All Consumer insight articles
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AnalysisShould Meghan Markle be your new retail guru?
Before you dismiss the Duchess of Sussex as a retailer, her jam-selling venture offers surprising insights into scarcity marketing, celebrity commerce pitfalls, and repeat purchase economics
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NewsBoots expands own-brand range of home testing kits
Boots is expanding its own-brand range of at-home testing kits for customers to get a better understanding of their health.
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Opinion‘It’s time we faced into the reality that people don’t want as much new stuff any more’
Consumers are rethinking what – and how much – they need across all retail categories. OC&C’s Matt Coode suggests ways that retailers might profitably respond to an enduring change in shopping behaviour
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Opinion‘Unemployment fears could weigh on consumers’ minds even more than price rises’
A cautionary comment from fashion powerhouse Next that rising unemployment could be a threat in the months to come will resonate with other retailers, observes Retail Week executive editor George MacDonald
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AnalysisNo waste, no fuss: What it’s like to shop with weekly.shop
After years of efforts and attempts by major grocers at plastic packaging reduction, it remains difficult to go to a supermarket and get all the products you want without taking home some disposable plastics too.
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Chart of the WeekThe size of the secondhand market in Europe
New research out from Amazon and the Centre for Economics and Business Research (CEBR) found that the online secondhand goods market in the UK was worth £4.3bn in 2024.
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Retail VoiceFrom scroll to sale: How TikTok drives commerce everywhere
Margins are under pressure. Loyalty? Harder to earn. And traditional routes to growth are no longer guaranteed. So, with shopper habits evolving and the rules of brand engagement shifting, many retailers are looking for new ways to reach and convert consumers in the moments that matter
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FeatureCybersiege: are retailers sitting ducks?
Days without sleep as cybersecurity teams scoured systems. Store colleagues forced to work in ways they hadn’t for 30 years, clocking up extra hours “to keep the show on the road.” Online orders halted for weeks. So, what’s going on? Why is retail such a target? And what can the sector do to fend off future attacks?
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AnalysisStore tour: Hotel Chocolat’s new flagship boxing up the best of the retailer’s physical formats
Nine months after taking over the top job at Hotel Chocolat from entrepreneurial founder Angus Thirlwell, chief executive Lysa Hardy and her team are building something new.
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NewsConfidence falls as consumers sense ‘stormy conditions ahead’
The British public is cautious about what’s to come when looking at the economy and their personal finances, according to the latest GfK consumer confidence index.
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NewsConsumer confidence falls as rising inflation dampens spirits
Consumer sentiment across the UK has fallen in July, as rising inflation puts pressure on shoppers’ finances, according to data from the BRC-Opinium.
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AnalysisAI shopping is good – what does that mean for retailers?
OpenAI is reportedly planning to integrate checkout into the ChatGPT shopping tool. Whether this happens or not, the move by various large language model (LLM) providers to push into product discovery is massive news for retailers.
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AnalysisSustainability under the tree: Should retailers counter Christmas consumption with more CSR?
It’s officially Christmas in July, when retailers showcase what they have in store for the festive season. So how will they balance the festive consumption extravaganza with sustainability?
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DataWhat retailers need to know about how AI is changing SEO
More people are searching for their shopping using AI tools – here is what we know so far about how to get your brand featured
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Chart of the WeekChart: Food inflation rises for third month in a row
Prices of food and non-alcoholic drinks in the UK rose by 4.5% in June, the fastest yearly increase since February 2024
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NewsSainsbury’s rolls out Your Nectar Prices nationwide
The loyalty programme will offer Nectar customers lower prices on products based on their shopping habits, alongside usual Nectar Prices on multiple categories including dairy, fruit and veg, bakery, meat and fish.
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NewsWoolworths is top consumer choice for high street return
Woolworths is the retailer that Brits would most like to return to the UK high street, new consumer research for Retail Week has revealed.
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DataRanking: the retailers shoppers most want to see back on the high street
As shoppers mourn the disappearance of the WHSmith fascia from their high streets, and established retailers invest in long-dead names that once ruled British retail parks, thanks to exclusive research for Retail Week by Walnut Unlimited, we reveal the retailers that shoppers would most like to see return to their high streets.
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Analysis‘Tackling Retail Crime Together’: the new government strategy to clamp down on crime
Retail crime has reached shocking levels and is getting worse with each passing year. Retail Week attended an event where the policing minister outlined the government’s plan for combatting crime
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NewsGrocers welcome government 10-point Food Strategy plan
Supermarket giants Sainsbury’s and Aldi have both welcomed the publication of the government’s healthier eating and food security plan Good Food Cycle.