August 20, 2007
News, Shopping
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Internet sales reached a record high in July at £4.2bn compared to just over £1.8bn in July of last year.
The Interactive Media in Retail Group reported on this increase. Analysts have been worried that as interest rates get higher, this would deter customer from spending as much. But it seems that it has done just the opposite!
With retailers improving their websites and consumers getting better and faster internet connections, perhaps online shopping is just far more convenient. Of course, the vast amount of rain we’ve been getting in the UK over the past few months may just have made people decide to shop from the comfort of their own homes.
Read more at BBC News
July 31, 2007
News
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Jessops have revealed that they are closing quarter of their stores and cutting 550 jobs after digital compact camera and memory card prices considerably affected their sales.
6 branches have already been closed, and a further 75 are supposed to be closing in the near future. It is expected that the closures will result in a loss of £1.5m (which is an 11% drop in sales), but 31 of the earmarked stores were already making a loss.
According to Jessops CEO Chris Langley, this strategy was made necessary due to competitive prices across the market, and ‘shortages of key product lines’. Jessops supply problems have now been solved, but the digital compact market which suffered extreme price deflation will continue to be challenging.
Jessops will now concentrate on the digital SLR market which is continuing to grow. Online digital printing through Jessops Picture House will also play a large part in the company’s recovery; it is on track to reach one million customers by Spring of 2008.
David Adams, the executive chairman said in a statement to the press, ‘The Board is confident that Jessops will deliver a significant turnaround in its financial performance.’
July 30, 2007
Opinion, News
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A thorough list of 100 UK retailer websites has shown that most are not actually very good. The list comprises some of the largest companies, and also some of the smaller specialist online vendors.
The Retail Bulletin and SiteMorse (a specialist website testing company) analysed the first 125 pages of each retailers site using an automated testing system. This generated a ranked table that showed only 7 of the sites achieved 7 out of 10, the score that SiteMorse regard as a good score.
The top five, starting from number 1, were Majestic, Morrisons, Tesco Direct, Next and Topshop. What is most surprising is that specialist online stores such as dell and play were among the lowest scoring retailers (they were ranked at 89 and 74 respectively).
All of the stores within the top 10 are store based retailers. This is a surprising, and quite frankly, a disappointing result since these retailers are far less reliant on their web sales.
Almost all of the retailers that were tested need to step up. Badly designed and maintained websites are probably the reason that web sales are declining compared to in-store sales. And as for the online specialists – it is quite simply unacceptable.
For the full table see The Retail Bulletin
July 19, 2007
Gadgets
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A company called Xexoo is offering 18 carat ipods, including Nano’s and shuffles. The shuffle is reported to cost in the region of $10,000.
And if you are wanting to spend a little more money you can buy a piece from their signutre collection. Each xexoo masterpiece from the signature edition is unique. No one wlse will own the same.
Don’t all rush out and buy one now!
June 28, 2007
Gadgets, News
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Tomorrow (29th June 2007) will see the long awaited launch of the Apple iPhone. The iPhone will go on sale in the US and in only two Merchant shops, The Apple Retail shop, and AT & T stores and online at the Apple Store. The iPhone will retail for $99 for the 4GB model with a two-year contract and $599 for the 8GB version.
I’ve not yet had a chance to actually get a hold of one myself and therefore cannot comment on the functionality of it or the usability of the iPhone. All I can do is look at the design of it and what it’s supposed to do.
iPhone, is as claimed by Apple, “a revolutionary combination of a mobile phone, widescreen iPod, and Internet communications device”.
It sounds great and I have to say looks great. There has been much hype and anticipation about this release, even before first pictures had been release the rumour and speculation that had built up about this little piece 21st technology was incredible. Most people in the industry were sick of hearing about it even before it was even released.
And the madness doesn’t stop there, queue’s have been forming out side Apple and AT & T stores for the last few days to be the first to get there hands on this stylish new piece of technology. A huge amount of iPhone’s will be sold in the next few months in the USA and it will likely once again pocket Apple a huge amount of profit.
UK release date has not been announced Rumours have suggested that this will likely be in October and I would expect the price to be in the region of £300 - £500. Though exactly how long the phone contract would be is questionable. The 2 year contract being offered in the
US will likely not sit quite as well with the UK Market.
My issue with many Apple products is the long term durability and reliability of them, as a constant “mobile phone dropper” will this shiny glossy phone still work after 2 hours in my possession. The likely answer to that is no - buy I doubt that reliability will stop many from buying this already iconic phone.
June 19, 2007
News, Shopping
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Personal scanners have now been successfully implemented in many stores in the US. The concept is simple, you scan each item as you take it off the shelf and you bag as you shop. When you’re done, you simply pay at a terminal at the front of the store. Similar systems have been in trialed in some stores in the UK and the concept had already been taken up in much of
Europe. With the successful self scanner check out new a main stay at all the major
UK supermarkets, it seems inevitable that personal scanners will soon be appearing in a supermarket near you! In Bloom stores in
Maryland,
USA, personal scanners have been introduced. Scales with printers let customers create bar-coded tags for fruits, vegetables and other produce that isn’t priced. Bloom stores also have computerized kiosks that print out recipes and a map showing where the ingredients can be found. Once shopping is finished, customers head to the front of the store, a process that involves scanning a bar code generated by the personal scanner, swiping a personal card and of course paying. Shoppers are randomly picked for audits to ensure items haven’t been placed in the shopping cart without being scanned.
It’s the last point which may stop the concept from catching on, Shops may feel that there will be too much risk of theft, currently the scales on the self service checkouts stop any easy abuses of the system, though new personal scanners would not have this feature, unless giant scales introduced to wheel a trolley on to, to ensure that all has been scanned
June 19, 2007
News, Shopping
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It’s been well known for a while now that online shopping benefits both the consumer and seller, yet a new study is claiming that both could get more out of the opportunities it provides.According to an investigation by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT), the online shopping market in the
UK is now worth over £21.4 billion, with over 20 million consumers, that’s a massive third of the population choosing to shop online in 2006.
Many consumers need to do more to protect themselves online, and the majority of respondents were not aware that they had any cancellation rights when purchasing goods and services online, the OFT said.Chief executive John Fingleton commented: “The internet has added a welcome new dimension to competition in the economy, as well as providing convenience for shoppers and new opportunities to compare prices and find new products.“However, if online shopping is to continue to flourish, the awareness and the protection of consumers’ rights need to improve.”The OFT now plans to work with consumer groups and businesses to ensure that consumers feel confident when shopping online and are aware of their rights.
June 14, 2007
Shopping
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Argos the UK’s best loved catalogue has joined outz.
As part of their commitment to their low prices, they never stop checking and dropping prices. Argos.co.uk is the best place to find all the latest deals and offers.
Over 900 price cuts in June alone.
- Remington Washable 7 in 1 Grooming Kit only £18.50 save over £9.00
- Deluxe Metal Garden Shed only £159.99 save £80
- Oval Butterfly Beech Dining Suite with Storage only £82.49 save over £27
- Whirlpool ADP4501/5 White Full Size Dishwasher on;y £220 save £20
Check out more deals at Argos.co.uk
June 11, 2007
Shopping
No Comments
Hello World! The Outz blog is born. This is a website so every website nowadaya has a blog, so outz can be no diferent.
Check back on the blog for latest information on new additions to outz, all the latest special offers. Ideas for gifts for all those special occasions. Don’t forget Fathers day is just arround the corner.
