Tesco leads way in store plan approvals, says BBC programme | Industry News | TalkingRetail.com

Research for the BBC’s Panorama programme will tonight (Wednesday)  reveal that at least 577 plans for UK supermarkets were approved in the past two years.

Planning authorities, said the research, gave Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons permission for at least 480 stores in England in the two years to 1 November.

Campaigners say the stores are putting independent traders out of business.

In Scotland, at least 67 stores were approved: 22 in Wales and at least eight in Northern Ireland, researchers found.

In order to gauge the rate of expansion of the major supermarkets, the BBC contacted planning authorities across the UK to find out how many new stores had been approved between 1 November 2008 and 1 November 2010.

Not all councils responded, but out of those that did Tesco proved to have had the most successful applications with at least 392 stores (large stores and smaller convenience shops) approved, followed by Sainsbury’s at 111, Morrisons with 41 and Asda at 33.

In England, London had the highest number of proposed new supermarkets with 110, followed by the north-west of England with 63.

A BBC Panorama special programme called Supermarkets: What price cheap food? will be broadcast on BBC One at 9pm tonight (Wednesday) and will also investigate the growth of supermarkets.

Source: BBC

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Christmas Day set to create new online spending record, says Visa Europe | Industry News | TalkingRetail.com

Christmas Day is set to see record online consumer spending this year, according to analysis by Visa Europe.

The payments company expects to process over 960,000 online transactions, worth up to£36m, throughout the day as Britons extend their festive cheer with a spot of retail therapy.

In 2009, Visa Europe processed over 800,000 online transactions on Christmas Day, worth almost£30m. 

However, with many retailers launching their seasonal sales on Christmas Eve this year, Visa predicts a year-on-year spend increase of 20% as consumers log online to make the most of the early discounts and buy their big ticket goods ahead of the VAT rise coming into place on 4 January.

In addition, with Boxing Day falling on a Sunday this year, higher online spend levels are expected to continue over the festive weekend as high street shoppers are faced with shorter trading hours on what is usually the start of the busy Christmas sales.

With major retailers closed and consumers spending time with their families rather than pounding the street, Visa’s data shows that on Christmas Day, online spend is expected to account for 50% of total expenditure on Visa cards (debit, credit and prepaid), compared to 20% throughout the rest of the year.

Dr Steve Perry, Commercial Director at Visa Europe, said:“The lure of early Christmas sales this year will see record numbers of people heading online on Christmas Day to snap up bargains and we expect online purchases to make up half of all the Visa card transactions we will process on that day.

“The number of eCommerce transactions is growing by about 25% every year and there’s no denying the appeal of internet shopping for consumers, who are feeling increasingly confident, safe and web-savvy as they hunt for bargains online.”

Visa bases its predictions on up-to-the-minute spending data and previous years’ Christmas spending trends. Over £1 in every £4 spent in the UK is on a Visa card, making this data one of the most reliable indicators of trends in consumer spending.
Source: Visa Europe

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Online retail customer satisfaction rates begin to slow, says new survey | Industry News | TalkingRetail.com

ForeSee Results, market leader of customer satisfaction measurement and management, has today announced the findings of its annual Christmas customer satisfaction Index across the UK’s top 40 online retail websites during December. 

After a huge year-on-year increase in online customer satisfaction from 2008 to 2009 (from 67 to 71 on a 100-point scale), customer satisfaction has increased only slightly in 2010 (from 71 to 72). 

This is significant because highly satisfied visitors to retail websites in the UK say they are 57% more committed to the brand overall, 59% more likely to purchase online, 33% more likely to purchase offline, and 69% more likely to recommend the retailer. 

By comparing scores to the overall aggregate for UK online retailers (72), any retailer falling 72 or lower is risking loyalty, recommendations, sales, and market share. 

By this measure, the research shows that 24 online retailers (nearly two-thirds) are under-performing their UK peers. 

Despite these findings, the research also indicates that the gap between the best retail websites in the UK and the rest is huge and possibly widening. While the year-on-year increase in satisfaction is small in the aggregate, individual retailers have seen big gains. 

The best and biggest online retailers are typically providing a much better online experience, and smaller retailers are falling further behind.

This is the fourth year that ForeSee Results has measured customer satisfaction with the top 40 online retailers in the UK, enabling valuable year-on-year comparison to see which retailers have improved and which have slipped over time. 

