Category Archives: Dark Stores

Predicting the Post-Covid Retail Landscape: presentation for Scottish Grocers Federation Cross Party Group

Posted on March 16, 2022 by Leigh Sparks

Later on today (from 1815 on the 16th March to be exact) I will be presenting virtually at the latest Scottish Grocers Federation organised Scottish Parliament Cross Party Group on Local Convenience Stores. I will be speaking, together with David … Continue reading →

Posted in Amsterdam, Consumer Change, Consumers, Convenience, Convenience stores, Covid19, Dark Stores, Food Retailing, Internet shopping, Local Retailers, Online Retailing, Retail Change, Retail Policy, Scotland, Scottish Government, Scottish Grocers Federation, Scottish Retail Consortium, Scottish Retailing, Supply Chains | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

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

Supermarket Nightmares: Keeping your Distance

Posted on April 21, 2020 by Leigh Sparks

In, what seems like an eternity ago.  I got into a degree of trouble for suggesting that food retailers, for good or bad, were ‘social engineers’ and we needed to recognise and understand the implications of this.  This was on … Continue reading →

Posted in Academics, Amazon Go, Behavioural Economics, Consumer Change, Consumer Choice, Consumers, Dark Stores, Design, Employment practices, Food Retailing, Food Standards Scotland, Health, Panic buying, Retail Change, Retailers, Social Inequality, Supermarket, Uncategorized, University of Stirling, Well being | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

What’s £3bn between retailers?

Posted on April 23, 2014 by Leigh Sparks

I make no apologies for returning to two businesses I have discussed before on this blog – namely Tesco and the Co-operative Group/Movement – after all, they were the leading retail stories in the days before Easter, and both look … Continue reading →

Posted in Cooperative Group, Cooperatives, Dark Stores, Food Retailing, Retailers, Tesco | Tagged , , , , , | 2 Comments

“You can’t be a good retailer unless you’re good at logistics”

Posted on April 1, 2014 by Leigh Sparks

At the recent World Retail Congress in Singapore, Scott Price, CEO Wal-Mart Asia made the statement that ‘you can’t be a good retailer unless you’re good at logistics’. Regular readers of this blog know that this is a theme I … Continue reading →

Posted in Availability, Books, Click and Collect, Dark Stores, Logistics, Online Retailing, Supply Chains | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment

Clarence Saunders and Keedoozle

Posted on August 28, 2013 by Leigh Sparks

A year or so I was invited to become part of an online community – Brick meets Click (BMC) – which discusses and comments on interesting things in the world of retailing and technology and looks at the future of … Continue reading →

Posted in Automation, Click and Collect, Consumer Change, Dark Stores, Food Retailing, History, Multichannel, Online Retailing, Retail History, Supermarket, USA | Tagged , , , , , , , | 2 Comments