More Christmas continued
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Opinion
‘We may be on the cusp of emerging from a final act of austerity’
There could well be light at the end of the tunnel for retailers, believes OC&C’s Matt Coode
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Opinion
‘Positive signs hint at upturn in retailers’ fortunes as the year progresses’
PwC’s Lisa Hooker unpicks the messages from retail’s golden quarter
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Analysis
Last Christmas: What can the festive period tell us about the retail year to come?
With another golden quarter over, Retail Week unpicks the key trends surrounding Christmas 2023 and looks at what they might mean for the year ahead
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Analysis
Stores vs online − which won the wallets of Christmas shoppers?
Retail saw a stores renaissance in 2023, as many shoppers returned to bricks and mortar following a surge in online shopping during the pandemic.
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Analysis
Merry click-mas: Top 50 most-visited retail websites for Christmas
To understand how retailers fared online over the crucial golden quarter, we teamed up with Similarweb to track how many visits the biggest retail websites in the UK received from Black Friday to New Year’s Eve
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Opinion
‘Christmas shows the grocers’ relentless focus on price is hurting the discounters’
While Aldi and Lidl both enjoyed their best-ever Christmases, the even stronger performance of the supermarkets shows the empire is striking back.
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Analysis
What the grocers’ bumper Christmas hauls mean for retail in 2024
With their stockings overflowing with surging profits and sales, and the wrapping ripped off at least one profit upgrade, it seems that Father Christmas was generous with his gifts to the grocers over the festive period.
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Opinion
‘Boss Stuart Machin pumps up the volumes at Marks & Spencer’
A focus on volumes and what drives them helped Marks & Spencer take a place on the Christmas winners’ podium and will mark out retail’s winners more generally, writes George MacDonald
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Analysis
Ranking: Christmas trading 2023 league table
Find out how retailers fared during the critical 2023/24 Christmas trading period with our league table benchmarking sales performance across the industry.
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Opinion
‘Retail updates so far offer reasons to be cheerful in the new year’
As the Christmas decorations start to come down, the retail trading statements have started to flood in.
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Analysis
The fast-moving retail brands to watch in 2024
As 2023 draws to a close, Retail Week picks the top nine brands to keep your eye on as the calendar flips to 2024.
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Interview
Q&A: Ann Steer on reinventing Freemans in a year of ‘aggressive’ transformation
Freemans chief executive Ann Steer speaks to Retail Week about a year of “aggressive” change for the business following the move that transformed Freemans from a traditional mail-order catalogue business to a modern digital department store
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Opinion
‘Not just for Christmas: retail’s season of goodwill lasts all year’
Retailers may make a lot of their money at Christmas, but for them, the season of goodwill lasts all year round as they contribute in a wealth of ways to the communities and consumers they serve.
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Interview
Q&A: eBay director of luxury on ‘diminishing the stigma’ of buying pre-loved
As pre-loved luxury becomes growingly more popular, eBay director of luxury Keith Metcalfe sat down with Retail Week ahead of Christmas to discuss the diminishing stigma of gifting secondhand, the importance of authenticity guarantee and why pre-loved and luxury go hand in hand
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Retail Voice
Reflecting on the biggest ecommerce drivers of 2023
From delivering on delivery to winning websites, Elavon’s Michael Bosshammer takes a look at the key areas retailers should focus on for 2024
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Retail Voice
Revealed: Four ways to combat fraud
With the retail sector in the full swing of the holiday season, Worldpay uncovers four strategies for protecting businesses from fraud whilst still ensuring a successful festive period for growth
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Retail Voice
Making promotional packaging more sustainable this Christmas
Brands face a lot of tough decisions on how they present their special edition products, especially at competitive times of year such as Christmas. Eviosys investigates what can be done to ensure eco-friendly doesn’t get forgotten this festive period
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Opinion
‘“No change” may be as good as it gets for retail this Christmas’
Shoppers are spending – but selectively. As retail’s golden quarter nears its crescendo, that was one of the messages from Currys chief executive Alex Baldock as the electricals giant revealed first-half results.
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Opinion
‘Fewer, better stores will be a focus for many retailers in 2024’
Increased demand for space in retail parks and dealing with the effect of higher rates will be among the property considerations to characterise retail next year, believes Jonathan De Mello
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Analysis
The trends and categories set to dominate Christmas spending
Following a record Black Friday and Cyber Monday, with Shopify merchants reaching a total of $9.3bn (£7.4bn) sales globally, the ecommerce platform predicts the top trends setting retailers up for a very merry Christmas