Description
“Amazon Fresh and it’s Just Walk Out Shopping lives up to its promise, feeling truly like no other shopping experience. However, what is most surprising is that Fresh is not just a technological show, but a top-tier modern convenience store that can go toe-to-toe with rivals on the basics of retailing.”
– Nick Carroll, Associate Director – Retail
Key issues covered in the report
- Analyst comment – Amazon Fresh – More than meets the eye
- An overview of the latest UK retail sales – Impact of COVID-19
- Highlights of the latest UK retail trend observations
- Sector Focus – Grocery Retailing
- Monthly UK retail news headlines and analysis
Table of Contents
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Analyst Comment: Amazon Fresh – More Than Meets the Eye
- What we’ve seen
- Just Walk Out, it is just that simple
- Figure 1: Amazon Fresh entry, March 2021
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- Figure 2: Amazon Fresh entry gates, Wembley March 2021
- Away from the technology Amazon has built a very capable format
- Figure 3: Amazon Fresh, Meat & Fish, Ealing March 2021
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- Figure 4: Amazon Fresh, Household and Frozen, Ealing March 2021
- Figure 5: Amazon Fresh, Meals for Tonight, Ealing March 2021
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- Figure 6: Amazon Fresh, Food-to-Go, Ealing March 2021
- Figure 7: Amazon Fresh, Bakery and to-go Coffee, Ealing March 2021
- From books to bok choy
- Figure 8: Amazon Fresh, Partner Brands, Ealing March 2021
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- Figure 9: Amazon Fresh, Mindful Chef, Ealing March 2021
- Figure 10: Amazon Fresh, by Amazon, Ealing March 2021
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- Figure 11: Amazon Fresh, in-store POS, Ealing March 2021
- Unification
- Figure 12: Amazon Fresh, Amazon Devices, Ealing March 2021
- Figure 13: Amazon Fresh, Amazon Hub, Ealing March 2021
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- Figure 14: What would drive use of an Amazon grocery store, October 2020
- Amazon is serious about Fresh
- What it means
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UK Retail Sales
- Key points
- Retail Sales
- Figure 15: Retail sales trends, January 2019 – February 2021
- BRC vs ONS
- Figure 16: UK retail sales y/y growth, BRC vs ONS, January 2018 – February 2021
- Inflation
- Figure 17: : Annual % change in the consumer price index for selected product groups, January 2019 – February 2021
- Inflation and wages
- Figure 18: Real wages growth: Wages growth vs inflation, January 2016 – January 2021
- Looking forward
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Sector Focus – Grocery
- Retail sales recover in February
- Figure 19: All retail sales (ex-fuel), non-seasonally adjusted, January 2020-Febaruary 2021
- Store-based online grocery continue to soar
- Figure 20: Annual % change in all grocery retail sales and store-based online grocery retail sales January 2021-February 2021
- Consumers are still limiting time-in -stores
- Figure 21: Consumer behaviours during COVID-19, 4th March – 12th March 2021
- Retail sales recover in February
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Launch Activity and Innovations
- UK: Costcutter trial new loyalty app
- UK: Mango adds Intimissimi to offering as part of new marketplace model
- UK: Infarm rolls out larger-scale vertical farming option for retailers
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Headlines for the Month
- Grocers
- Other food and drink specialists
- Clothing retailing
- Footwear retailing
- Multi-sector retailing
- Department stores
- DIY retailing
- Furniture retailing
- Homewares retailing
- Online
- Garden centres
- Pets and pet products retailing
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News Analysis – Food and Drink
- Convenience stores
- UK: Morrisons and McColl’s extend partnership for another three years
- Grocers
- UK: Aldi invests in £22 million on new and refurbished London stores
- UK: Asda
- …sale to Issa Brothers completed for £6.8 billion
- …festive sales up 5.1% as customers’ trade up
- …owners consider selling fashion label George
- …risks 5,000 roles ahead of restructuring plans
- UK: Lidl launches Whatsapp Customer Care messaging for ‘on-the-go’ shoppers
- UK: Morrisons offers takeaway service from new Camden store
