In today’s InternetRetailing newsletter we’re reporting as the BRC and FTA speak out on the importance to the retail and logistics industries of having more certainty around Brexit. The retail industry, says the BRC, is united in its opposition to a no deal Brexit, while the FTA says its members need more clarity on what a no deal Brexit would mean for immigration and for the workers that they need to run their services.
Regardless of the outcome of negotiations, it’s now important to know what the plan is, says the BRC’s chief executive Helen Dickinson, who wants to see less ‘Parliamentary games’ and more decision making. It’s a sentiment that’s hard to argue with, less than seven weeks to go until Brexit day on March 29, when the UK is currently expected to leave the European Union. We also round up what the government says retailers should be doing now to prepare in case there no plan emerges, and there is a no deal exit.
Meanwhile, we have updates from Dixons Carphone, Pets at Home, Mountain Warehouse and Primark on their trading over Christmas and from ACI on the rise that it saw in click and collect fraud over the festive season. Online continues to be a theme, with all except store-only Primark seeing online sales lift over Christmas. Dixons says that its reserve and collect services performed strongly over peak trading and served to bring the store and ecommerce closer together.
We report on what Lovehoney did right in order to boost sales and profits by 22% each over its last financial year, and we look at new technology that Jägermeister is using to ensure that its shoppers are old enough to buy alcohol.
Our regular Predictions 2019 piece this week looks at sustainability, while today’s guest comment comes from Gary Tervit of P2P on what if – and the importance of contingency planning.
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