Eight very cool ways Amazon Echo can make your life easier November 14, 2016 It's a speaker, it's a personal assistant, it's activated by just your voice and it's promising to make your life easier – meet the Amazon Echo. Many people are already raving about the device across the pond where it's been available for some time while many others not in the US have been hacking the device to get [...]
Amazon’s streaming service Music Unlimited launches in the UK November 14, 2016 Amazon is launching its new music streaming service in the UK in a bid to take on Spotify and Apple Music, priced from as little as £3.99. It comes less than a month after the long-rumoured service was revealed in the US, and will feature music from top artists such as Adele. “We’ve been thrilled with [...]
Sir Stuart Rose, chairman of Dressipi: The next revolution in retail is data-based, personalised services, and the UK is at the vanguard November 14, 2016 THE DEMISE of BHS and Austin Reed, as well as gyrating retail sales figures, has again highlighted the variety of headwinds facing the retail sector, particularly on the high street. These include: the threat from companies such as Amazon, increasing costs, squeezed margins, keeping brands fresh or even the good, old-fashioned unpredictable British weather. The [...]
Black Friday: Rumours, deals and speculation at retailers including Amazon, Argos and Tesco November 11, 2016 Ah, Black Friday. It may have started as an American tradition – but in recent years it's become more British than watching the Queen's speech while wearing a jauntily-angled Christmas cracker hat. This year, Black Friday falls on 25 November. But sharpen those elbows, people, because the Black Friday 'period' begins NEXT WEEK. Here's what retailers [...]
Alibaba smashes record sales on Singles Day November 11, 2016 E-commerce giant Alibaba has topped its sales record for its annual Singles Day savings event in China. The biggest retail event in the world totted up $1bn worth of sales in the first five minutes, the retailer claimed, and by 20 hours in had reached $15bn (£12bn) as people snapped up bargains in its annual sale. Total [...]
Singles Day: What can British retailers learn from China’s version of Black Friday? November 11, 2016 Today marks the world’s largest e-commerce event. No, it’s not Black Friday yet – Singles Day is taking place in China, and it’s bigger than Black Friday and Cyber Monday combined. At midnight local time it took Alibaba just 52 seconds to take its first 1bn renminbi (£116m) and just under seven minutes to reach 10bn [...]
Here’s everything that happened in the sixth episode of The Apprentice November 11, 2016 This week’s Apprentice sent the final 12 on a wild goose chase around London in a classic task – the treasure hunt challenge. They were given all night to find every object on a list, which shouldn't have been too hard considering London is now a 24-hour city. Perhaps a more difficult challenge before the advent [...]
Do you have an analogue business in a digital age? November 10, 2016 UK small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are weathering the tempest that 2016 has blown their way, remaining ambitious, while providing a sturdy backbone for our economy during this period of uncertainty. It will surprise few that websites, social media and online marketplaces are a conduit to success, and a driving force behind increasing revenues in [...]
Here’s what tech stocks are doing after Trump’s win November 9, 2016 Shares in Google parent Alphabet, Apple and Amazon were down more than two per cent in pre-market trading on Wednesday after Donald Trump clinched victory from Hillary Clinton to become the next President of the United States. Many of the firms hold billions of dollars in profits offshore so they don't have to pay a 40 [...]
Spotify rival Electric Jukebox set to raise £7m on Aim November 7, 2016 Stars including Robbie Williams, Stephen Fry and Sheryl Crow are among the investors in an up and coming music streaming service that will raise £7m when it becomes an Aim-listed company this week. The service, Electric Jukebox, allows a year’s free access to 29m songs simply by plugging a gadget straight into a TV. It [...]