Opinion – Page 6
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Opinion‘Election won’t make much difference to blighted town centres like Middlesbrough’
Empty shops, high crime and a lack of opportunity – no wonder retailers have deserted town centres such as Middlesbrough. There are plenty more like it. Sadly, the general election won’t make much of an immediate impact, believes George MacDonald
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Opinion‘If your retail media strategy is digital-only, you’re doing it wrong. Here’s why’
The buzz around digital is overshadowing the enormous power of in-store media – and that’s a problem, warns Dunnhumby’s Anthony Worssam
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Opinion‘Quantum leaps in tech are enabling IT to become a genuine business differentiator’
Amid an abundance of technology solutions, the challenge for retailers is not one of opportunity but navigation, maintains Matt Truman
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Opinion‘Nigel Farage says Shein London IPO is a “very bad idea”. Is he on the money?’
With speculation over Shein’s expected London IPO ongoing, George MacDonald considers why the potential listing has become such a political hot potato
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Opinion‘In uncertain times, retailers must keep one eye looking beyond the UK’
Rishi Sunak is not right about much, in my opinion. But one thing he said in his speech calling the general election rang true – we live in the “most uncertain of times”.
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Opinion‘Raise your hand if you too have been victimised by a Sports Direct mug’
A few weeks ago I did something very out of character. I placed an order at Sports Direct.
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Opinion‘Lack of product availability is a real and present danger to delivering sales growth’
Addressing availability is a big – and pressing – retail opportunity, maintains Matt Coode
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Opinion‘Brightening retail outlook could create sweet spot for M&A this year’
After a challenging 2023, falling valuations and pent-up demand for deals could spark a revival in retail M&A as economic conditions stabilise, believes Erin Brookes
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Opinion‘Transformation is hard work but M&S’ impressive turnaround shows the rewards’
Transformation is not for the faint-hearted; it takes a vision and huge amounts of investment and hard work, writes Lisa Byfield-Green. But M&S’ results this week demonstrate that hard work is paying off for the beloved UK institution.
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Opinion‘In what will likely be a negative campaign, retail must tell a positive story’
With an election date set and the parties going into full campaigning mode, the next six weeks are likely to be dominated by negativity. To cut through the noise, retail must tell its story positively
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Opinion‘The answer does not lie in data, but in the stores’
Starbucks founder Howard Schultz has made some great points about what lies at the heart of business success. They apply to all of retail, believes George MacDonald
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Opinion‘As ChatGPT gets flirty, now is the time to embrace this cutting-edge technology’
With new releases this week from OpenAI and Google, generative AI (Gen-AI) tools are developing rapidly and destined to be on every smartphone. As more customers gain access to this dynamic technology, now is the time for retailers to get on board and explore the opportunities.
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Opinion‘UK food security can’t be safeguarded without a functioning border agreement’
Both major political parties agree that UK food production is in crisis, but neither is addressing the elephant in the room: Brexit and the border between the UK and EU, says Hugh Radojev.
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Opinion‘It will take a combined effort from retail to win over politicians of all stripes’
As a general election nears, retailers can show the next government that the key to successful leadership is to work with the industry, not against it, believes BRC chief executive Helen Dickinson
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Opinion‘Even by its own measures, Boohoo faces a long path to recovery’
Boohoo’s KPIs did not tell a happy story when the retailer posted its annual results this week, and achieving sustainable and profitable success will be a challenge as competitors such as Shein grow, writes George MacDonald
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OpinionWHSmith's Sean Toal: ‘We’re proud to buck trend by investing in high streets with Toys R Us partnership’
WHSmith high street managing director Sean Toal writes exclusively for Retail Week on the expansion of its Toys R Us in-store partnership and how it represents the retailer’s commitment to being the ‘hub of the high street’
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Opinion‘A new criminal offence is progress, but tackling retail crime is not over’
Collaboration and information exchange strengthens retail’s collective resilience against crime, says Central Co-op chief executive Debbie Robinson
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Opinion‘Can Co-op Live ever make sweet music after bum note launch?’
With Co-op Live’s planned grand opening becoming something of a PR disaster, George MacDonald wonders if things can be turned around
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Opinion'Gen-AI boom has come at exactly the right time for Amazon'
Amazon chief executive Andy Jassy emphasised to analysts on its quarterly investor call the huge opportunity that generative AI (Gen-AI) will bring to its business: “I don’t know if any of us have seen a possibility like this in technology in a really long time, for sure, since the cloud, perhaps since the internet.”
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Opinion‘From checkout to check-up: is now the time for retailers to diversify into services?’
People are increasingly prepared to pay to manage their health and wellness, which could spell opportunity for retailers, believes PwC’s Lisa Hooker.
