Tesco about to take reality and retail to a new level!

The most exciting piece of retail news I read this week was that Tesco are planning to test pilot Augmented reality in one of their stores in a bid to make shopping more interactive and to attract customers. This cutting edge technology will make shopping a whole new experience.

Sources

www.theretailbulletin.com

Footfall in Freefall

A recent survey by the British Retailers Consortium (BRC) has shown that Footfall( the term for the measurement of customers entering and leaving a premises) has falling by allmost 2.5% in the last 3 months. This has greatly concerned retailers who blame the adverse weather conditions and the growth of online shopping as the main reason for the decrease. Retailers all over the U.K. are praying for a good Christmas to boost sales and trade.

Sources 
 www.theretailbulletin.com

Following the success of E-Commerce, F-Commerce is on the Rise!

There has been a huge increase in the use of F-Commerce as a means to promote awareness and sales of goods and services online by use of Facebook. In a recent study 12% of social media users have said they have bought something after seeing it on Facebook. This shows an increase of 8.8% in F-Commerce in the last quarter. The potential for F-Commerce arose after 25% of online shoppers stated they visit Facebook at least once a day. The growth of social networking along with the increasing use of online shopping conveys the massive potential in marketing online through social media.

Sources www.theretailbulletin.com

Comet group sold for £2!

In a strange story that I read today, the Comet group- one of Britains largest electrical goods companies has been sold for the princely sum of 2 pounds by its owners Kesa Electrical. The purchasers are a consortium of retail companies who operate under advisement of OpCapita- an expert in the field of saving struggling companies. Comet had recorded huge losses of over 22 million pounds in the first 6 months of the year. The news bears similarity to Bill Cullen who bought the Renault Franchise group in Ireland in 1986 for a pound. Lets hope Comet's new owners have the same success as Bill Cullen and save the 10,000 employees.

Sources www.theretailbulletin.com

Channel Island Vat loophole set to close

One of the bizarrest stories that I came across this week was a new law by the British government that forces goods sent from the Channel Islands to pay full V.A.T. rather than the reduced level they were previously paying thanks to a loophole in the law that stated that low value goods were exempt from tax- a throwback to the days when lowly island merchants needed support in maintaining business. However in recent years online shopping giants had set up bases on these islands to sell their goods and were making a tidy profit. The news has been welcomed by many retailers and the government who will claim much needed tax revenue , the news has not been welcomed by the islanders and the online shopping companies.

Sources

www.Theretailbullein.com

Bye Bye to Best Buy

It was a sad day in the U.K. as Carphone Warehouse to announce the closure of all of its Best Buy stores. Best Buy was a company that sold electrical goods and was a joint venture between Best Buy company in America and the Carphone Warehouse. 1100 staff are set to lose their jobs allthough Carphone Warehouse are hopeful of finding them work in other areas of their company. Carphone Warehouse said strong competition was the primary reason for closure. Another retail giant gone, and even more distraught employees joining the ever increasing dole queue.



Sources

www.theretailbulletin.com

Amazon predicts December 5th as busiest day of the year!

Amazon, the online shopping giant have precicted Monday the 5th of December as their busiest trading day as consumers prepare to order their christmas gifts. Amazon believe that the most ordered items will be the Kindle, Steve Job's autobiography along with Call of Duty MW3, on the same day last year over 2.6 million items were ordered. This is a clear sign of the growth potential of online shopping.

Sources

www.theretailbulletin.com