20 Apr Market highlights – April 2017
Every month B.D.C. gives you the key retail information you should not have missed. Key trends, innovation, major players, startups, market figures – discover in 60 seconds the latest key retail news.
UK MARKET HIGHLIGHTS
During the long Easter weekend, the number of online sales alone were up by 26%, while the volume of in-store transactions rose by 14%. More specifically, online sales rose by 12.4% on Good Friday compared to last year, according to figures from PCA Predict, but slowed down on Easter Saturday (-4.4%). Smartphone transactions were up by 9.9%, and tablet transactions by 2.5%.
According to a new study of the Internet Advertising Bureau (IAB), mobile drives digital ad spend past £10bn threshold in 2016 (+17.3%). Mobile video is also the fastest-growing ad format, with a spend that doubled to £693m.
KEY PLAYERS
Following the acquisition of Home Retail Group last year, Sainsbury’s has accelerated the roll-out of Argos stores within its supermarkets with already 50 openings. Another 200 Argos stores are planned to open within Sainsbury’s in the next 3 years.
H&M Group will launch a new retail brand: Arket. The brand aims to offer simple and timeless designs, focusing on materials, function as well as fit. The modern products will be in a slightly higher price segment than H&M’s products. This autumn, the brand will open its first store in London and launch online in 18 European markets.
INNOVATION & TRENDS
UPS is now implementing beacons in its vehicles in order to let staff know if they have placed an item in the wrong delivery vehicle. The transport company estimates the innovation could cut misloads by up to 70%. How does it work? The scanners, which read package labels, are programmed to know which package belongs to which vehicle. The Bluetooth-enabled beacons communicate with those package-scanning devices and notify UPS employees when loading packages into wrong vehicles.