Retail news round-up: Ex-Tesco boss won't face fraud charges, Yoox Net-a-Porter's joint venture in Middle East, and Amazon limits shopper reviews

Ex-Tesco boss won’t face charges

Former Tesco chief executive Philip Clarke will not face any charges from the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) over the retailer's accounting scandal, The Times reported.

David Corker, representing Clarke, said the SFO told him that “following a thorough review of the evidence obtained... it has been decided not to initiate criminal proceedings”.

There is “insufficient evidence to provide a realistic prospect of conviction”.

SFO is still investigating the £263m accounting discrepancy discovered in 2014.

Both Tesco and the SFO declined to comment.

Yoox Net-a-Porter expands deal in Dubai

Yoox Net-a-Porter has formed a €130m (£110.9m) joint venture with Dubai-based businessman Mohamed Alabbar as the online retailer sets its sights on luxury spenders in the Middle East, The Telegraph reported.

Chief executive Federico Marchetti said the decision of collaborating with a local partner was made to provide same-day deliveries in Dubai with a local-language Arabic website.

Marchetti said: "By 2020 the Middle Eastern luxury market is expected to be worth $12bn as it has the highest concentration of high net worth individuals than anywhere else in the world."

Alabbar said: “Ecommerce in the Middle East is still fresh and new, it’s a baby."

Amazon limits shopper reviews

Amazon has limited the number of reviews shoppers leave on the site in an attempt to stop false feedback, the BBC reported.

Amazon has published the rules in its Customer Service section: "You can submit five non-Amazon verified purchase reviews each week, starting on Sunday.”

The change applies to most products, except books.

Verdict’s retail analyst Patrick O’Brien said: "The change makes a lot of sense. There has been a massive clampdown on fake, bogus and heavily influenced reviews recently.

"The new rules will make it very difficult for people who are trying to make money by selling fake reviews. It does show Amazon is taking this matter seriously."

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