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☆ Target hopes value-hungry shoppers will come to the rescue this holiday season
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-20 | by ( Melissa Repko | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Melissa Repko | CNBCTarget has more than 1,700 toys that are exclusive to its stores and website this holiday season. Target is also trying to cut through the noise of a more promotional holiday season. And, as shoppers juggle holiday parties and hit stores again, Target wants shoppers' store visits to be convenient and fun, said Cara Sylvester, chief guest experience officer. She said the goal is to be a "holiday happy place" where shoppers want to stay awhile and fill up their carts. Baker said investors hope to see signs Target's sales are picking up as the holiday rush gains steam.

☆ Britain’s broken egg industry shows the price of food inflation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( James Davey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

LONDON, Dec 19 (Reuters) - In Britain, the damage wrought by rampant inflation can be seen in the fate of the humble egg. With war in Ukraine driving energy and chicken feed costs higher, farmers say what they get paid is no longer enough, upending the economics of a key food staple. Driven by consumer demand, British egg producers have for years focused on free range, which now represents 70% of the market. That, combined with a cost-of-living crisis fuelled by soaring food and energy costs, limits their room for manoeuvre, retailers say. Yet egg producers say that while the supermarkets have raised retail prices and paid farmers more, that increase is not enough to cover exploding costs.

☆ Retailers Rethink In-Store Tech as Shoppers Return
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-19 | by ( Isabelle Bousquette | ) www.wsj.com time to read: +4 min

Retailers during the pandemic poured investments into e-commerce, as many questioned whether shoppers would ever return in full force to physical stores. E-commerce is now 16.4% of all retail shopping, down from 18.8% at the height of the pandemic, according to the National Retail Federation. Photo: The Kroger Company“There is an opportunity to remove the friction,” said Mr. Cosset. “It’s never enough.”In addition to cost barriers, Mr. Cosset of Kroger said it is also wise to hold back on some investments based on what the consumer actually wants. But privacy concerns coupled with the cost of large-scale camera installation make it impractical, Mr. Cosset said.

☆ UK retail sales fall as cost-of-living crisis bites
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( Andy Bruce | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Summary Retail sales volumes slip 0.4% m/m in NovemberData underlines tough times for UK consumersConsumer confidence ticks up, but still near record lowLONDON, Dec 16 (Reuters) - British retail sales slid unexpectedly in November, despite the soccer World Cup and the Black Friday sales promotions, a potential indication of the stress felt by many households as the cost-of-living crisis eats into their finances. Retail sales volumes dropped by 0.4% in November after a 0.9% rise in October which had represented a bounce from September when sales were affected by a one-off public holiday to mark the funeral of Queen Elizabeth. Retail sales volumes fell to 1.5% below their 2019 level. Earlier, market research firm GfK said British consumer confidence crept up this month but was still close to all-time low levels. Compared with a year earlier, retail sales in November were 5.9% lower, the ONS said, a slightly steeper fall than forecast in the Reuters poll.

☆ Morning Bid: Hanging tough
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

As the world's major central banks turned the interest rate screw this week and insisted on more tightening ahead, their economies showed more signs of buckling under the pressure. And while markets lurched lower on the potentially toxic combination of a higher peak for interest rates into a looming recession, there are reasonable questions over whether the central banks will act as tough as they are talking. U.S. manufacturing declined 0.6% last month and reports from the New York and Philadelphia Federal Reserve's showed business conditions in their regions remaining depressed in December. Even though after Wall St stocks plunged 2-3% on Thursday, futures remained deep in the red ahead of Friday's open. Led by the jump in euro zone sovereign borrowing rates after the ECB rethink, bond yields were higher across the board.

