Raising consumer confidence will be the biggest challenge faced by visitors to retail business events this year. And this follows a study of consumer attitudes which showed shoppers’ confidence took its biggest knock for nearly 20 years.

This followed the rise in VAT earlier in January to 20%, and experts are warning that the UK economy could be facing a "very painful period".

GfK NOP Social Research conducted the study and found all the confidence measures had dropped in the past month.

Consumers’ willingness to make major purchases fell by 22 points to minus 29. The figure represents the biggest monthly drop since the 1992 recession.

However it’s not all bad news for retailers: clothing, grocery and shoe shops were the sectors which recorded the strongest sales growth.

Marcus Evans presents retail business events, created by experienced professionals and with information presented by industry experts.

Visitors to retail business events this year will be interested to hear of the emergence of Europe as the biggest market in online retail.

Sales online in Europe are set to rise by 18 per cent to more than 200 billion euros in 2011. This will mean internet sales will surpass those in the US, and outpace growth in traditional European shops.

The Centre for Retail Research revealed that 6.9 per cent of all European retail spending will be done online. The figures were based on projections and data from 11 countries.

Britain, Germany and France will be the largest markets for online retail, and the UK heads the table with sales of 59.4 billion euros.
The challenge for British retailers will be to position their business online to take advantage of this emerging trend.

Marcus Evans presents retail business events, created by experienced professionals and with information presented by industry experts.

Shops and service providers who struggle with maximising their online revenue will benefit from retail business events this year – where a key topic will be internet strategies. And the surge in internet shopping in Britain shows no sign of slowing after £6.8bn worth of sales was recorded in December.

The rise has been put down to the coldest December in the UK for 100 years, as shoppers stayed indoors and turned to their computers. Sales of clothing, footwear and accessories increased by 40% while alcohol sales increased by 36%.

The e-commerce research group forecasts 18% growth in 2011 with £69bn to be spent online.

And retailers with a strong web presence will be well positioned to benefit. Yet those dependent on store visitors face a challenge in 2011 to reposition themselves.

Marcus Evans presents retail business events, created by experienced professionals and with information presented by industry experts.

Retailers in London have managed to buck the national average with sales rising by 3.4 per cent in September, according to figures which may be of interest to people attending retail business events.

The New West End Company, which represents 600 retailers on Bond Street, Oxford Street and Regent Street, says that the West End managed to see sales grow by over three per cent when the rest of the UK saw sales rise by just 0.3 per cent.

It claims that the rise in London is down to the autumn/winter lines coming into stores, inbound international shopper spend and the performance of the evening economy; while Oxford Street’s High Street fashion week initiative also helped boost sales.

Marcus Evans presents retail business events, created by experienced professionals and with information presented by industry experts.
 

Weathering the tough economic climate is the focus of many retail business events this year.

And there are signs of recovery for the sector after the worst December on record.

The start of January saw customers return to the British high streets to beat the rise in VAT.

Shoppers also enjoyed a bumper January sales with many outlets providing major discounts.

Some retailers also delayed passing on the rise in VAT to customers, which will have additionally boosted the January total.

Anecdotal evidence suggests the first week in January proved the busiest for retailers, and the snow which disrupted Christmas shopping meant others delayed major purchases until the New Year.

Experts have forecasted a 0.5 per cent rise in sales on the previous month.

And in a survey released in February, the British Retail Consortium revealed like-for-like retail sales were up by 2.3 per cent in January.

Marcus Evans presents retail business events, created by experienced professionals and with information presented by industry experts.

Improving your sales strategy to target loyal customers is a key focus of retail business events. This year Game Group offers a useful example of how effective loyalty schemes should reap dividends.

The computer and games retailer has announced a three-year plan to move customers to downloading games from the internet. In addition it is looking to introduce different types of payment to appeal to more customers.

The new loyalty card options will particularly appeal to young gamers, particularly youngsters who do not have credit cards.

With the card they will be able to buy codes to unlock games online. These can also be part-funded by trading in old games.

Game hopes this strategy will increase profits over the next three years. To support this, it will invest nearly all of the £15 million raised through closing stores.

Marcus Evans presents retail business events, created by experienced professionals and with information presented by industry experts.

The talk of retail business events this year will be fighting the effects of the recession. And there is good news on this front after the British Retail Consortium revealed sales rose in January.

A 2.3 per cent growth in sales was recorded last month despite consumers revealing they felt pessimistic about 2011.

Shoppers took advantage of discounting from retailers as well as the milder weather compared to December. Overall sales were boosted by 9.1 per cent for the month.

BDO is the advisory group which publishes the monthly sales tracker, and they believe discounting played a part in the sales increase.

However BDO advisor Don Williams believes "once the New Year buzz has worn off, retailers will be preparing for a tough first quarter".

Marcus Evans presents retail business events, created by experienced professionals and with information presented by industry experts.

A key topic at retail business events in 2011 is likely to be the rise in VAT – and an industry body believes the recent hike could be beneficial for online retailers.

The British Retail Consortium believes companies who trade online are planning to absorb the cost in order to shield consumers from price rises.

The rate of VAT in Britain rose from 17.5% to 20% on January 4th, and this led to a rush for the high street sales in the days before the change.

However the British Retail Consortium believes price rises will send shoppers online, where prices are likely to remain more competitive.

And findings from eBay’s Online Business Index suggest that 60% of online businesses would try to protect consumers from the VAT rise.

Marcus Evans presents retail business events, created by experienced professionals and with information presented by industry experts.

The rate of Value Added Tax rose to 20 per cent at midnight today – and analysts have predicted revenue falls in the retail and consumer goods sector.

According to a report from the Centre for Retail Research and online shopping group Kelkoo, retail sales will fall in the first quarter of 2011 due to the VAT rise.

The study predicts that consumers will spend £22.5 billion in the January sales, an increase of £360 million from last year. Yet following this, they are predicted to spend an average of £324 less this year as a result of the tax increase.

The standard rate of VAT has risen from 17.5 per cent to 20 per cent – and most foodstuffs, children’s clothing and books will remain exempt.

Marcus Evans presents retail and consumer goods events, created by experienced professionals and with information presented by industry experts.

One of Europe’s leading retail and consumer goods groups has expressed caution about the outlook for the sector.

Despite bringing first half losses back within the expectations of its recover plans, much of Dixons Retail’s increase in sales occurred in the first quarter of 2010, new figures show.

The company – which owns Currys and PC World in the UK, and other retail chains in Italy, Scandinavia and Greece – has reported flat sales for the first half of the year and will not be paying a dividend to shareholders.

However, Dixons has reported that it is on track to achieve cost savings of £50 million for the year.

Dixons’ caution will be noted by the rest of the retail and consumer goods sector, as it heads into its pre-Christmas best period for sales.

Marcus Evans presents retail and consumer goods events, created by experienced professionals and with information presented by industry experts.