Opinion – Page 348

  • Opinion

    Enemy at the gate?

    2008-08-20T10:34:07Z

    The results of the National Gateway Security Survey released this morning show that securing networks against external attacks is still the top priority for most companies, despite evidence clearly highlighting the continuing risk of internal attacks.

  • Opinion

    Retailers are landlords too

    2008-08-19T12:02:12Z

    Whether it be monthly rents or upward-only rent reviews, there are always tensions between landlords and retailers. What tends to be forgotten is that retailers are often landlords too.

  • Opinion

    Shopfitters are feeling the heat

    2008-08-18T12:50:42Z

    You know things are not as good as they might be when the questioner becomes the questioned. Speak to almost any design consultancy or shopfitter at present and the question being popped is: “How are other people finding it?”

  • Opinion

    The grocers shouldn’t rely on price alone

    2008-08-15T09:24:41Z

    Supermarkets Tesco and Asda will be fighting tooth and nail this weekend to make sure customers choose to visit their stores to do the weekly shop.

  • Opinion

    Zara power

    2008-08-14T11:38:26Z

    It has been described as “the most innovative and devastating retailer in the world” by its peers, and now it has taken the crown as the globe’s leading fashion retailer.

  • Opinion

    Dispute laws were wrong for retailers

    2008-08-14T11:23:09Z

    Instead of calling someone in and having a word, it was straight to written warnings and formal meetings.

  • Opinion

    Retailers need to restore faith

    2008-08-14T11:20:13Z

    During tough times we should be helping our customers, not passing cost hikes on to them.

  • Opinion

    Woolies’ wonder can be restored

    2008-08-14T11:04:24Z

    If Woolworths didn’t exist, would you invent it? If it wasn’t on the high street, would you miss it? Those questions have become clichés. Equally clichéd is the answer so commonly given – no.

  • Opinion

    Tata and Tesco tie-up is ideal

    2008-08-14T10:41:10Z

    Tesco this week finally secured a long-awaited deal enabling it to enter what many believe is the most exciting and potentially lucrative market in the world – India.

  • Perry_Joanna_New
    Opinion

    Real retail leaders

    2008-08-13T10:31:00Z

    In some rare good news for UK retailers it has been revealed that they come out on top of other industries when it comes to customer experience.

  • Opinion

    Westgate – a taste of things to come?

    2008-08-12T13:00:36Z

    Buried in Liberty International’s interim results last week was a phrase that nobody wanted to hear. The innocuous-looking statement “on hold”, next to the property giant’s Westgate scheme in Oxford, should not be underestimated.

  • Opinion

    Woolworths: reasons to be fearful

    2008-08-11T10:16:00Z

    The wonder of good old Woolies is that it’s still here. Why on earth would you go into one of these shops? Visit an average Woolworths store and the experience is likely to be along these lines: arrive at the threshold and observe two things.

  • Opinion

    Cheap and cheerful?

    2008-08-08T11:56:53Z

    Back to school used to involve a few sacred things – making sure you had a new pencil case to fit your protractor and compass, having your feet sized in Clarks for your new shoes and going to the specialist school uniform shop to get kitted out.

  • Opinion

    China in your hands

    2008-08-07T12:14:27Z

    It's one day before the Opening Ceremony of the Beijing Olympics and it’s not just the eyes of the sporting world that are trained on China.

  • Opinion

    Retail needs team players

    2008-08-07T11:44:00Z

    “Commission returns in bid to boost sales” was Retail Week’s first ever front page headline. “In an abrupt reversal of recent trends, retailers are bringing back commission as a way of generating extra sales,” the story read.

  • Opinion

    One year on the crunch still bites

    2008-08-07T10:59:58Z

    August is the quietest month in the retail calendar, with most store chiefs taking well-earned holidays. Yet last August those chief execs – and indeed the world – were hit with something that made them put down their cocktails and dust off their blackberries.

  • Opinion

    Recession would be different this time

    2008-08-07T09:21:00Z

    However we term the downturn, we are entering poorly chartered territory with out-of-date maps.

  • Opinion

    Stick to what you are good at

    2008-08-07T09:16:06Z

    Drastic quick fixes to drive sales may be tempting, but you risk alienating core customers.

  • Opinion

    Foreign threat goes virtual

    2008-08-06T10:22:20Z

    Eastern European criminal gangs are already the scourge of UK retailers because of their prolific shoplifting activity.

  • Opinion

    Bonkers Boris

    2008-08-05T12:12:28Z

    Landlords and retailers may be at loggerheads over the issue of monthly rent payments, but a bizarre proposal from London Mayor Boris Johnson last week should unite both groups.