The Index measured four high-level factors that affect overall customer satisfaction: functionality, price, merchandise and content. 
Over 10,000 survey responses were collected from shoppers who had visited the top 40 online retail websites in the UK in November and December. 

The Leaders:  Amazon.com (84) was measured for the first time this year as a separate site, and it slightly edges out the long-standing top performer amongst UK online retailers, Amazon.co.uk (83). 

Perennially high-scoring Play.com increases two points to round out the top three companies scoring over 80 (last year, only one website scored over 80, generally considered the threshold for excellence whilst using this methodology). John Lewis increases one point to 78, and Marks& Spencer enters the top five for the first time in the study’s four-year history with a five point year-on-year increase.

The Fallers: Only seven of the 40 websites (18%) saw scores decline, but all decreased only by one point, except for Dell EMEA, which declined three points since last year to a score of 68, below the online retail aggregate of 72.

The Widening Gap: When comparing the largest online retailers (in terms of revenue, as ranked by IMRG) to the rest of the group, it is clear that the largest retailers have the highest satisfaction.  In fact, the average satisfaction of the top 10 online retailers (in terms of revenue) is 77; whilst the average satisfaction for the rest is a 71, a gap of six points.  In addition, the 10 online retailers with the best satisfaction had an average increase of two points each, while the other 30retailers averaged no change since last year.  In short, the best are getting better, while the rest are slipping.

The Most Improved:  Of the 40 measured UK online retailers, 14 (roughly one-third) saw year-on-year increases of at least a point or more. The most notable increases are all companies that build on substantial gains last year by not resting on their laurels and continuing to improve the customer experience on an ongoing basis.

o Marks& Spencer (78):  up five points since last year; up eight points since 2008

o Argos (77): up four points since last year; up 10 points since 2007

o Asda (76):  up three points since last year; up 12 points since 2007

o Next (74): up three points since last year; up seven points since 2007

o River Island (72): up three points since last year; up 11 points since 2007

o Littlewoods (71): up five points since last year; up seven points since 2007

o Curry’s (69): up three points since last year; up nine points since 2007

Source: ForeSee Results

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Retailers need to‘engage online’ with customers in post-Christmas period | Industry News | TalkingRetail.com

Christmas may be over but bad weather is still affecting trade up and down the country and so retailers will need to work hard to engage with their customers via their ecommerce sites, claims retail experts at CTS Retail.

The snow has undoubtedly caused havoc for hundreds of retailers and at a time when they should be preparing for the mass queues of shoppers waiting to grab the array of post-Christmas bargains.

But with recent reports revealing that stores like HMV, Dixons and even more reliable performers like Marks& Spencer, Tesco and WH Smith were all facing slumps in sales, experts at software+services distributor CTS Retail are urging retailers to focus on their ecommerce operations to ensure they maximise sales during this difficult time.

“The cold snap is clearly going to be another thorn in the side of an already twitchy retailer as the impending VAT rise puts further pressure on to keep up sales, but the most important thing is to remain upbeat and look at what can be done.

“The weather can’t be changed and you can’t make your suppliers bring your deliveries any quicker. But you can ensure that your customers can reach you, engage with you and order/pre-order or reserve items for when they arrive or the weather improves,” said Scott Storey, managing director ofCTS Retail.

Storey’s comments mirrored a flurry of news items in recent months that report soaring online sales, and with less pressure to get parcels delivered in time for Christmas, he predicted more consumers than ever would dabble in the virtual retail experience rather than venture out into the cold.

“If you haven’t already got an ecommerce site then now would certainly be the time to consider how it could help you maintain custom during periods of bad weather.

“The modern customer demands a multi-channel shopping experience and even the smallest independent store must be visible online if they want to compete.

“It will be interesting to see which retailers fair well over this period, but my money is on those that have invested in a customer-centric multi-channel shopper experience,” he said.

Source: CTS Retail

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Retailers fear declining sales in 2011 with consumer demand weak | Industry News | TalkingRetail.com

A majority of retailers predict a decline in business in 2011, with their biggest concerns for the New Year being weak consumer demand and inflationary pressures.

