July UK Retail Briefing - UK - 2021

ANALYST COMMENT – IMPACT OF COVID-19 ON THE DEPARTMENT STORE SECTOR
Closure of stores hits them hard
Too reliant on fashion
Weakened by collapse in international tourism
Responding to shift online
UK RETAIL SALES
Key points
Retail sales
Figure 1: Retail sales trends, January 2019-June 2021
BRC vs ONS
Figure 2: UK retail sales y/y growth, BRC vs ONS, January 2018 –June 2021
Inflation
Figure 3: Annual % change in the consumer price index for selected product groups, January 2019 –June 2021
Inflation and wages
Figure 4: Real wages growth: Wages growth vs inflation, January 2016 –April 2021
Looking forward
SECTOR FOCUS – GROCERY RETAILING
Retail sales
Figure 5: All retail sales (ex-fuel), non-seasonally adjusted, January 2020-June 2021
Store-based online grocery comes to a slow
Figure 6: Annual % change in all grocery retail sales and store-based online grocery retail sales January 2021-June 2021
More time at home drives online shopping
Figure 7: Changes to consumer habits due to COVID-19, 25th June - 2nd July 2021
LAUNCH ACTIVITY AND INNOVATIONS
UK: Asda launches one-hour express delivery service after successful pilot
UK: Majestic Wines rolls out new shopping platform ‘Shop Local’
UK: Harrods teams up with rental marketplace My Wardrobe HQ for new service
HEADLINES FOR THE MONTH
Grocers
Other food and drink specialists
Clothing retailing
Footwear retailing
Multi-sector retailing
Department stores
DIY retailing
Electrical retailing
Furniture retailing
Online
Books and stationery retailing
Sports and leisure goods retailing
NEWS ANALYSIS – FOOD AND DRINK
 CO-OPS
UK: Co-op rolls out ‘extensive’ recycling scheme in 2,300 stores
 CONVENIENCE STORES
UK: Scotland's Go Local scheme secures another £190,000
 GROCERS
UK: Aldi to scrap 1.4 billion pieces of plastic from own-label tea
UK: Asda
...reduces greenhouse gas emissions by 16%
...like-for-like sales up 3.5% but operating profit takes a hit due to COVID-19
...team up with Unilever for refillable packaging trial
UK: Morrisons
...accepts £6.3bn offer from Majestic Wine owner
...rejects takeover offer by US-based private equity firm
...brings back glass milk bottles in new trial
UK: Sainsbury’s
...sales up 1.6% driven by Tu clothing
...to axe sale of CDs and DVDs
UK: Tesco
...expands Loop service to in-store
...expands partnership with one-hour delivery service Whoosh to London
...sales up 1% in Q1 as sales moderate in April as restrictions eased up
 OTHER FOOD AND DRINK SPECIALISTS
UK: Cake Box profits grow 12% and emerges from pandemic ‘bigger and better’
UK: Greggs expects a rebound in sales to boost annual profits
UK: Holland & Barrett reveal new ‘sustainability-forward’ Coventry store
UK: Hotel Chocolat buys remaining stake in beauty subsidiary for £4
NEWS ANALYSIS – CLOTHING AND FOOTWEAR
UK: Canada Goose to go fur-free by end of 2022
UK: Gap to close all its stores in the UK and Ireland
UK: Jojo Maman Bébé sales ‘severely damaged’ by pandemic
UK: Joules revenues up 4% boosted by acquisition of Garden Trading
UK: Mulberry ends lease early and closes its Paris store
UK: Pantys launches period underwear for transgender community
UK: Primark sales up 166.6% after stores reopen
UK: Rental service Rotaro opens first London pop-up
UK: Ted Baker
...postpones full-year results due to COVID-19 impact
...losses widen as sales fall 42.2%
 FOOTWEAR RETAILING
UK: Dr Martens revenue rise 15% ‘significantly driven by ecommerce’
