Here’s how Royal Mail wants to turn itself around: Targeted junk mail based on your online shopping June 22, 2015 It hasn't been an easy few months for Royal Mail since it went public – but now the company has a secret weapon: targeted junk mail based on your online shopping habits. The company has already begun a "secret pilot" with a large UK retailer, the Daily Mail reported, with mail sent to households if they so much [...]
Black Friday 2015 UK: Tips for how to get the best deals, avoid the queues and stay calm in stores and online for blissful bargain hunting November 24, 2015 We’re only a few days away from Black Friday, now synonymous with frenzied shoppers battling to secure the pick of the sale crop. Determined shoppers will again pound the pavements to secure their pre-Christmas bargains. For those considering taking up the challenge, we’ve gone through our consumer data based on 3,000 shoppers last year – [...]
Sony unveils Aerosense drone: Watch the drone prototype take flight for the first time August 25, 2015 The world has been given a first glimpse of Sony’s future drone completing a vertical take-off, as Sony’s Aerosense unveils a prototype that shows the company’s shift from consumer to enterprise tech. The drone looks cool, but this is no toy. Moving away from the consumer sphere, these plane-shaped drones are aimed at business use. [...]
Sales of video games help boost dwindling entertainment market August 10, 2015 CONSUMERS still buying video games on the high street helped provide a welcome boost to the physical entertainment market in the last quarter and stem the rate of decline. Figures released yesterday by Kantar Worldpanel show that the physical entertainment market – sales of CDs, DVDs and games – shrank by three per cent in [...]
Sainsbury’s biggest FTSE riser as share price soars by most since 2009 as sales fall by less than expected September 30, 2015 It comes to something when a dip in sales is embraced rapturously by investors – but Sainsbury's shareholders were thrilled as the supermarket suggested full-year profits will be ahead of expectations. The figures Sainsbury's like-for-like sales in the quarter to the end of September, it said, with sales excluding petrol dipping 1.1 per cent. That was "moderately" [...]
The Uber of electricity could be just around the corner – if regulators get out the way November 5, 2015 The way we communicate with each other, access music and movies, and even travel around cities is forever changing. But for far too long, the way we access and consume electricity has stayed the same. With the “Internet of Things” and the “Connected Home”, there are opportunities for new technologies to revolutionise the old models [...]
The next fintech? Why London can make unicorns a retail reality October 8, 2015 The future unicorns of the UK lie in London’s retail technology sector. This is according to a fifth of Tech London Advocates, in a study of the future growth drivers of London’s technology industry. The truth is, London already leads the world in terms of expertise and knowledge around retail technology. Retail technology is a sector [...]
Boxing Day sales kick off early online at Amazon, John Lewis, Currys, Harrods, Next and Debenhams December 24, 2014 Amazon is kicking off its Boxing Day sale on Christmas Day. That’s right, you can start hunting for deals if Santa didn’t bring what you wanted before you’ve even had time to digest Christmas dinner. But there are also a host of retailers waiting to open their doors to sale shoppers on Boxing Day that [...]
Royal Mail share price slides as Ofcom launches “fundamental” review of Royal Mail June 16, 2015 Communications regulator Ofcom today announced plans for a "fundamental" review into Royal Mail's direct delivery service, sparked by the withdrawal of Whistl, Royal Mail's only rival in the sector. Read more: Opinion – Lessons learned as final Royal Mail parcel goes on sale Shares were down 2.5 per cent at 492p as Ofcom said the [...]
Meeting friends in London? Don’t bank on it – Londoners are terrible at keeping plans and lie about why they’re cancelling August 27, 2015 If it feels like it's impossible to stick to a date to meet up with friends anywhere in London, then you're right – but you're probably just as bad at cancelling plans as they are. Londoners are truly terrible at bailing out of meeting up with their nearest and dearest – and we lie about [...]