Nearly two-thirds of retailers responding to the British Retail Consortium’s (BRC’s) Retail Prospects for 2011 snapshot survey, published today (Monday) , said they expect retail sales to worsen compared with 2010. 18% expect an improvement.

Despite these immediate fears, retailers continue to focus on the long-game. They plan to go on investing and maintaining or creating jobs, with 47% of retailers expecting to create jobs in 2011– though 24% expect to employ fewer people.

 The Government has said it wants to make the UK a great place to do business.  Retailers were asked for the three changes they thought would make that happen. Top of the list was ‘Reduce or relax existing regulations’ followed by ‘Avoid new regulations’ and ‘Talk about growth instead ofcuts’.

Stephen Robertson, British Retail Consortium director general, said:“We were expecting the final figures for December spending to be modestly up on last year but we now have to factor in the effects of the nightmare weather. 

“Despite the combination of snow and concerns about their money and job prospects, most customers were still determined to buy the things they wanted for Christmas and did seize the opportunities they had to shop.

“It was usually a case of the timing of shopping moving around rather than being lost altogether. The disruption won’t have helped sales but my hope is that the overall impact will turn out to be less severe than some fear. 

“Our snapshot shows retailers expect a difficult December to be followed by a tough 2011. They believe the VAT rise will contribute to higher prices and, with fears about Government cuts and the wider economy, people will be put off spending.

“But the positive news is retailers have their eyes on the horizon and are demonstrating more faith in longer-term prospects. An encouraging proportion intends to increase investment and create jobs.

“The message for Government is clear. At a time of public sector cuts, retailers want to go on delivering the economic growth the country needs. But politicians must help them by rowing- back on costly regulation.” 

Source: BRC

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Sainsbury’s opens new Local store in Ashford, Middlesex | Industry News | TalkingRetail.com

Sainsbury’s has opened a new Local store in Ashford, Middlesex, where pupils from Clarendon Road Primary School joined in the celebrations.

The children, who were joined by teachers, cut the ribbon at 9am. They were then presented with£250-worth of Active Kids soft play equipment before receiving a tour of the new store on New Parade.

At just over 2,700 sq ft, the Local store will offer a large range of goods for a convenience store, from fresh baked goods, fruit and vegetables, to newspapers and flowers. The opening has also created 15 new jobs– many of whom are from the area– while a further five have been brought in from nearby Sainsbury’s branches.

Store manager Tim Lane said:“We want to support Shooting Stars Hospice as much as we can in the coming months as it’s our local charity partner. Santa may well put in appearance at the hospice in the next few weeks, helping the store and our builders to donate£1,000-worth of toys and equipment to help them get into the Christmas spirit.”

Source: Sainsbury’s

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Crisis calls for urgent food supplies as recession causes donor cut-backs | Industry News | TalkingRetail.com

Crisis, the charity for single homeless people, is urgently seeking the donation of food supplies for Crisis At Christmas 2010 as regular donors cut back.

Nine centres across London will serve 28,000 meals to homeless and vulnerably housed people this Christmas time. However without sufficient food supplies this cannot go ahead.

Over 2,500 homeless and vulnerably housed guests will come through Crisis’ doors between 23 December and 30 December 2010. Providing vital meals to guests is a huge challenge and Crisis relies on the generous donations of 250-350 suppliers to give the 1,300 different items required. However as the effects of the recession take their toll, many businesses have been unable to pledge their regular donation this year, leaving Crisis struggling to make ends meet.

Economic down-turn has left many small to medium-sized companies struggling to survive and donating sizeable quantities of product at this time is impossible. Equally as larger companies tighten their belts the surplus stocks, which once comprised many donations, have dried up as production capacity is trimmed, stocks are reduced and focus is placed on producing to order.

A vast range of products are needed to fill the charity’s quota, from tinned and packet goods, to perishable items including cheese, fish and meat. Crisis can use a wide range of products and is therefore urgently calling for any business or supplier who may be able to make a donation this Christmas to come forward.

Leslie Morphy, chief executive of Crisis, said:“The current recession has placed greater than ever demands on the corporations who generously provide the products we need to run Crisis At Christmas.

“There has been a significant downturn in both the number of donors and the level of donations as the economic climate has forced businesses to cut back. With less than one month to Christmas, we are now urgently seeking additional donors to ensure we can provide vital meals to the 2,500 guests who need it most at Christmas.”

