Retail Critical Issues

By Dan Coleman, freelance writer.

When it comes to expanding your business, there are different ways in which you can do this effectively. You should make sure that you time your expansion right, as there will be dips and growth within the market and your industry at certain times. Here’s how you can do it.

New data reveals Brits’ top online searches as we planned our trips away this summer. Among the most searched for holiday clothing/accessories items were – sunglasses (352,830) bucket hats (352,806), sliders (284,179) and swimsuits (242,142). Moreover, the Hawaiian shirt continued to defy the odds and remains a fashion staple, with 59,122 searches between July and August.

After encouraging signs in July of a possible bounce back to positive growth, online retail sales failed to make up much ground in August – slowing their fall only slightly to -9.3% Year-on-Year (YoY).

Since the start of the pandemic, the way business is conducted has changed permanently, with many workforces continuing to work remotely as restrictions have eased. As companies relax and rules have eased, life is expected to return to a form of ‘new normal.’ But, the issues around cybersecurity are here to stay, and the gas pedal must not be eased – especially with the increased risks associated with continued remote working.

Luxury goods were the fastest growing cross-border ecommerce category in the first half of 2021, increasing by 50% compared to the end of 2020.  With global demand for luxury being driven by shoppers from China, UAE, South Korea and India, increasingly consumers are now happy to forego the ‘white-glove’ in-store experience for online convenience, the latest data from eShopWorld (ESW) reveals.

By Dine Racoma, freelance journalist

For most entrepreneurs out there, running a new business is like going through a popularity contest. It can be challenging for any company to thrive without the necessary relevance, what more with a startup. Therefore, an essential part of startup management is to make sure that your business is as attractive as possible to your target audience.

By Robert Sanders, freelance journalist

After a whirlwind of years navigating our way through the pandemic, many businesses were forced to temporarily shut their doors. Perhaps one of the most largely affected industries was retail.

Liftoff, a global performance-based mobile app marketing optimisation platform, in partnership with the global data and analytics company App Annie and native mobile app platform Poq, has released its annual mobile shopping apps report detailing the rapidly-growing market. The study reveals a historic and prolonged surge in mobile shopping apps use in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as Android’s outperformance of iOS in key marketing metrics.

More than a third of people (38%) in the UK felt that their experience with customer service has got worse over the last 12 months, making it the highest figure out of the US and Europe. This is according to the Customer Service Index 2021, produced by Five9, provider of cloud contact centre software.

BDO has published its latest High Street Sales Tracker, revealing that total like-for-like (LFL) sales, combined in-store and online, increased by 20.1% in August from a base of -3.3% for the equivalent month last year. These positive results indicate a new wave of optimism for the retail industry but a lot has changed in the last year and there is set to be a long-lasting impact on consumer shopping behaviour.