Visa Europe is to launch its new digital wallet service this autumn, as it looks to give consumers ‘convenient, secure and safe’ ways to pay online. The launch comes at a time when ecommerce represents 22% of Visa Europe’s transactions.
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Editorials, opinion, analysis, guest writers, industry comment and more
Editorials, opinion, analysis, guest writers, industry comment and more…
Editoriaux, avis, analyses, écrivains invités, commentaires sur l’industrie
Shares in HMV have gained 10% in value this morning after the multichannel entertainment retailer said it expected to benefit from the troubles suffered by Game – and that it would soon post a profit.
Shares in the company rose to 4.10p at the time of writing, in the wake of the announcement. That represents a 10.81% gain on yesterday’s closing price of 3.70p.
The rally came after HMV today updated the market ahead of its closed period. In the statement it said that while like-for-like sales had been down by 12.9% in the 17 weeks to April 28, it expected to take market share following Game’s move into administration, and subsequent sale out of it.
HMV said it expected to post a pre-tax loss of £16m, following “a weak new release schedule in CDs and DVDs in the final quarter.” But it also said that it was confident it would return to profitability in 2012/13. It said it expected profits before tax to come in at “at least £10m for 2012/13,” well above the analysts’ consensus of a £5m loss. This forecast reflected, said HMV, “the disruption to GAME plc and the changed nature of our relationship with key music and film suppliers.”
Game went into administration at the end of March following unsuccessful discussions with its lenders and third parties. The retail brand was subsequently bought by OpCapita, but not before 277 of its shops had been closed, leaving it with just 333 stores and a weaker position on the high street. That gives HMV a potentially much stronger position with a wider presence on the high street as well as, it’s been reported today, new and more advantageous deals with suppliers in the market.
The company was far from the only retail brand to go into administration this year, according to figures out today. KPMG’s analysis of Insolvency Service statistics, shows that administrators were called in to 180% more high street retailers in the first quarter of this year. Administration appointments involving retailers rose from 79 in the fourth quarter of 2011 to 135 in the first quarter of 2012. Among them were Peacocks, La Senza and Blacks.
Richard Fleming, UK head of restructuring at KPMG, said: “Today’s figures are the culmination of a barrage of negative economic pressures thrown at the High Street in the past few years.
“There was a wave of high profile retail administration appointments in the frst days of 2012, not least Peacocks, La Senza and Blacks, and the latest statistics from the Insolvency Service show that the New Year pain extended beyond a small number of well-known brands.”
He said there was a noticeable spike in retail administrations, particularly since other sectors, from hotels to transport, saw the number of administrations stay relatively steady or even fall.
“Unfortunately,” said Fleming, “we do not think today’s data is evidence of the traditional seasonal increase in retail failures. Our own pipeline of work suggests the high street and the many companies which service the retail industry are running out of options, with administration – the option of last resort – now inevitable for some.
Kevin Ludford, chief executive of InventCommerce, considers how search is now evolving for retailers working in an omnichannel market.
Twice as many German consumers are using QR codes that their UK counterparts, according to the latest figures released by market insight and consultancy company SKOPOS. SKOPOS found that 24% of Germans compared to 12% of UK mobile phone users have ever used a QR code
The introduction of Facebook’s Timeline means retailers and brands must now rethink their approach to the social network. Images and videos are now more important than comments, social media marketing technology company Wildfire found in a study.
Fashion retailer Next and stamp dealer Stanley Gibbons both reported fast-growing online sales. Next, however, showed its falling store sales were compensated for by the multichannel growth.
Argos-owner the Home Retail Group today pledged to continue to invest in multichannel despite falling sales and plummeting profits.
Figleaves has made its first profit in its 13-year history, its owners the N Brown Group reported today. Reporting its financial results, the home shopping group also said it was continuing its expansion from online to the high street, with the opening of more Simply Be shops.
Wonderbra has launched into online commerce with a website that allows it to sell directly to customers in the UK and Ireland for the first time. The new site is built by Venda.
Flying Brands today said it was in discussions about the sale of its final online retail business as it looks to leave the retail sector and concentrate on its business-to-business growing and dispatch business. The company said its call centre and head office would close by the end of June.
Nordic fashion retailer nelly.com has set about a programme of affiliate marketing following its recent UK launch. The company has appointed Affiliate Window.
Harvey Nichols is using online tracking and reporting technology from DC Storm as it looks to find out how its customers behave across its different sales channels.
Electricals retailer Comet has appointed Norbert Dentressangle to handle its warehousing and logistics operations. The five-year deal is worth around £100m.
Nine of Amazon.com’s 10 bestsellers are digital products, the company reported as it released its first quarter results last night.
Online sex toy retailer Lovehoney is the star of a new Channel 4 documentary. More Sex Please We’re British will tell the 10-year story of the business when it airs at 10pm on May 8.
SImon Calver prepares to start his new job as Mothercare’s chief executive on Monday, tasked with turning around the company’s falling UK sales. Required background reading for this task should be a current Mumsnet thread in which parents spell out their opinions of the retailer. This isn’t just a lesson for Mothercare – but for other retailers as well in a week that the UK entered a double dip recession.
Personalised recommendations are one of the most powerful tools open to an ecommerce company, argues Darren Hitchcock of RichRelevance, who advises how best to approach their use.
More than 60% of Asos’ sales are now made abroad, its latest financial figures show. International sales doubled in a year that saw three new overseas websites launch.
Aurora Fashions, owner of the Coast, Oasis and Warehouse brands, is expanding its online operations to the US and Australia in the first part of a major push into new international markets. The company plans six new sites, each featuring all three of the brands this year.
Where and when does ecommerce happen? At home, at 8.40pm, while watching TV, according to a new Global Online Shopper Report commissioned by WorldPay.
A new course to bring ecommerce newcomers up to speed quickly is being launched. Econsultancy’s two-day Fast Track E-commerce and Online Retailing Course is delivered by Internet Retailing editor-in-chief Ian Jindal.
Adoption of mobile payments among consumers in the UK faces a number of challenges, especially overcoming the reticence of older age groups and women, according to Finaccord’s Payment Metrics consumer research study
