Category Archives: Black Friday

Queen Bees : Q-commerce, the on-demand world and the changing meaning of online retailing

Posted on December 20, 2021 by Leigh Sparks

Online retailing is now close to 30 years old.  It has seen an almost relentless growth over much of this period, accelerated by events such as Black Friday and Christmas, and more recently super-charged by the pandemic and lockdown.  The … Continue reading →

Posted in Amazon, Availability, Black Friday, Community, Consumer Lifestyle, Consumers, Convenience stores, Customer Service, Dark Stores, Employment practices, Food Retailing, Home, Home Delivery, Internet, Internet shopping, Just in Time, Office for National Statistics, On demand retailing, Online Retailing, Q-commerce, Retailers, Retailing, Shopping | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Scottish and Online Retail Sales in Lockdown

Posted on July 1, 2020 by Leigh Sparks

I am catching up on some of the recently published data about retail sales. This short post has graphs from two sources (a) the Scottish Retail Sales Monitor, published by the Scottish Retail Consortium and (b) Internet sales as a … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Friday, Consumer Change, Consumers, Covid19, Data, Food Retailing, Internet shopping, Lockdown, Online Retailing, Retail Change, Retailers, Scotland, Scottish Retail Sales, Scottish Retailing, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Some thoughts on the ASOS profit warning

Posted on December 18, 2018 by Leigh Sparks

The ASOS news this week was to many something of a surprise, but in reality it really shouldn’t be.  A profit warning on Monday wiped almost 40% off its share price and impacted other retailers as well.  Many of these … Continue reading →

Posted in Asos, Black Friday, Brexit, Christmas, Competition, Consumer Change, Customer Service, Internet, Internet shopping, Online Retailing, Profits, Rates, Retail Change, Retailing, Tax, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 4 Comments

“The Ridiculous is no longer Unimaginable”

Posted on March 29, 2017 by Leigh Sparks

The other day I received an email saying that the 2016-2017 Annual Review of the Retail Think Tank was available.  It can be accessed and downloaded from here. The Retail Think Tank is just over 10 years old, being conceived … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Friday, Brands, Competition, Consumer Change, European Union, International Retailing, Retail Change, Retail Health Index, Retail leadership, Retail Think Tank, Retailers, Store Closures | Tagged , , , , | 5 Comments

Fight Time? The Boxing Day Petition

Posted on December 5, 2016 by Leigh Sparks

The issue of opening hours for shops is something that has been an ever-present during my time as an academic.  The product-based absurdities of the late 1970s and early 1980s were eventually swept away as opening hours were modernised and … Continue reading →

Posted in Alcohol, Black Friday, Boxing Day, Campaigns, Christmas, Consumer Lifestyle, Cyber Monday, Employees, Employment, Employment practices, Government, Internet shopping, Legislation, Online Retailing, Opening Hours, Petitions, Regulation, Small Shops, Supermarket | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 6 Comments

The Perfect Storm?

Posted on January 4, 2016 by Leigh Sparks

Are the storms getting worse now that someone has decided to give them names? Certainly by the time Frank had finished with my garden, I’d pretty much got the swimming pool I always thought that I had not wanted. And … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Friday, Christmas, Closure, Consumer Change, Costs, Discounters, Internet, Margins, Retail Economy, Retail Failure, Sales, Stock | Tagged , , , , , , | 3 Comments

Does Distance Lend Perspective?

Posted on February 8, 2015 by Leigh Sparks

As is my need in January, I have been off enjoying some sun and reflection. Having been in the Cape Winelands for the last few weeks, I’m already missing the sun, heat, light … and of course the wine. Having … Continue reading →

Posted in Alcohol, Black Friday, Christmas, Food Retailing, Margins, Profits, Scottish Retail Consortium, Scottish Retail Sales, Tesco, Wales | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Black and Blue

Posted on December 16, 2014 by Leigh Sparks

Some further thoughts on Black Friday, as it has become a disruptive event: The spike in sales was unprecedented, as shown by John Lewis and the figure below (courtesy of @neilretail). This cascaded into problems with store service and then … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Friday, Christmas, Cyber Monday, Internet shopping, John Lewis Partnership, Logistics, Online Retailing, Returns, Sales, Supply Chains | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

The Conversation: Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Silver Linings

Posted on December 3, 2014 by Leigh Sparks

The University of Stirling is a supporter of The Conversation, and I recently had a commentary published there. I reblog it here. ’Tis the season to spend, spend, spend … or so retailers would have us think By Leigh Sparks, … Continue reading →

Posted in Black Friday, Christmas, Consumer Change, Cyber Monday, Festivals, Internet, Internet shopping, Localisation, Online Retailing, Sales | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment