Customer satisfaction levels suffer as retailers battle tough trading condtions January 23, 2020 Customer service satisfaction levels have suffered the longest decline since records began as retailers struggle to juggle meeting consumer expectations and facing the challenging trading conditions on the UK high street. The latest research showed that customer service satisfaction is at the lowest level since July 2015 with a score of 76.9. The top five [...]
Outgoing John Lewis boss Paula Nickolds in line for £750,000 payoff January 12, 2020 The outgoing managing director of John Lewis Partnership is in line for a £750,000 payoff. Paula Nickolds announced her departure last week following the company’s profit warning, just three months after being appointed as the partnership’s head of brand. The Sunday Times reported that Nickolds was offered a payoff at the time of the restructuring, [...]
Four challenges Sharon White must address at John Lewis January 9, 2020 Incoming John Lewis Partnership boss Sharon White will have a big job on her hands when she joins the retailer next month, as this morning’s trading update showed. The department store issued a profit warning today and made the surprise announcement that John Lewis managing director Paula Nickolds will leave the partnership in February. It [...]
John Lewis issues profit warning as MD steps down January 9, 2020 John Lewis & Partners issued a profit warning today and said its managing director will leave the struggling business next month after underwhelming Christmas sales. The retail partnership warned full-year profits will be “substantially down” on last year as it revealed significant drops in both John Lewis and Waitrose revenue. Read more: Four problems new [...]
Have yourself a very modern Christmas: How to keep things woke on the big day, from vegan-friendly to zero-carbon December 13, 2019 The cards may read “peace to all men” but Christmas is a time for bitter fights, tantrums and physical conflict, especially when it comes to lunch (or should that be “dinner”?). Most of all, it’s a day when people come together to vehemently disagree about food. Siblings will fly thousands of miles, cross land and [...]
Ocado joint venture with Marks & Spencer ‘working well’ December 12, 2019 Ocado has said its joint venture with Marks & Spencer is “working well,” as the retail delivery giant said revenue growth slowed slightly in its latest quarter. The firm saw growth in weekly orders, but stable average order size for the 13 weeks to 1 December. Read more: Ocado sales growth accelerates after Andover fire [...]
Lidl sales help it hit record stake in UK supermarket sector December 10, 2019 The biggest supermarkets shed yet more market share to discounters Aldi and Lidl in the three months to the start of December, new data out today reveals. The big four grocers saw their collective market share drop by over one per cent to 67.7 per cent as people delayed their Christmas shopping and Black Friday [...]
The Xmas endgame: Why retailers are wasting their money on Christmas TV adverts December 2, 2019 An estimated £6.8bn has been spent on creating and buying airtime for this year’s crop of Christmas commercials — up nearly five per cent on last year’s spend. Certainly, the ads boast high production values, but was this money well spent, or would these brands have been better off holding onto the cash and hoping [...]
UK supermarkets further increase plastic footprint despite pledges November 28, 2019 Seven out of the UK’s top 10 supermarkets increased their plastic footprint , as the total amount of plastic packaging used rose to 900,000 tonnes a year. Out of the UK’s 10 largest supermarkets, only Waitrose, Tesco and Sainsbury’s achieved marginal reductions over the past 12 months. Read more: Unilever pledges to cut plastic use [...]
You’ll never guess who ended Apple’s reign as the UK’s best employer November 26, 2019 iPhone titan Apple has been toppled from its top spot on a list of the UK’s top 25 employers. But it wasn’t another tech giant that took Apple’s crown – that honour, in fact, goes to pest control company Rentokil. The Camberley-based rat catchers topped recruiter Indeed’s list of the most popular employers in the [...]