Source: Crisis

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Asda to install electric car charging points at five supermarkets | Industry News | TalkingRetail.com

Asda is installing electric vehicle (EV) charging points at five of its London-based supermarkets and at its headquarters in Leeds.

Asda’s EV charging points bolsters the total number of charging points found within London, which has currently the most EV charging pints in any UK city.

Julian Walker-Palin, head of corporate sustainability at Asda, said:“More and more drivers are ready to make the switch to electric vehicles. Our new charging points offer a greater choice to customers in how they travel to store. We’re starting off small, but we have the capacity to go large.

“We will also be analysing EV usage and energy consumption, allowing us to keep our finger on the pulse, ensuring that we continue to provide the right facilities for all of our shoppers.”

David Martell, chief executive for Chargemaster, said:“In Asda’s efforts to provide the best customer service and value for money, it is now providing the opportunity for its customers to embrace green transport.

“It is great news that we are able to support the supermarket and its carbon policy and provide them with a charging solution that fits its requirements. This partnership certainly puts us ahead in the charging infrastructure market and allows us to develop our market share within the retail sector.”

With the Government’s EV £5,000 subsidy coming into effect in January 2011, the Department for Transport anticipates around 8,600 electric cars will be sold next year.

The 12 charging posts will be installed at Asda House headquarters in Leeds and the Dagenham, Wembley, Colindale, Kingston Upon Thames and Roehampton stores.

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Retailers already setting the pace on public health | Industry News | TalkingRetail.com

Responding to the White PaperHealthy Lives, Healthy People,the British Retail Consortium (BRC) said the Government’s recognition that more regulation is not the answer is welcome.  

The BRC is continuing to work with the Health Department as it finalises its‘responsibility deal’ with retailers and other food businesses.

British Retail Consortium food director Andrew Opie, said:“A less top-down approach that works constructively with food businesses and other organisations is sensible. Too often in the past every ill has been laid at the door of retailers. The new emphasis on personal responsibility and helping people to make healthier choices is welcome. This is exactlywhat retailers have been doing for years – reducing fat, sugar and salt, offering affordable, nutritious food, providing clear information and backing lifestyle campaigns.

“Retailers removed artificially added trans-fats from all their own brand products three years ago. We are already actively involved with the Government in developing the public health ‘responsibility deal’. If these ‘deals’ are to play a part in delivering social policy objectives, they need to be supported by the facts, capable of engaging customers and not burdensome for businesses.

“They could be an opportunity to showcase the good work we’re already doing but the Government must sign up all parts of the supply chain not just the usual list of retail good guys.”

 Source: British Retail Consortium (BRC)

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East of England Co-operative delivers solid performance | Industry News | TalkingRetail.com

The East of England Co-operative Society, the UK’s third largest independent consumer co-operative, has announced that its Underlying Trading Profit increased to £7.5m – up by 4.1% for the 28 weeks to 7 August 2010. 

Despite a challenging trading environment, turnover from continuing operations increased by 0.9% to£193.1m.

Society profit before distributions and taxation totalled£7.6m, compared with a loss for the same period last year of £4.9m, which had included charges relating to discontinuing businesses and unrealised impairment of investment properties.

Richard Samson, chief executive, said:“This is a very creditable result, whilst the Society trades through difficult times. All the signs are that there will be no easing of the tough economic climate through the remainder of this year and probably throughout 2011.

“However, our strong financial position has enabled us to continue to invest from our own resources, with no net borrowings whatsoever and we are well placed for dealing with the uncertain period ahead of us.”

In Wimpole Road, Colchester, a new food store is under construction, which will include flats above. The store is expected to open for business next spring and other food store developments and new store openings are being actively pursued.

Source:East of England Co-operative Society

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Online grocery retailing set to double by 2015 | Industry News | TalkingRetail.com

The value of grocery shopping conducted over the internet is predicted to nearly double to£9.5bn in five years compared to its current level of £4.8bn, according to new research published by IGD.

Online shopping will represent 5.2% of the overall UK grocery market by 2015, compared to 3.2% at the moment.

Joanne Denney-Finch, chief executive, IGD, said:“Online grocery retailing is already growing at a phenomenal rate and there is still plenty of potential for significant expansion. Although online has a small share of the overall grocery market, it will be the fastest growing channel.