☆ Mike Ashley's Frasers buys JD Sports' premium fashion brands for $58 mln
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Dec 16 (Reuters) - British retailer Frasers Group (FRAS.L) said on Friday it has bought shares in premium fashion brands of JD Sports (JD.L) for about 47.5 million pounds ($57.7 million), as the Mike Ashley-owned company continues its drive into a more premium market. Frasers, formerly called Sports Direct, also acquired and transferred shares of more than 10 of the premium fashion brands, including Pretty Green, Cricket and Topgrade Sportswear, which the sports retailer held. JD Sports, in a separate statement, said it has divested 15 of its UK-based businesses to Frasers. JD Sports said these divestments will allow the company to focus on the international and digital expansion of the core premium sports fashion platforms. Frasers, which is on an acquisition spree, recently boosted its maximum exposure to German fashion house Hugo Boss (BOSSn.DE) and snapped up a more than 5% stake in struggling British online fashion retailer ASOS (ASOS.L).

☆ Britain's Christmas shopping hurt by rail strikes and snow
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Dec 16 (Reuters) - British retailers have been hurt by a sharp dip in shopper numbers this week, a crucial Christmas trading period, as snowy weather and a national rail strike deterred people from venturing out, researcher Springboard said on Friday. It said shopper numbers, or footfall, in UK retail destinations from Monday to 1100 GMT on Friday was down 7.5% from the week before. Springboard said traffic was particularly weak on high streets - down 14% on last week. "The impact on high streets will have emanated from a mix of employees choosing to work at home due to the rail strike, and the cancellation of shopping and leisure trips. Official data published on Friday showed retail sales slid unexpectedly in November, despite the men's soccer World Cup and Black Friday sales promotions.

☆ Cash use slips to just 15% of British purchases in 2021
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-09 | by ( David Milliken | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Dec 9 (Reuters) - British shoppers used cash in only 15% of transactions in 2021, half the level of the year before and down from nearly 40% before the COVID-19 pandemic, retailers said on Friday. The British Retail Consortium said government advice to go contactless during the pandemic, as well as a surge in online shopping, had accelerated an existing shift away from cash. Adjusting for the smaller average size of cash transactions, notes and coins were used to pay for just 8% of retail spending last year, the BRC said. It said at the time that 5.4 million adults relied heavily on being able to make cash transactions. Overall, the BRC said accepting card payments cost its members 1.3 billion pounds ($1.6 billion) last year.

☆ Britain's grocery inflation falls for first time in 21 months -Kantar
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( James Davey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

LONDON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - British grocery inflation edged lower in November, a first decline in nearly two years, but remained near record highs, providing little relief for consumers ahead of the key Christmas trading period, industry data showed on Tuesday. Market researcher Kantar said grocery inflation in the four weeks to Nov. 27 was 14.6%, down 0.1 percentage points from October's record high, marking the first fall in 21 months. Prices are rising fastest in markets such as milk, dog food and butter, said Kantar. It said grocery sales rose 5.9% year-on-year in the 12 weeks to Nov. 27, masking a drop in volumes once inflation is accounted for. Kantar said its data did not indicate a significant boost to sales from the soccer World Cup, which started Nov. 20.

☆ UK consumer spending fails to keep pace with inflation: surveys
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Dec 6 (Reuters) - British consumer spending ticked up last month at a rate that greatly lagged behind inflation, according to surveys on Tuesday that underscored the pressure on household budgets ahead of the Christmas holidays. Barclaycard said spending on its credit and debit cards rose 3.9% year-on-year in November, far behind the annual 11.1% increase in consumer prices in October that was the highest reading in 41 years. Some 94% of Britons surveyed by Barclaycard said they were concerned about the impact of soaring household energy bills on their personal finances. Many Brits intend to reduce festive spending on presents and parties in an effort to save money," said Esme Harwood, director at Barclaycard. However, sales growth remained far below current inflation, suggesting volumes continued to be down on last year," said BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson.

