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

Cash is King once again

Recent studies have shown that nothing beats hard cold cash as the best method of purchasing! Ukash is the first online retailer to operate on a cash e-commerce basis, that is their customers use cash to buy vouchers which each have their own unique code which can be used online as cash, their compund sales have been registed at 85% compared to regular commerce who register at  mere 13%. Ukash discovered the potential in cash e-commerce after discovering that 50% of consumers do not shop online with credit cards due to fear of fraud.

I think this is a significant article as it shows just how a company can overcome their competitors by doing their research and discovering a niche in the market.

Sources

www.theRetailBulletin.com/

Motor Industry feeling the strain!

Irelands car industry is allready suffering from the downturn in the economy, however the decision by the government to scrap the scrapage scheme (excuse the joke) has led to a huge decrease in new car sales. The motor Industry giants are proposing a new scheme to boost car sales throughout the year. Car sales generally enjoy their peak from january to March. The car giants are proposing that cars bought from July onwards should be given an extra character on the registration plate to boost interest and sales. I doubt this preposterous method will work and maybe a decrease in price would work better.

ethics in social media and social networking

Social media is online world where we interact and communicate with one another via a number of different ways. The most commonly used are blogs and social networks. However simply you are communicating without direct contact, is not an excuse for unethical behaviour. The most common unethical behaviour that occurs and does not respect other peoples privacy, is the use of spam mail. Another vent that occurs is when companies frequently act unprofessionally and lie to gain more profile views and awareness for their business, this is hugely unprofessional and several organisations think they can act this way simply because their customers are not in direct contact. This is closely related to companies publishing lies and fraudelent reviews of  themselves. This is unethical and may damage a companys reputation. Burger King is a company who used Facebook to create awareness and business but ultimately abused the situation by damaging the relationship between the two giants. That was unethical and not professional at all. Social media can be greatly and grossly misused, as it is relatively easy to attract a large customer following and supply false promises, false hope and grossly mislead them. Ethics is also important for employees of the business and professional people in general as when you are using social networks and have your own profile and pictures- you don't want those pictures of your latest stag or hen party to come back and haunt you when your company does a routine check up! Most companies are now enforcing strict social media policies to enforce disciplinary action if social media misuse brings the company into disrespute. PWC the accounting firm made national news when it emerged when a number of their male employees were using social media to email each other and rate their female co-workers on their looks. Social networking has faced controversy for their privacy policies that means it is easier to share and communicate but leaves children and teenagers exposed to predators. Tagged, one of the lesser known social network companies faced controversy when a 32 year old man contacted a 14 year old girl through the site and raped her- he also had over a hundred girls the same as friends, also very accesible and vulnerable. In brief Social Media is very useful tool for communicating and marketing, however if not properly regulated and controlled- it can be misused with sometimes terrible consequences.

Sources www.socialmediaexplorer.com
              www.theguardian.co.uk

Philips considering their options

Philips the worlds largest lighting and hospital equipment maker are said to be considering their options following poor sales and growth over the last 2 years and a failure to compete with the asian Giants who are more cheaper and efficient. Philips are negotiating a sale of their Television business to Hong Kong based electronics giant TVP. They are also announcing a wide range of cuts across employees and manafacturing in an attempt to boost business. Ever since 2008, Philips have struggled due to the economic downturn.

Sources www.irishtimes.com

Luxury groups beating the trend!

LVMH posted forecast beating sales today for the 3rd quarter of 2011, surprising the retail world who expected a downturn in the luxury goods market with the global economic downturn. British Luxury goods maker Burberry also announced strong sales in their recent quarterly report. It is believed growth in the Chinese market may have assisted in the growth of the Luxury market.

Aer Lingus shares are flying up and up!

Following recent rumours that Etihad airways are interested in buying the Irish governments, Aer lingus shares have risen by 11.7% in the last 24 hours. It is believed Etihad are interested in attempting to break into the european market as Aer Lingus have several number of slots across europe, primarily in the U.K. The sale will bring revenue to the government as well as supply more jobs.

Sources Http://www.irishtimes.com

Update on Musgrave takeover of Superquinn

Hey all
I just thought id give you  an update on the takeover of Superquinn by Musgrave.

Superquinns new owners have announced the stabilisation of their purchase of Superquin. Musgrave have appointed Tim Kenny,the former director of business development and Finance as managing director of the new arm, with the primary aim to "establishing the new division as well as the intregartaion of the Superquinn business into the wider Musgrave Group". there are no plans for job cuts or store closures. Superquinn have retained all terms and closures from their previous employers. Great news for both groups and the retail industry.



Sources http://www.irishindependant.ie/

Good News For Shoppers!

The Quays shopping centre in Newry has annopunced a £35 million expansion that will include 600 new parking spaces. The Developer is Northren Ireland property business Parker Green, The director is Gerard o'Hare, who announced the expansion to combat the recent annual report which highlighted a 10% downturn in business. The expansion will create 200 jobs and 300 retail jobs. Excellent for both sectors!

Sources
http://www.irishindependant.ie/

CityPost to withdraw false claims!

Today Independant City Delivery company CityPost has had to withdraw its advertisments that its services were 20% cheaper than An Post following two complaints by the State owned company. The complaints were upheld by the ASAI ( Advertising Standard Association of Ireland). The ASAI ruked that CityPost could not provide substance to their advertisments.

Sources- http://www.theirishtimes.com/  http://www.googleimages.com/

Aer Lingus still flying strong!

Aer Lingus has recorded a nearly 3pc increase in passengers in September- The biggest improvement was regional routes which increased by 45%, this is good news for the company who has faced strong competition from budget airline Ryanair for the last number of years.

Sources

http://www.irishindependant.ie/

Services sector continues to grow!

The Irish services recieved a welcome boost when the monthly business activity recorded an expansion of 0.2%. The main factor in this growth was the technology sector which continues to expand.The september reading also showed an overall increase in exports. This will hopefully lead to an overall boost for the flagging economy.

sources: www.Irishtimes.com

Musgrave buys Superquinn!

Today musgrave finalised the 250 million sale of superquinn, this deal has been negotiating for the previous 3 months and following intense negotiations with the previous suppliers of Superquinn, a compromise deal has been reached. This is great news for all involved as it guarantees the jobs of nearly 3,000 employees. This deal will mean that musgrave occupies allmost 30% of the Irish grocery market just marginally ahead of Tesco's 28%. I believe that it is essential that there is greater competition between the Large grocery giants as it creates jobs and gives consumers better value.

Sources

http://www.irishtimes.com/
http://www.shelflife.com/

European economic crisis deepens

Greece will remain in the eurozone but must meet its reform committments in full, the head of the European commission Jose Manuel Borroso, has said. He pledged that  Europe will support its countries fully. Mr. Borroso has called for a financial services tax, stating it was time for the financial industry to contribute. More bad news for Ireland and the eurozone!

Sorce http://www.rtenews.com/