Archive for the ‘Advice’ Category
Thursday, October 2nd, 2008
For the purposes of the white paper, the RTT considered a broad definition of the topic area including;
- Sales, including clearance, end of year and mid season;
- Special or seasonal discounts or markdowns;
- Promotions, such as buy one, get one free; two-for-ones; on-line/e-mail vouchers etc.
Traditionally, ‘end of season’ sales were the way in which retailers disposed of surplus stock at regular, pre-determined times during the trading year; primarily in January and at the end of the summer. These sale times were well known by consumers as part of the shopping calendar and people understood that outside these regular sale times they would pay full price. It seemed to be a system that worked well for many years and suited both retailers and consumers.
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Tags: Advice, Discounting
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Thursday, October 2nd, 2008
The RTT believes that the current levels of discounting and promotions in today’s financial climate are untenable long-term; unsustainable; and unhealthy for the retail sector.
The situation, the RTT warns, is now one of a self-perpetuating, vicious cycle, where margins for the retail industry as a whole - as well as those of their suppliers - are being negatively impacted.
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Tags: Advice, Discounting
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Tuesday, September 30th, 2008
Given the RTT’s belief that the current landscape of discounts and sales is untenable in the longer term, it discussed how it sees the situation developing. The RTT believes that retailers which use promotion and discounts more strategically, as opposed to tactically, will be more successful.
The group agreed that value will be the key pillar of retailers’ strategies going forward. To maintain and improve its prospects, a retailer’s focus must be on plans and actions which enhance stakeholder value. Price is only a part of the value equation; product, brand and the environment are equally important.
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Tags: Advice, Discounting
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Tuesday, September 30th, 2008
The RTT agrees that the City focuses very heavily on like-for-like sales growth figures as a barometer of the success of retailers.
Tim Denison of SPSL summed this up when he said: “The City should be encouraging retailers to increase margins, not sales at any cost. Retailing is a business like every other. Unfortunately it’s far too easy to be fixated on sales figures.”
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Tags: Banking, Discounting, Retail Market
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Tuesday, September 30th, 2008
“Discounting, promotions and sales are now a normal part of retailing practice but their widespread use is detrimental to the health of the sector”
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Tags: Advice, Discounting
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