All AO (Appliances Online) articles – Page 2
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AnalysisWho will be the retail winners and losers of 2022?
Which retailers will fly and flop in the year to come? We asked retail experts to share their tips for 2022.
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News
AO boss laments Xbox and iPhone shortages as Black Friday nears
AO chief executive and founder John Roberts told Retail Week that small consumer electricals have been the worst affected by supply chain issues in the lead up to the festive season.
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News
AO slashes profit guidance as product shortages batter festive forecasts
AO has swung to a loss and slashed its full-year profit guidance after ongoing supply chain disruption and the HGV driver shortage battered its golden quarter expectations.
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Opinion
‘It’s the power of imagination that makes technology deliver brilliantly for customers’
Retailers are still just scratching the surface when it comes to leveraging tech for the benefit of the consumer, writes Danny Emmett, chief operating officer of AO.com.
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Analysis
From float to flop – why the pandemic’s winners are struggling on the stock market
For retail businesses booming during the pandemic, an IPO seemed like the natural next step. Yet for many of the 2020 winners share prices have plummeted – Retail Week asks why.
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News
AO warns supply chain ‘disruption’ will trigger profit decline
AO.com has said that “challenging market dynamics” across the UK and Germany have constrained its sales growth, and that it anticipates a decline in full-year profits as a result.
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Analysis
Analysis: How can retail respond to ‘The Great Resignation’?
As retail and hospitality get back to business, something seems to be missing – staff. Dubbed ‘The Great Resignation’ in the US, the UK is also being hit by workers who have had time to take stock over the pandemic and, in many cases, decided to change path.
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Opinion
‘No one wants to hear the pandemic used as an excuse for poor service any more’
This summer of sport has provided endless moments of inspiration for all of us as we start getting back to normality after a difficult year: determination, grit, teamwork, discipline, heart.
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Opinion
‘Climate change will collide with business as usual – retailers need to act now’
The Covid pandemic may finally be starting to cool down, but attention this week has shifted to another crisis that’s threatening to boil over – climate change.
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Be Inspired
What can retailers do to meaningfully support transgender customers and employees?
Pride Month may be over, but the work needed to create real change is not. Retail Week analytical journalist Eleanor Smith asks, if equality isn’t contentious, why are trans identities?
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News
AO plots European expansion as German business rebounds
After returning AO.com’s German arm to profitability, boss John Roberts is eyeing expansion into France, Italy and Spain in the near future.
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News
AO.com back in the black as Covid drives soaring sales and profits
Pureplay electricals specialist AO.com has reported a return to operating profit driven by a surge in sales and EBITDA.
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Prospect Analysis
Customer and marketing at ao.com
Ao.com’s mission statement is to “have the happiest customers by relentlessly striving for a better way”. The etailer believes its commitment to go above and beyond to deliver exceptional customer service will win loyalty and help spread the word about the company.
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Prospect Analysis
Technology strategy at ao.com
CEO John Roberts spoke with Retail Week and reaffirmed Ao’s commitment to “constantly and heavily” recruiting across all areas of technology. Roberts commented that senior retail staff may not understand the true capabilities of technologies such as AI, but the group is tackling this through training senior non-IT employees to build understanding across the business.
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Prospect Analysis
Ecommerce at ao.com
Ao.com’s ecommerce strategy is focused on ensuring its content is clear but detailed. It differentiates itself from competitors through the in-house production of product review videos and the use of 3D animation to explain technologies and features.
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Prospect Analysis
ao.com (Financials)
AO’s long-awaited results for the year to end-March 2022 - delayed due to the complexities of an ongoing strategic review - showed that the online electricals specialist slumped to a £37.2m pre-tax loss on sales down 6.2% at £1.56b, with markets weakening “considerably” as the year progressed. The retailer is aiming to turn things around by continuing to streamline the business, cutting costs and focusing on profits rather than overall growth.
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Prospect Analysis
ao.com (Strategy)
Talking to Retail Week in August 2022, after weathering one of the “most challenging operating environments” since its inception, boss John Roberts explained how he plans to turn things around by continuing to streamline the business, cutting costs and focusing on profits rather than overall growth. This will see the retailer stepping back from some areas of the business in order to increase profitability.
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Prospect Analysis
ao.com (People)
Ao.com founder John Roberts returned as CEO at the start of 2019, after handing the reins to Steve Caunce two years earlier.