“IGD research found 7% of shoppers say they are buying all their regular groceries online. Our latest ShopperTrack data shows 13% say they will use the internet to do more of their food and grocery shopping over the next 12 months, mainly driven by 18-34 year-olds.

“Retailers are driving online growth through new developments, such as ‘click and collect’, introducing smart phone apps and building stores specifically to cater for online orders.

“Wider delivery coverage and better home internet connections are some of the other reasons why internet grocery retail has the potential to grow significantly.”

Source: IGD

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Increase in parking charges could kill off high-street trade, says Forum | Industry News | TalkingRetail.com

Councils could kill off high street trade if they hike town centre parking charges, a small business support organisation has warned.

In recent months, local authorities across the UK have proposed hefty increases in the charges they impose on motorists for parking on streets and in council-owned car parks.

Areas affected include Burnley, Nottingham, Shrewsbury and Cornwall, and in some cases, increases of 150% have been tabled by town halls.

The councils involved claim the hikes are necessary in order to plug shortfalls in their budgets due to widespread cuts in local government funding.

However, the Forum of Private Business believes raising the rates could put small firms out of business as shoppers are driven away from the high street and towards out-of-town supermarkets and retail parks, which enjoy ample free parking.

The not-for-profit support organisation has also pointed out that the move will hit small traders at a time when they are facing the prospect of a potentially damaging downturn in trade next year, due to the forthcoming VAT rise.

The Forum’s head of campaigns, Jane Bennett, said:“Simply putting up parking charges might seem like an easy and convenient way for local authorities to plug their budget shortfalls.

“However, it could well prove to be a false economy as it will drive even more trade out of town centres, leading to more empty units, fewer visitors and lower amounts raised through business rates.

“High street traders are already very anxious about January’s VAT rise. By putting up parking charges– by as much as 150% in some cases– these councils will give people another incentive to shun their independent local shops in favour of identikit out-of-town supermarkets and retail parks.

“If these councils are so desperate for money, perhaps they should concentrate on raising more revenue from the multi-national chain stores on their patches, rather than the small firms which are often struggling to survive.”

Source: Forum of Private Business

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Co-op launches new multi-million pound food campaign | Industry News | TalkingRetail.com

The Co-operative Group is to launch one of its biggest-ever food campaigns, created by its lead agency, TBWAManchester.

The new multi-million pound campaign for The Co-operative Food is due to be unveiled in January 2011.

It will utilise a broad range of advertising channels including national primetime TV, radio, print, cinema, billboard, online, video on demand and point of sale.

Sean Toal, commercial director at The Co-operative Food, said:“We’re all very excited by the campaign as it approaches the theme of grocery shopping from a really fresh, honest and passionate prospective. We wanted a campaign that would work across a variety of mediums and that would connect with our customers on a very real level.”

Fergus McCallum, CEO of TBWAManchester, said:“As a top five grocery retailer, The Co-operative is in a position to lead the way and prompt new thinking and conversations around shopping. We have created a campaign that we hope will make people think about their shopping habits and will hopefully encourage a change in some fairly deep-rootedbehaviour.”

Source: Co-op

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Sainsbury’s wins Food& Farming Award | Industry News | TalkingRetail.com

Sainsbury’s has won‘Best Retail Initiative’ at the BBC Radio 4 Food and Farming Awards for helping its farmers reduce their carbon footprint and achieve real financial savings.

Sainsbury’s was the only supermarket short-listed in any category this year, and winning the award reflects Sainsbury’s commitment to working with its producers to build a sustainable supply chain.

Sainsbury’s partnered with environmental consultancy, AB Sustain, to develop a carbon footprint model for its producers. The model assesses the environmental impact of production and provides farmers with individual advice on how to improve their footprint.

The scheme aims to provide farms with a better understanding of their environmental impact by fully funding individual on-farm carbon assessments. To date the scheme has carbon footprinted over 325 Sainsbury’s dairy development group farms, 98 cheese development farms, 260 beef development farms, 1,400 lamb development farms.

In just two years, Sainsbury’s dairy development group farms have saved 10,000 tonnes of carbon. The real benefit to farmers, however, has been the improved understanding of energy efficiencies on their farm and real cost savings. The initiative was also the first model to achieve PAS2050 Tier Three accreditation, a carbon footprint accreditation that no other retailer has achieved.

