Trolley wars: Drastic Dave’s no-frills move must hit the Jackpot for shareholders September 20, 2018 Tesco took a cheap shot at budget retailers Aldi and Lidl yesterday, launching its own discounter chain, Jack’s. Chief executive Dave Lewis opened the first store in a mothballed former Tesco outlet in the small Cambridgeshire town of Chatteris yesterday, with another 10 to 15 launches in the pipeline. The chain is named after Tesco founder [...]
The future of UK supermarkets is big data and personalisation May 9, 2018 The proposed merger of two supermarket giants, Asda and Sainsbury’s, has been hailed as one of the new “forces of UK retail”. But in a rush to point out that the combined chain would have nearly a third of the UK supermarket sector, one key factor has been ignored: Amazon. Amazon recently launched its online [...]
Supermarket sweep: Industry benefits from World Cup shopping spree September 18, 2018 The World Cup and sunny weather led consumers to spend almost £500m more at supermarkets over summer than they did the year before, according to new data released today. Alcohol spending grew by £228m, while people spent £178m more on fizzy drinks and £74m more on ice cream during one of the hottest summers on record, [...]
Supermarket sweep: Industry benefits from World Cup shopping spree September 18, 2018 The World Cup and sunny weather led consumers to spend almost £500m more at supermarkets over summer than they did the year before, according to new data released today. Alcohol spending grew by £228m, while people spent £178m more on fizzy drinks and £74m more on ice cream during one of the hottest summers on record, [...]
What this year’s Christmas adverts can teach us about making a great ad campaign December 17, 2018 With just over a week to go until Christmas Day, the big question is: have you bought all your presents yet? (I haven’t.) If you have, did any of this year’s festive ads sway your opinion? Did Elton John tickling the ivories mean that retailer John Lewis tickled your fancy, or did you feel like doing [...]
Tesco gets hit with £4bn equal pay bill in first wave of legal challenge | City A.M. July 11, 2018 Supermarket giant Tesco is facing the music over claims it has been underpaying its female staff, as the first 1,000 workers successfully launched a legal challenge against the retailer today. The law firm Leigh Day helped 100 women file a claim against Tesco in February, and has since followed up with a further 900 claims [...]
Asda reports steady sales growth ahead of Sainsbury’s merger May 17, 2018 Asda reported steady sales growth today as the supermarket looks forward to its proposed tie-up with Sainsbury’s. Comparable sales growth was up 3.4 per cent in the three months to the end of March. This was helped by the early timing of Easter, but Asda said sales still grew by one per cent when adjusted [...]
Amazon eyed buying Waitrose but was held off by John Lewis Partnership May 6, 2018 Amazon considered an acquisition of Waitrose last year, but was blocked from entering formal talks, reports suggest. A senior executive at the online shopping giant’s UK arm pushed for a meeting with the John Lewis Partnership but was “shut down” by the board, the Sunday Times reported today. The tech company’s acquisition of Whole Foods [...]
Tesco share price falls despite taking the fight to supermarket rivals with rising revenues October 3, 2018 Tesco aimed to cement its status as the UK’s largest supermarket today with rising revenue and operating margins as it fights off competition from merging rivals and cheaper competitors. However, shares fell more than seven per cent in morning trading as the retailer missed a key profit metric. The figures The retail giant posted a 13 [...]
Sainsbury’s to announce details of talks for £10bn Asda merger April 30, 2018 Details of a proposed £10bn mega-merger between Sainsbury’s and Asda will be revealed today, after it emerged that the two giants are locked in takeover talks. Sainsbury’s will issue a statement to the market this morning after confirming on Saturday that it was in advanced discussions regarding the tie-up with Wal-Mart owned Asda. City observers [...]