Category Archives: Online Retailing

Goodbye 2020 – Hello 2021 and beyond

Posted on January 20, 2021 by Leigh Sparks

The Covid19 addled 2020 is behind us in calendar terms, though we are continuing to live through the lockdowns, and all their implications, at the start of what in normal times might be a brand new shiny year.  In a … Continue reading →

Posted in Consumers, Covid19, Employment, Essential Retailing, Food Retailing, Government, Independents, Local Retailers, Localisation, Lockdown, Online Retailing, Panic buying, Retail Change, Retailers, Retailing, Social Change, Social Inequality, Town Centre Action Plan, Town Centre Action Plan Review Group, Town Centres, Towns, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

COVID-19 and Christmas

Posted on December 15, 2020 by Leigh Sparks

About six or so weeks ago I completed a piece for the Economics Observatory (@EconObservatory) on the impact of Coronavirus on the UK’s retail sector. You can find my short intro to it on this blog and the full piece … Continue reading →

Posted in Availability, Boxing Day, Brexit, Christmas, Consumers, Covid19, distribution, Employees, European Union, Food Banks, Frictionless, Government, Home Delivery, IKEA, Independents, Internet shopping, Just in Time, Local Retailers, Office for National Statistics, Online Retailing, Opening Hours, Panic buying, Regulation, Retail Economy, Retailers, Stirling, Stock, Supply Chains, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Essential vs Non-Essential Retailing

Posted on December 8, 2020 by Leigh Sparks

At the start of lockdown in March, there was a division of retailing into essential and non-essential retailing, with a secondary division into physical and online channels.  There was some grumbling from some retailers (Sports Direct, Waterstones) who felt they … Continue reading →

Posted in Alcohol, Closure, Essential Retailing, Government, Independents, Lockdown, Non-Essential Retailing, Non-food retailing, Online Retailing, Regulation, Scottish Government, Uncategorized, Wales | Tagged , , , , , , | 4 Comments

“Retail sales surge close to pre-lockdown levels”

Posted on July 31, 2020 by Leigh Sparks

The retail headlines last week were interesting. Based on the latest Office for National Statistics retail sales data (for June 2020), the media packaged up a story about how UK retail sales had surged to pre-lockdown levels and were close … Continue reading →

Posted in Consumer Change, Covid19, Data, Food Standards, Home Delivery, Internet shopping, Lockdown, Office for National Statistics, Online Retailing, Retail Change, Retail Sales, Sales, Shopping, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Grocery Market Shares in the UK 2020

Posted on July 28, 2020 by Leigh Sparks

In July of each year I have recorded the  Grcery Market Share of leading retailers in Great Britain as shown by Kantar data. This has been going on since 1997 and I have mentioned this series in this blog before … Continue reading →

Posted in Asda, Cooperative Group, Cooperatives, Covid19, Discounters, Food Retailing, Home Delivery, Independents, Internet shopping, Kantar, Lidl, Localisation, Lockdown, Market Shares, Ocado, Online Retailing, Retail Change, Retail Sales, Retailers, Retailing, Tesco, Uncategorized, Wal-Mart | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Lockdown 1990s style

Posted on July 13, 2020 by Leigh Sparks

I am one of the fortunate ones, living in a large house with a garden.  I’ve always grown fruit and veg and have been making my own bread since 2007.  I also spent nearly 10 weeks locked-in in the house … Continue reading →

Posted in Click and Collect, Connectivity, Consumers, Covid19, Home Delivery, Internet, Internet shopping, Localisation, Lockdown, Online Retailing, Orkney, Social Inequality, Technology, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , | 3 Comments

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 , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments

Confidence, Cash and Friction: Shopping in Scotland

Posted on June 29, 2020 by Leigh Sparks

So, shops (well those not cooped up in an indoor shopping centre) in Scotland are now open. The long road back to re-opening the economy has taken another step forward, and one result is a gigantic queue outside a city … Continue reading →

Posted in Cash, Click and Collect, Consumer Change, Consumers, Convenience, Covid19, Employees, Friction, High Streets, Home Delivery, Internet shopping, Lockdown, Online Retailing, Opening Hours, Queuing, Retail Change, Scotland, Scotland's Town and High Streets, Scottish Retailing, Shopping, Shopping Centres, Social Distancing, Town Centres, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Shopping in a Post-Lockdown World

Posted on June 5, 2020 by Leigh Sparks

Well, we’ve just had the sunniest spring on record, as well as the driest.  As we apparently ease out of lockdown we can but hope that such conditions continue, because when you look at some of the operational actions retailers … Continue reading →

Posted in Consumers, Covid19, Employees, Employment, Internet shopping, Lockdown, Online Retailing, Places, Retailers, Scottish Government, Shopping, Shopping Centres, Social Distancing, Town Centres, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , | 1 Comment

Tracking the Impact of Lockdown on Retailers

Posted on May 26, 2020 by Leigh Sparks

The impact of COVID-19 has hit retailers in different ways. We are now beginning to see the official figures and some retailers have provided updates. As anticipated in a previous post, the April sales figures for Scotland showed a massive … Continue reading →

Posted in B&Q, Click and Collect, Consumers, Contactless, Covid19, Employment practices, Food, Home Delivery, Internet, Internet shopping, Kingfisher, Lockdown, Multichannel, Next, Online Retailing, Poland, Regulation, Retail Change, Retail Sales, Retailers, Sainsbury, Screwfix, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , | 2 Comments