EDITORIAL Shoe Zone, Land Securities, Made and Victorian Plumbing on changing shopper behaviour

In today’s InternetRetailing newsletter we’re reporting as retailers see their ecommerce and multichannel businesses return to more usual sizes in the wake of Covid-19 lockdowns. While last year’s lockdowns gave shoppers little choice but to buy online, stores are now fully open and able to sell to shoppers. Today retailers are selling both through stores and via online businesses that are nonetheless larger than they were before Covid-19. But at the same time they are working to manage rising costs while keeping prices affordable as the cost of living rises more widely.

Shoe Zone today reports a return to profit as its in-store business recovers from pandemic lockdowns. In the first half of the year, its stores have been fully able to trade, and its online business has seen sales fall as shoppers opt to go in-store. However, ecommerce sales are still 39% ahead of pre-pandemic levels.

As shoppers return in-store, Land Securities says it’s now more confident in the future of the premium shopping centres that it operates. However, it judges that 25% of UK shops – mostly in secondary locations – may be surplus to shoppers’ requirements.

While multichannel retailers and property businesses are benefiting from the return in-store, those that sell online are seeing their sales reduce compared to last year. However, pureplays generally suggest that their sales remain higher than before the pandemic. Today we report as online furniture platform Made warns on sales and profits amid more challenging than expected volatile trading, and as Victorian Plumbing reports a small first-half decline in sales and a larger decline in profits as costs rise, and as it holds back on price rises.

And we report as JD Williams launches its new Anise sustainable clothing brand. The launch is part of its commitment to ensuring all of its product are responsibly sourced by 2030.

We have some useful insights into how German shoppers now want to buy, in an extract from the latest RetailX Germany Ecommerce Report.

In today’s guest comment, Mike Fantis of DAC Group has advice on marketing emails that help customers, rather than harass them.