Category Archives: Retail

Interesting, as always, to see the latest batch of data from the UKs Office of National Statistics (ONS). Apparently, back in 1957, food and clothing took up almost 50% of average household income, whereas nowadays it consumes just 25%. Astonishingly, … Continue reading →

The future of retail is seemingly not what it used to be. A few years ago we were talking about trendy new terms such as premiumisation, masstigue, transumerism, pop-up retail and third spaces. We were also witnessing the emergence of … Continue reading →

I can’t believe that I’m reading Supply Chain Digest but it’s the day before Easter and I’ve got nothing better to do. Aaaanyway, a story about seven key retail trends as identified by the CEO of Tesco speaking at the … Continue reading →

By 2015 the middle class will have disappeared in most developed countries taking mid-price retailers with them (or is it the working class that will disappear?). Whichever it is, most consumer markets are already polarising between economy and premium sectors … Continue reading →

We’ve already got sweat-shop-free clothing brands, the return of neighbourhood retail and anti-supermarket sentiments, but we still haven’t seen anything yet. In the future customers will be interrogating brands online and scanning products in supermarkets with mobile phones to check … Continue reading →

As I have already noted, we are moving out of the era of mass and cheap into the age of luxury and ‘made for me’. For the fortunate few this means bespoke (tailor-made) products (sold in brand experience stores with … Continue reading →

Customer service costs money and is notoriously difficult to do well, so why not get customers to do it themselves? Everyone saves money and your customers think they’re in charge. Current examples include self check-in kiosks in airports, self-scanning machines … Continue reading →

A significant number of (lucky) people have got all the ‘stuff’ they need, so they are now, increasingly, looking for experiences not products. Research suggests that this is especially true for women. Examples include WHSmith (a UK stationer) selling cooking … Continue reading →