Following the success of its Dairy Development Group, the supermarket has rolled out this approach across its primary agricultural supply base, investing£21m to date in establishing dedicated development groups in beef, lamb, pork, eggs, chicken, milk, cheese, grain and produce.

Judith Batchelar, director of Sainsbury’s brand, said:“We have come a long way with our farmers and are very proud of our progress in helping make the whole supply chain more sustainable with schemes like this.

“We’re delighted to be awarded‘Best Retail Initiative’ at the BBC’s Food and Farming Awards, and as the only major retailer shortlisted, the award shows that Sainsbury’s stands out in the way it has developed relationships with farmers to help produce fresh, healthy and tasty food for our customers.”

Source: Sainsbury’s 

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Sainsbury’s unveils one of its largest stores in Lincoln | Industry News | TalkingRetail.com

One of the largest Sainsbury’s in the country opened in Lincoln today after the store almost trebled in size to just under 100,000 sq ft. The superstore was officially opened by a loyal customer, Constance Page, who turns 100 this week. She was joined by some of the store’s longest-serving staff.

Not only has the major extension provided a significant employment boost to Lincoln, with 550 local people employed at the store, but customers will also be among the first in the country to benefit from a variety of new initiatives.

The 98,712 sq ft store’s new features include a brand new mezzanine floor, which will hold a bigger TU clothing range and an improved café, while downstairs features a full range of counter departments, including a brand new pizza counter and a live glass kitchen, where customers will be able to see meal and sandwiches freshly prepared by colleagues.

Sainsbury’s Lincoln will continue to raise funds for its local charity partner of the year Lincolnshire Integrated Voluntary Emergency Services (LIVES). It has already raised£3,800 of its £10,000 target through in-store bagpacking and raffles, sponsorship of Sainsbury’s colleagues at events, and awareness days.

Store manager Andy Yeomans, said:“What’s even more crucial to LIVES than money is having volunteers. That’s why we’ve been helping them to raise their profile, to highlight what an incredibly important job they do and therefore attract volunteers. We’re delighted to say we’ve already exceeded our target of five volunteers, and are on course to attract an additional four more people who will help save local lives.

“We’re looking forward to unveiling our new look and welcoming our customers back into what is now one of the biggest Sainsbury’s in the country. I’m proud to be at the helm of a store that has been able to recruit so many local people, especially with Christmas on its way, and look forward to helping customers explore our new ranges and find gift ideas.”

Source: Sainsbury’s

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New Government skills strategy warmly welcomed by retail skills council | Industry News | TalkingRetail.com

News that Sector Skills Councils (SSCs) will continue to play a‘key’ role in the English skills system has been welcomed by Skillsmart Retail, the Sector Skills Council for Retail.

The Government’s new skills strategy,Skills for Sustainable Growth, launched by business secretary Vince Cable and skills minister John Hayes, acknowledges SSCs’ influential voice on sector-specific skills and provision of innovative solutions.

The paper says:“Sector Skills Councils remain an excellent means for employers to lead and influence change. We will continue to look to Sector Skills Councils to ensure that Apprenticeship frameworks and national occupational standards are updated to meet the needs of employers and employees in the face of newmarket conditions and increasing competition.”

National Skills Academies were also mentioned in the strategy:“National Skills Academies will also continue to form an integral part of support to sectors as specialist, employer-led delivery organisations, working through networks of selected specialist providers to develop and deliver tailored skills to meet employers’ needs and to stimulate increased employer investment. They have already demonstrated that they can become sustainable, responsive organisations which are independent of government and capable of becoming self-financing within three years.”

Anne Seaman, chief executive of Skillsmart Retail, said:“This new skills strategy clearly states that Sector Skills Councils and National Skills Academies have a clear role in raising employer investment in skills and we welcome the backing of both Vince Cable and John Hayes.

“I believe the retail sector has seen significant business benefit from our work. Our engagement at a strategic level with some of the country’s biggest name retailers and trade associations ensures that we understand their latest skills needs and priorities. We also have the clear backing of those retailers.

“We will continue to promote the importance of skills, notably Retail Apprenticeships, to ensure that everyone working in retail has the training and qualifications they need to pursue a rewarding career and further improve retail productivity in the UK.”

Source: Skillsmart Retail

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