John Lewis is investing £150 million in two new distribution facilities – part of a five-year, £500 million investment in its online systems and distribution network. The partnership says its aim is to “create a customer-not-channel approach to its operations”. This follows the department store’s £100m investment in its existing (more…)
Not only are the UK supermarkets battling it out on price, they are also competing head to head in a race for the fastest grocery delivery service. In a bid to outshine its rivals, Tesco is planning to offer a new same day click and collect service on grocery orders (more…)
High street health-food retailer Holland & Barrett has added InPost parcel lockers to its delivery network, as it moves to broaden its range of click-and-collect options. Going live this week, Holland & Barrett says customers will be able to collect their purchases within a matter of seconds, 24 hours a (more…)
Bucking the trend of falling consumer confidence, growth in UK etail spending was 17% higher in June 2016 than the previous year, according to the IMRG/Capgemini eRetail Sales Index. The month-on-month growth was 2%. The average basket value of goods purchased online was also up, from £75.11 in June 2015, (more…)
Ocado’s high-end cosmetics store, plans for which were confirmed in front of an audience at eDelivery Expo 2016 (EDX16) in April, is to open next month in London. The store forms part of Ocado’s move into the high-end cosmetics sector in partnership with Marie Claire magazine. Magazines have audiences, in (more…)
This week Swedish home furnishings giant Ikea throws open the doors of its new Reading store, seven years after it last opened one in the UK. Offering the full range of more than 9,000 Ikea products, the Reading store has an area of 32,000 square metres across two storeys, 1,000 (more…)
Amazon’s 500,000sq ft warehouse in Hemel Hempstead is just one of 10 which the retail behemoth operates in the UK, forming part of a network of 130 across the globe. From here a range of products, including cuddly toys, bags and books, are shipped to its customers and those of the (more…)
Argos is waiving the £3.95 delivery charge for its same-day Fast Track delivery service as it attempts to encourage shoppers to spend now, rather than wait for Black Friday. Starting tomorrow and ending on 24 November, same-day Fast Track deliveries will be free By making Fast Track free in the run (more…)
Tesco is warning online shoppers to expect delays to next-day click-and-collect services, in the run up to the Black Friday and Christmas peak. Last year, Tesco – like several other retailers – struggled with the influx of orders from bargain-hungry shoppers. Alerting shoppers to possible delays, and promising text alerts (more…)
Norwegian photo and print shop, Japan Photo, has seen increases in store-traffic and revenue as a result of offering customers in-store pick-up of online orders. The photo shop has been trading since 1985, and started offering in-store for online photo orders back in 2004, but since widening that out to (more…)
Was Black Friday behind failures at M&S’s Castle Donington distribution centre, and will other retailers be hit by a wave of orders and returns this Christmas that could see them struggle too? (more…)
Black Friday is already becoming a dim and distant memory, as all retail eyes are now firmly fixed on Christmas. But unless they make every effort to shore up their supply chains, UK retailers could be facing an almighty returns hangover once the Christmas party is over, according to Fraser (more…)
Promising the largest range of products from its smallest ever store, Argos has opened an outlet at Cannon Street Tube station on the London Underground network. The store, which measures just 650 sq ft, will make 20,000 products available for same-day and next-day collection. By comparison, the average Argos store (more…)
With its sights set firmly on becoming a digitally-led business, Mothercare has announced the first signs of a turnaround in its fortunes. Following the appointment in July of a new CEO, Mark Newton-Jones, and a £95m rights issue, the parents-and-children retail group saw online sales grow by 14.1% in the (more…)
Argos is beefing up its home delivery capabilities, linking multi-channel order processing to real-time vehicle routing as it attempts to offer customers improved delivery slot selection at the point of order. The scheduling and routing IT system from Paragon HDS will underpin an initiative the retailer is calling ‘More Choice (more…)
Half of UK online retailers expect to see 20% year-on-year growth this Christmas, according to IMRG In its latest survey of senior ecommerce professionals, IMRG found that the percentage of retailers expecting annual growth to reach in excess of 10% over the festive trading period reached 85%, compared with 80% (more…)
Investment in multichannel helped Selfridges deliver record profits in its latest financial year. The company this week announced operating profits of £150m, up by 12.3% on the same time last year, while gross sales grew by 10.4% to £1.2bn. All the company’s retail channels grew during the year, with online (more…)