UK: LK Bennett makes an operating loss of £3 million
NEWS ANALYSIS – MIXED GOODS
 MULTI-SECTOR RETAILING
UK: B&M revenues grow 3.1% despite ‘volatile’ quarter
UK: Halfords
...profits to nearly double as people turned to bikes and cars during pandemic
...sales up 13% as it rapidly accelerates transformation
UK: Hema to close all six stores in UK
UK: M&S
...reveals inclusive lingerie campaign Nothing Neutral About It
...rolls out bookable group suit fittings
...to close 29 bank branches and all existing current accounts
...to offer video-based customer service with Go Instore
...to sell Clarks children’s footwear online
UK: Poundland owner sees sales rise 4.4% driven by new store openings
 DEPARTMENT STORES
UK: Harrods to open three standalone beauty halls
UK: Harvey Nichols to launch kidswear online and in-store
UK: John Lewis
...extends furniture rental service
...to build 10,000 rental homes
UK: Selfridges
...to house plant-based accessory retailer Marici
...Pantys expands in Europe with pop-up at Selfridges
...opens garden centres at its Birmingham and Manchester sites
NEWS ANALYSIS – HOUSEHOLD GOODS
 DIY RETAILING
UK: Screwfix to pilot 30-minute delivery service for DIYers
UK: Topps Tiles sales up 18.5% as stores reopen
 ELECTRICAL RETAILING
UK: Dixons Carphone
...online sales up 114% offsetting store losses
...announces exclusive partnership with Vodafone
 FURNITURE RETAILING
UK: DFS reveals sofa orders surge following reopened stores in April
UK: ScS interim results ‘encouraging’ as revenue grows 14.4%
UK: Sharps Bedrooms changes owner
NEWS ANALYSIS – ONLINE
UK: AO.com sees group revenues increase 62% thanks to jump in sales
UK: Bargain Max set to go ahead with ambitious expansion plan after securing funds
UK: Boohoo revenue up 32% bolstered by UK
UK: CMO announces IPO plans
UK: Debenhams launches first new campaign since takeover by Boohoo
UK: Deliveroo to create 400 tech jobs as it targets further growth
UK: ITV to roll out AI-powered ‘Shoppable TV’ during Love Island
UK: Mattress Online sees sales soar as it invests in bricks-and-mortar stores
UK: MusicMagpie revenues grow 3.4% after launching on the stock market
UK: N Brown revenues inch up in Q1 as it announces new ambassadors for JD Williams
UK: Naked Wines sales grow 68%
UK: Ocado announces deal with Alcampo after retail revenues jump 20%
UK: PrettyLittleThing reveals hotel pop-up in Devon
UK: Studio Retail Group sees revenue grow 33% in ‘transformational year’
UK: Victorian plumbing goes public with £850m IPO
NEWS ANALYSIS – OTHER RETAIL
 HEALTH AND BEAUTY
UK: Boots
...rolls out new Online Doctor service
...Walgreens Boots Alliance increases Q3 sales by 12.1%
...Boots Hearingcare reveals first flagship store
 BOOK AND STATIONERY RETAILING
UK: Card Factory revenues down 36.9% due to store closures
UK: Waterstones revenue down 4.3%
UK: WHSmith to open 18 new airport stores under its InMotion brand
 SPORTS AND LEISURE GOODS RETAILING
UK: Decathlon opens shop-in-shop in collaboration with Tesco
UK: JD Sports buys 80% stake in Deporvillage
UK: Sports Direct reveals £10m refurbished London flagship
 JEWELLERS
UK: Watches of Switzerland revenue up 13.3% as UK sees ‘robust’ growth
 SHOPPING CENTRES
UK: Westfield London
...opens new co-working space Venture X
...teams up with rental-app By Rotation for physical pop-up
NEWS ANALYSIS – ECONOMY
UK: Mandatory mask-wearing to end July 19 in England
UK: Retail sales in May up 22%