Retail Week’s new website recently broke the news that Andy Bond aims to open a new retailer, which shows competition is alive and well.

A widely reported study last year estimated that the average person in the UK picks up and looks at their phone an incredible 1,500 times a week.

The explosive uptake of mobile technologies has revolutionised the way consumers are shopping – best illustrated by Shop Direct, which this week reported that 59% of all online sales at its Very business are now made on mobile devices.

“We are increasingly producing and shaping content that is not just digital first, but mobile first”

Chris Brook-Carter, Retail Week

That transformation has also changed the way people consume media.

In a short period of time Retail Week has witnessed a significant shift in how you, our customers, find, read and engage with our content. Just like retail, it is being driven by the age of the smartphone.

To support that change we are increasingly producing and shaping content that is not just digital first, but mobile first, including hundreds of videos, infographics and store galleries.

The latest step in continuing to meet your needs is the relaunch of our digital platform to a fully responsive website.

That means no matter how you access our website, whether via laptop, tablet or smartphone, you will get the same quality experience.

Mobile-optimised versions of our multimedia content, whether it is our interactive data page, the retail innovation tracker or the latest breaking news are now available at your fingertips.

Upseting the established order

The power of that on-the-go breaking news experience was demonstrated this week when we revealed that former Asda boss Andy Bond intends to launch a new discount variety chain next year.

Not content with just having rolled out, at impressive speed, fashion debutante Pep&Co, Bond – with backing from billionaire Christo Wiese – now plans to take on established powerhouses such as Poundland.

“Competition in retail remains red in tooth and claw”

Chris Brook-Carter, Retail Week

His background at Asda and Wiese’s former involvement in Poundstretcher mean the new venture is likely to be taken seriously by established players.

The launch also illustrates, contrary to the fears originally harboured by the Competition and Markets Authority about Poundland’s takeover of rival 99p Stores, that competition in retail remains red in tooth and claw – something anybody working in the industry is all too conscious of.

As Bond revealed his plans another retail entrepreneur, Mike Greene, also hoped to shake things up.

After working through the night on Sunday he and his team formally launched the My Local chain after buying Morrisons’ c-stores.

Bond and Greene both see gaps in the market. Bond believes the addition of clothing to a variety store offer will set his latest business apart. Greene, meanwhile, believes that a more localised convenience offer can more than hold its own in what might appear a crowded market.

The two initiatives serve as a reminder that, contrary to what retail’s critics might say, it is a vibrant industry in which there will always be new entrants eager to better serve consumer needs and wants and upset the established order.