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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