☆ UK fresh food prices climb record 14.3% in November – BRC
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-30 | by ( Suban Abdulla | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The British Retail Consortium (BRC) said fresh food prices were 14.3% higher this month than a year ago. Other food item prices surged at the fastest pace on record to 12.4% in November, up from 11.6% the month before, it said. Overall shop price inflation rose to 7.4%, a record for the index which started 17 years ago, and up from 6.6% in October. "Food prices have continued to soar, especially for meat, eggs and dairy, which have been hit by rocketing energy costs, and rising costs of animal feed and transport," she said. Market research firm NielsenIQ, which co-produces the data, said Christmas will become more expensive as higher prices are already forcing consumers to limit spending on non-essential items.

[1/7] Herbs and micro-greens grown at the underground farm in a disused World War Two bunker using hydroponic technology and LED lighting, powered by renewable energy, are pictured in London, Britain November 24, 2022. REUTERS/Maja SmiejkowskaLONDON, Nov 28 (Reuters) - In an underground World War Two air raid shelter where London tube trains can be heard rattling overhead, aromatic coriander leaves tilt towards the pink glow of LED bulbs - a vision of how farms could look in the future. Zero Carbon Farms grows herbs and salads in Clapham, south London, a densely populated area with no room for conventional agriculture. But 30 metres below ground there is a kilometre of tunnels, and technology has made farming here a reality. "What makes this industry so exciting and challenging is that no one's quite cracked it," said Zero Carbon Farm's business development director Olivia O'Brien.

☆ FTSE 100 slips as China COVID protests rattle markets
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | by ( Shashwat Chauhan | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies China protests drag global markets lowerEnergy, miners slip on lower commodity pricesReal estate down after dour dataFTSE 100 down 0.7%, FTSE 250 off 0.9%Nov 28 (Reuters) - London's FTSE 100 slipped on Monday, with energy and mining stocks leading broad-based losses, as investors globally fretted over China's economic outlook following rare protests in the country against its strict COVID-19 restrictions. The blue-chip FTSE 100 (.FTSE) shed 0.7%, following two weekly gains that lifted the index to its highest levels in more than two months. Energy stocks were the biggest drags in the FTSE 100, with oil majors BP (BP.L) and Shell (SHEL.L) down around 1.5% each. Commodity prices dipped on worries about demand from top consumer China where protests against strict COVID-19 restrictions flared up. "It's a very hard thing to price, even the markets are not used to seeing demonstrations in China," said Chris Beauchamp, chief market analyst at IG Group.

☆ UK retail sales recover only partially as outlook darkens
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Andy Bruce | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Retail sales volumes rose in October by 0.6% month-on-month, following a 1.5% drop in September. The ONS said retail sales volumes remained 0.6% lower than their pre-pandemic level, a reminder of the economic challenge facing finance minister Jeremy Hunt who on Thursday said Britain was in a recession. However, he also announced tax hikes and a more austere approach to public spending to fix the public finances and the country's economic policy reputation after former prime minister Liz Truss's controversial "mini-budget". "There is no question that the retail sector will face unprecedented challenges in 2023," said Lisa Hooker, industry leader for consumer markets at PwC. Britain's biggest supermarket group Tesco (TSCO.L) on Wednesday reported a sharp rise in the number of shoppers looking for "reduced to clear" food.

☆ Dollar on track for weekly gain as Fed pushes back on pivot
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( Tom Westbrook | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

The dollar rose modestly on the yen following Bullard's comments and is up about 1.2% for the week to 140.36 yen . It also rose 0.9% on the Australian dollar overnight to $0.6690 per Aussie, and is on course for its first weekly gain on the Aussie since mid-October. Fed funds futures pricing currently implies a peak rate just below 5% and for rates to start falling by late 2023. Earlier this week, stronger-than-expected retail sales data had also shaken hopes for a pause in hikes, since it seemed to suggest consumers remained in spending mode. Later on Friday, British retail sales data is due, and European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde is among a smattering of policymakers due to speak.

