Breakfast briefing: Retail news on Sainsbury's, Morrisons, BHS and more

Sainsbury's expands its online trial in China

Sainsbury’s will be shipping more tea to China as it extends an online trial with Tmall Global, The Guardian reported.

The supermarket will double a number of products which it usually ships through the international shopping site Alibaba. Sainsbury’s will be the only international retailer advertised during Tmall’s ‘super brand day’ promotion on 8 August, one of China’s biggest sales events.

Sainsbury's chief financial officer John Rogers said: “Chinese online shoppers are increasingly demanding high quality international products. Many customers also want to replicate tastes and occasions that they have enjoyed or heard about through international travel."

The supermarket started selling its products on Tmall in September last year. Other British brands with virtual stores on Tmall include Asos, Burberry and Waitrose, which sells through Royal Mail’s shop on the site.

Morrisons cuts prices of over 1,000 products

Morrisons plans to cut prices of more than 1,000 products by an average of 18% to try to win back customers who have turned to the discounters Aldi and Lidl, The Guardian reported.

The supermarket will cut the price of 1kg of beef mince from £3.86 to £3 and 750g of chicken thighs from £2.25 to £1.57. It will also cut the price of toiletries and seasonal fruits and vegetables by nearly 56%.

According to analysts, the Brexit effect could lead to inflation in supermarket prices as the fall in the value of sterling has made importing products and ingredients more costly.

All of the big four grocery chains – Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrisons – suffered a decline in their sales last month in July.

Morrisons customer and marketing director Andy Atkinson said: “We are constantly listening to our customers and know they are concerned about whether food prices will go up following the Brexit vote, especially on imports.”

Green accuses Field of turning inquiry into 'kangaroo court'

Former BHS chief executive Sir Philip Green claimed MP Frank Field turned the parliamentary inquiry of BHS into a 'kangaroo court', according to The Guardian.

In a letter written to the chairman of the Work and Pensions Select Committee, Green stated that he had not broken any rules and accused Field of creating a “false narrative”.

Green also said that “defamatory remarks” by Field have put a solution at risk and pointed out that the timetable and procedure for solving the issue was set by the Pensions Regulator.

On the other hand, Field replied to Green’s letter stating that he was making “real progress” in talks with the Pensions Regulator about bailing out the retailer’s scheme.

Online entertainment spending rises in the UK

Online spending on films, music and games in the UK has increased due to Star Wars: The Force Awakens and consumers purchasing the back catalogues of David Bowie and Prince, The Guardian reported.

Over one-third of shoppers in the entertainment market bought merchandise from Amazon in the 12 weeks to June 3. This has helped the etailer to attain its highest-ever share of spending on DVDs, Blu-rays, CDs and games outside the Christmas period, according to Kantar Worldpanel.

Online sales of physical entertainment products stumbled during 2015 as the high street, led by HMV, made a comeback.

Tesco’s overall sales fell 0.5% in the entertainment sector, meaning its market share dropped slightly to 15.2%. On the high street, HMV’s sales rose 2.3% year on year, increasing its market share from 14% to 16.3%. Amazon’s sales rose 0.5%, increasing its share of spending from 22.5% to 23%.