including Linea and [...]
Retailers slammed for “dodgy” discounting practices in super-complaint to CMA April 21, 2015 Retailers could face an investigation into their discounts and promotional activity after consumer campaigning group Which filed a “super-complaint” to the Competition and Markets Authority. Which claims retailers are “confusing consumers with tactics that exaggerate discounts and manipulate shoppers”, arguing they create “the illusion of savings that don't exist”. The complaint comes on the [...]
Sainsbury’s share price falls after it posts first loss in a decade May 6, 2015 Nine years of uninterrupted sales growth came to a halt today as Sainsbury's reported a pre-tax loss of £72m. Investors were not impressed, and the grocer's shares were down 3.6 per cent to 264.8 pence this afternoon. The figures Sainsbury's said underlying profit before tax had fallen by 14.7 per cent to £681m in the year [...]
Tesco unveils plan for smartphone May 6, 2014 Tesco’s got plans to launch its first smartphone by the end of 2014, the BBC reports. The supermarket’s chief executive Philip Clarke, speaking on Radio 5 live’s Wake Up to Money, said the own-brand phone would be pre-installed with Tesco services. It’ll run on Google’s Android software with hardware similar to Samsung’s Galaxy S5. Tesco [...]
FTSE stalls on route to record high after Greek talks falter – London Report February 18, 2015 After touching a 15-year peak yesterday morning, the FTSE 100 ended the trading day unchanged. London’s blue-chip index hit 6,921.3 at one point, but then fell back to close at 6,898.08 – just 0.05 points down on the previous day. The index’s record closing high of 6,930.2 was reached in December 1999, while the record [...]
Who’s lining up in the CEO sack race? Ladbrokes’ odds on Standard Chartered’s Peter Sands January 4, 2015 There were a lot of interesting moves at the top in 2014, with chiefs taking P45s left right and centre – Harriet Green at Thomas Cook, Simon Calder at Mothercare and Tesco’s Philip Clarke to name but a few. But who will be saying sayonara in 2015? Well, sadly we don’t have a crystal ball [...]
Morrisons to cut dividend and post lowest profit in eight years March 9, 2015 Morrisons is expected to signal lower dividend payouts on Thursday this week when the troubled supermarket chain is to report its lowest annual profit in eight years. The Bradford-based retailer has been hit hard by the fierce industry price war as all big four supermarkets battle it out to retain customers’ loyalty and fend off [...]
Warren Buffett sheds $3.9bn Exxon Mobil stake as oil prices tumble February 17, 2015 Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway shed its holding in Exxon Mobil in the fourth quarter of 2014 as the company reacted to tumbling oil prices. Berkshire had held 41m shares worth $3.9bn (£2.5bn) in Exxon and 471,994 shares in Conoco as recently as the end of September, but a regulatory filing has revealed that [...]