Opinion – Page 341
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Opinion
Deep discounting comes at a price for fashion retailers
The unprecedented wave of Sales and promotions on the high street seems to be doing little to lift shoppers' spirits or open their purse strings. Are the likes of Debenhams and Marks & Spencer going about attracting shoppers in the right way? Or is recession depression all-pervasive?
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Opinion
Questions over Woolies remain
Woolies’ descent into administration poses the classic chicken and egg question.
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Opinion
Credit insurers are too powerful
Ever heard of a home insurer that pulled cover if a storm was forecast? Didn’t think so. But that’s the way credit insurers work.
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Opinion
Cyber Monday: UK retailers teach US peers a lesson in e-commerce
Monday was a big day for online retailers on both sides of the Atlantic – and while sales in the UK may not have been as high as hoped, its web sites were at least up to the challenge of record volumes.
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Opinion
A step in the right direction
Magnanimity isn't a characteristic regularly associated with major retailers, but the deal which New Look's Phil Wrigley and Sir Philip Green brokered with landlords to help small retailers will be a huge boon to beleaguered independents.
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Opinion
Westfield London: The winners and losers
It’s a month since Westfield London opened and things are settling down in this part of west London. Footfall remains high and people are still shopping, but they are being selective.
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Opinion
Comment: The Woolworths inquest begins
As the dust settles after the dramatic events of this week, the big talking point is what pushed Woolies under, and whether it could - and should - have been saved.
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Opinion
Woolworths' fall is an opportunity for grocers
The supermarkets' move into general merchandise played a role in accelerating Woolworths' downfall. They are also sure to play a big part in what happens next.
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Opinion
Time to work on supplier relationships
The plaudits – and the brickbats – in retail are normally taken by the chief executive, with the finance director hovering at their shoulder.
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Opinion
Products need to be personal
More than ever, consumers will only make purchases that make them feel good about life.
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Opinion
VAT reduction just doesn’t cut it
Oh the irony. Even if Alistair Darling’s 2.5 percentage point cut in VAT had prompted consumers to open their purses this week, they would have been snapped firmly shut again only days later when two household retail names went into administration.
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Opinion
Who is up to the endurance test?
In just months the economic landscape has been transformed. In the past week the political landscape has too, as Chancellor Alistair Darling attempted emergency surgery on the economy. But how much has the retail landscape changed?
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Opinion
The VAT rate systems scramble
Whether retailers will have realigned their pricing in time for the VAT change on December 1 remains to be seen and could come down to the emphasis they have put on creating systems that allow business agility.
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Opinion
RMUs: Barrowloads of bother
You know times are hard when landlords start packing in tacky stalls into the public areas of their malls, or RMUs to use the rather ugly technical term.
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Opinion
Creative store designs for creative budgets
What place does store design have in the current crisis?
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Opinion
Business rates are out of kilter with the modern world
Retailers’ focus is clearly on Christmas and if this week’s Sales are anything to go by, stores are already worried that trade will be tough. So why do retailers have to convince the Government to revalue massive hikes to business rates for next year and 2010?
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Opinion
Best Buy can’t walk on water
John Browett and Hugh Harvey could have been forgiven a little Schadenfreude last week.
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Opinion
M&S versus Debenhams is only round one
Marks & Spencer has gone head to head with Debenhams in what will be round one of the tussle for shoppers' spending in the run-up to Christmas. But will short, sharp and noisy Sales ultimately really benefit retailers?
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Opinion
It’s bad but it will get worse
The bold 1.5 percentage point interest rate cut was supposed to help restore consumer confidence.
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Opinion
Can retail get to grips with IT jargon?
From tulip dresses to kitten heels, retail is awash with industry-specific terms, so does it matter if the IT department throws in a few more for good measure?