Breakfast briefing: Retail news on Footfall, Joules and Harvey Nichols

High street enjoys strongest rise in footfall for almost a year

Improved weather, new spring ranges and strong promotions lured customers to the shops in March, with the high street reporting its biggest rise in footfall for almost a year. Footfall increased 1.8% in March compared to the year before, showing a big improvement on the previous month’s figures, when footfall was down 2.9%, the latest BRC-Springboard Footfall and Vacancies Monitor found.

Joules launches into eyewear with ‘extensive’ range

Joules is launching into eyewear as it grows the licensing part of the business. On April 30 the fashion retailer is set to launch a collection exclusively with Vision Express aimed at women and children.

The collection will initially consist of 32 skus in the prescription glasses range priced between £149 and £169, and eight lines across its sunglasses collection starting from £60. Joules plans to expand the ranges following the end of the exclusivity with Vision Express when the collection will be rolled out to independent opticians.

Harvey Nichols launches new e-commerce website

Harvey Nichols has launched its new e-commerce website as it aims to improve and optimise its online offering. The site integrates editorial content, social media streams, videos and blog posts into product pages.  The website also enables users to store products to buy later, book personal shopping appointments, and view live stock updates online. It has also developed an optimised mobile website