- UK: Sainsbury’s
- …price match Aldi on 240 products
- …to cut 500 roles including from its clothing division Tu
- …will not accept business rates relief extension
- UK: Tesco
- …risks store managers’ jobs as part of restructuring process
- …Tesco supermarkets in Thailand and Malaysia rebranded to Lotus
- UK: Waitrose opens new fulfilment centre as it expands online delivery services
- Other food and drink specialists
- UK: Hotel Chocolat sees ‘superb’ half-year results as revenues grow 11%
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News Analysis – Clothing and Footwear
- Clothing retailing
- UK: Belstaff sales up 29% pre-COVID
- UK: Burberry to voluntarily return £6m in business rates relief
- UK: French Connection begins formal sale process
- UK: Inditex profits fall in a ‘difficult’ year
- UK: Moss Bros does not expect to ‘return to pre-COVID-19 levels in the short-term’
- UK: Primark expects £1.1 billion loss in sales due to store closures
- UK: Ted Baker revenue down 47% following weekly demand for occasion wear
- UK: Urban Outfitters sales rise 25% thanks to virtual shopping service
- Footwear retailing
- UK: Clarks sees revenue drop 6.4% thanks to ‘challenging trade’ in the UK
- UK: Shoe Zone sees a loss of £14.6m due to store closures
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News Analysis – Mixed Goods
- Multi-sector retailing
- UK: B&M revenues up 22% in Q3 thanks to customers ‘stockpiling’
- UK: Halfords
- …calls for legalisation of e-scooters on roads amid rising demand
- …to repay £10.7 million of furlough support
- UK: Home Bargains increases turnover by 13% thanks to new store openings
- UK: M&S
- …boss warns ‘unbearable’ business rates will lead to thousands of more job losses
- …reveals new sustainable denim range
- …rolls out credit option for loyalty members
- …rolls out new online websites in 46 markets
- Department stores
- UK: Debenhams to close Scottish stores leading to 647 redundancies
- UK: Frasers Group
- …warns of £100m hit from lockdown
- …reviews store estate despite business relief extension
- …opens kidswear stores
- UK: John Lewis
- …to roll out ‘hundreds’ of shop-in-shops inside Waitrose stores
- …looks to close more stores
- …offers online credit scheme to customers
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News Analysis – Household Goods
- DIY retailing
- UK: Travis Perkins to complete demerger from Wickes in Q2
- UK: Homebase to open three small-format stores
- UK: Kingfisher to launch B&Q stores in Saudi Arabia
- Furniture retailing
- UK: DFS interim revenues up 17.3% amid ‘resilient’ market
- Homewares retailing
- UK: Cox & Cox sales up 75% bolstered by strong Christmas trading in the final quarter
- UK: Dunelm deputy chair to sell £211m stake to ‘broaden his investment portfolio’
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News Analysis – Online
- UK: Amazon set to open first contactless store in Ealing
- UK: Angling Direct online sales up 40%
- UK: Asos relaunches Topshop and Topman on its website
- UK: Deliveroo confirms intention to float
- UK: Farfetch and The Restory team up to launch Farfetch Fix
- UK: In The Styles expected to float in March
- UK: Made.com thinking about next strategic options and considers possible IPO
- UK: Moonpig expects full-year revenue to double
- UK: N Brown closes Figleaves website and headquarters
- UK: Ocado rivals dedicated aisles for B Corp-certified suppliers
- UK: Virgin Wines makes its stock market debut after £110m valuation
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News Analysis – Other Retail
- Health and beauty retailing
- UK: Boots to cut 300 roles from Nottingham HQ
- UK: Essie teams up with L’Oréal to launch new AR tool ‘Essie On Hand’
- Sports and leisure goods retailing
- UK: Evans Cycle to cut 300 jobs
- Garden centres
- UK: Dobbies sales rise 51% amid lockdown
- Pets and pet products retailing
- UK: Pets at Home increases profit guidance after strong fourth quarter
- Shopping centres
- UK: Westfield owner to focus on UK estate as it reduces its presence in the US
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News Analysis – Economy
- UK: January sales down 2.3% amid national lockdown
- UK: Non-essential retail to open in April according to roadmap
- UK: BRC reports 9.5% growth in retail sales for February
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