☆ Britain's M&S warns of 'gathering storm' of higher costs and weak consumer
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( James Davey | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

SummarySummary Companies H1 profit down 24%Expects profit decline in full yearFacing higher labour, energy, currency costsLONDON, Nov 9 (Reuters) - British retailer Marks & Spencer (MKS.L) warned on Wednesday of a "gathering storm" of higher costs and pressure on household budgets, as it reiterated full-year profits would fall. Profits fell, despite an 8.5% rise in revenue to 5.54 billion pounds, due to higher costs. Prior to Wednesday's update, analysts were on average forecasting a profit before tax and adjusting items of 397 million pounds for the 2022-23 fiscal year, down from 523 million pounds in 2021-22. Marks & Spencer (M&S), whose shares have halved this year, said total food sales increased 5.6% in the first half, while clothing and home sales rose 14%. "Across all M&S markets it is highly likely that conditions will become more challenging in FY24," M&S said.

☆ Britain's Next to buy failed furniture retailer Made.com, jobs at risk
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Nov 9 (Reuters) - British fashion retailer Next (NXT.L) will buy the brand of collapsed online furniture seller Made.com (MADE.L), which entered administration last week after running out of cash. Made, which had a nearly 18-month run as a public company, last week became one of the most high profile British retailers to fail, hurt by supply chain issues and as consumers cut back on discretionary spending. It said on Wednesday that while Next would buy Made.com's brand, domain names and intellectual property, the company's administrators PwC would take control of its remaining assets including payments made to creditors. Made said in September it was cutting jobs and considering a sale, with some reports saying as much as 35% of the workforce was likely being let go. Reporting by Sachin Ravikumar; Editing by Kate HoltonOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

LONDON, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Some European retailers this week forecast or reported better full-year sales after working to keep prices low to attract cash-strapped shoppers although others, including Marks & Spencer (MKS.L) and Adidas (ADSGn.DE) warned on profit. Many consumers have turned to cheaper private-label products, boosting sales for retailers like Dutch grocer Ahold Delhaize and Primark owner Associated British Foods (ABF.L), as they face a prolonged cost-of-living crisis. On Wednesday, Ahold raised its annual outlook for the third time this year, expecting low-double-digit earnings per share growth versus a prior mid-single-digit guidance. Carrefour said it would step up its expansion in e-commerce, open more discount stores and cut costs as it detailed its new turnaround strategy, . LUXURY GAPHaving less disposable income has meant many shoppers are holding back on buying mid-market clothes and other discretionary items.

☆ Britain's Next to buy failed furniture retailer Made.com with 500 jobs at risk
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

British fashion retailer Next will buy the brand of collapsed online furniture seller Made.com after it fell into administration, putting around 500 jobs at risk. Made had a nearly 18-month run as a public company, selling sleek furniture online, backed by a large advertising budget. It performed particularly strongly during the COVID-19 pandemic as shoppers, stuck at home, spent freely on sofas, coffee tables and lamps. Made, which currently employs around 500 people, could see its entire workforce laid off, a source familiar with the matter said. Next, which trades from over 500 stores and online, has been picking up stakes in or acquiring smaller retailers in recent years including brands such as Victoria's Secret UK and Reiss.

☆ British grocery inflation hit record 14.7% in October -Kantar
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-08 | by ( James Davey | Lucy Craymer | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

SummarySummary Companies Too early to call peak of inflation, Kantar saysBritons face 682-pound jump in annual grocery billSales of cheapest-value own-label ranges soarDiscounters Aldi, Lidl are fastest growing grocersLONDON, Nov 8 (Reuters) - British grocery inflation hit 14.7% in October, another new record, and it is still too early to call the ceiling, market researcher Kantar said on Tuesday. It said UK consumers would face a 682-pound ($785) jump in their annual grocery bill if they continued to buy the same items. Kantar said 27% of UK households reported that they are struggling financially - double the proportion it recorded last November. Kantar said grocery sales rose by 5.2% on a value basis in the 12 weeks to Oct. 30 year-on-year - masking a drop in volumes once inflation is accounted for. Sales of own-label goods, which are generally cheaper than branded goods, jumped 10.3% over the four weeks to Oct. 30, while sales of branded goods rose 0.4%.

LONDON, Nov 8 (Reuters) - British businesses fear a gloomy Christmas ahead, as almost half of households plan to cut festive spending due to the soaring cost of living and sales are already falling sharply in inflation-adjusted terms. "Christmas will come later than last year for many and there may be more gloom than glitter as families focus on making ends meet, particularly as mortgage payments rise," BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said. The BRC's measure of like-for-like sales, which adjusts for changes in retailers' floor space, slowed to 1.2% in October from September's 1.8%. "The small rise in sales masked a much larger drop in volumes once inflation is accounted for," the BRC said. Britain's official retail sales data, which cover more shops than the BRC figures and is adjusted for inflation, showed sales volumes excluding fuel dropped 6.2% year-on-year in September.

☆ Former CEO says plan to rescue British furniture retailer Made.com fails
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 7 (Reuters) - Made.com's (MADE.L) co-founder and former chief executive Ning Li said his proposal to save the British online furniture retailer has been rejected, making the way for its collapse. The news comes almost a week after the company said it would appoint administrators after running out of cash, becoming one of the most high profile British retailers to fail this year partly as a result of a squeeze on household budgets. "Apparently, it would be preferable to break the company up and sell it in pieces to generate a little more cash," Ning added. In Oct., the struggling company suspended taking customer orders after talks to find a buyer failed. Reporting by Amna Karimi in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh KuberOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The "Voting Choice" program announced last year by the $8 trillion asset manager could reshape corporate elections both by making shareholders more involved and by diminishing the political criticism BlackRock faces from U.S. liberals and conservatives alike. BlackRock said in a statement that at the end of September clients with around $1.8 trillion in equity index assets managed by the company were eligible for voting choices and that clients with $452 billion were doing so. Last month for instance Charles Schwab Corp's (SCHW.N) asset-management arm said it would start polling shareholders of certain funds about their voting preferences. "Our clients have diverse perspectives, and a growing number would like the option to weigh in on how their index funds vote," Vanguard said in a statement. In addition, BlackRock said it would offer voting choice to more investment strategies and work with investor communications platform Proxymity to extend choice to retail investors in some British mutual funds.

☆ UK fresh food prices rise 13.3% in year to October - BRC
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-02 | by ( David Milliken | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

LONDON, Nov 2 (Reuters) - The cost of fresh food in British shops last month was 13.3% higher than a year earlier, the biggest annual increase in records going back to 2005, the British Retail Consortium said on Wednesday. The BRC, a trade body, said its broader measure of shop price inflation picked up to 6.6% in October from 5.7%, while food prices overall rose 11.6%, as the cost of less perishable foodstuffs rose more slowly than prices for fresh items. "It has been a difficult month for consumers who not only faced an increase in their energy bills, but also a more expensive shopping basket," BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson said. Outsize rises in the cost of food have come under particularly close attention, and some anti-poverty and anti-obesity charities have reported that shoppers are turning to more calorific processed foods to save money. The BRC said retailers were under pressure from rising energy bills, staff costs and commodity prices, and urged the government to freeze a planned 800 million pound rise in business property taxes, which shops would pass on to customers.

☆ British online furniture seller Made.com suspends trading amid last-ditch rescue talks
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-01 | by ( Jenni Reid | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

A view of a Made.com high street shop in central London on October 28, 2022 in London, England. Chris J Ratcliffe | Getty Images News | Getty ImagesLONDON — Millennial-oriented furniture retailer Made.com on Tuesday suspended trading of its shares on the London Stock Exchange, after failing to agree a rescue deal before a November deadline. However, customers also grumbled about long delivery times on some items, particularly as global supply chain issues intensified in 2021. Tough conditions"Customers are shying away from big-ticket items," said Sophie Lund-Yates, lead equity analyst at financial services firm Hargreaves Lansdown. "When the cost of living becomes untenable, buying expensive furniture is delayed, and that's exactly the pattern we've seen play out for Made.com."

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