E-commerce will be replaced by 3D virtual shopping malls and personalised advertising that will be made possible by resilient hosted online environments, according to a report commissioned by Rackspace Managed Hosting into the Web in 2020. The report also predicts that whilst virtual shopping will replace e-commerce, visiting stores as a social experience will remain popular.
Read MoreHome Retail Group has posted a jump in profits for last year, despite weaker sales at its Homebase chain.
The group, which also owns Argos, said this morning that it had beaten analyst expectations with a pre-tax profit before exceptional items of GBP 376m in the year to March 2006. This was a 12% jump on the previous year.
Total group sales were up 6% to GBP 5.85bn. Chief executive Terry Duddy said this meant the company had now captured 10% of the total UK home merchandise market.
Argos achieved a 2.4% rise in like-for-like sales, which Mr Duddy said was partly due to last year’s World Cup – which sparked a surge in sales of new televisions.
But Homebase’s like-for-like sales dropped by 1.4%, due to disappointing sales of DIY and home decorating products. This follows a 3.1% drop in comparable sales the previous year.
Shares in the company opened down 1.75p at GBP 4.54, but analysts were encouraged by today’s results.
“Argos is generating like-for-like sales growth, whilst Homebase appears to have arrested the decline in like-for-like sales and the group continues to expand its store numbers for each,” said Keith Bowman, equity analyst at Hargreaves Lansdown.
“Distribution remains a key strength at Argos, with internet orders up by 45% and now representing over 16% of total sales. It could perhaps be argued that Argos is slowly becoming the Amazon of the UK.”
Home Retail Group declined to give any details of current trading this morning, but cautioned that this year would be challenging given recent interest rate rises.
“In addition, comparatives for the retail market as a whole, and particularly Argos, become tougher as we start to face last year’s positive impacts of the World Cup,” the group warned.
The way companies issue payments, refunds and product incentives to customers is set to be radically transformed through the launch of the new payout service from the Post Office.
Post Office payout allows companies to distribute promotional incentives and cash payments at a fraction of the cost of issuing cheques. Using the latest barcode technology, companies simply send a reference code by text, email or post which customers take to any of the UK’s 14,000 Post Office branches to receive an instant cash payment.
The Post Office payout solution can be tailored to meet the needs of individual businesses, with identity verification available to provide increased security for higher value transactions. An optional data capture service is also available to allow companies to gather valuable market intelligence about customers’ preferences and purchasing habits.
Read MoreThe fight to save Blackpool’s historic Crown post office has been stepped up with the town’s MPs fearing that vulnerable residents will be hit by the closure.
Plans were announced by Royal Mail last month to close the Abingdon Street office and transfer services to WH Smith in Bank Hey Street, as part of a nationwide cost-cutting initiative which will see 76 Crown Post Offices closed.
Both MPs for the town, Gordon Marsden and Joan Humble have signed a Commons motion, which has so far been supported by 30 MPs, calling for more consultation and expressing anger at the decision.
Mr Marsden has also written to the managing director of the Post Office, Alan Cook, seeking assurances about services and postal workers’ jobs.
In the letter, he states: “The Post Office provides a service to the most vulnerable people in Blackpool, the disabled, those claiming benefits, as well as the elderly and unemployed.
“What plans do you have to relocate the service counters with WH Smith, which has a far smaller surface area in my estimation and how will you ensure that elderly and disabled customers are able to use the new facilities easily?”
Mrs Humble said that there should be more much more debate before the decision is finalised.
She said: “I will be seeking information from the Royal Mail, the DTi and ministerial colleagues on the reasons behind it and the treatment of the staff who work there.
The Post Office has said the decision to outsource the service was made to cut financial losses which were GBP 70m last year.
Read MoreThe British Heart Foundation (BHF) is holding a pitch for its fundraising direct marketing account, currently held by Target Direct Marketing.
The charity is the UK’s tenth largest charity direct mailer, spending GBP 2.7m on the medium in 2006.
The Foundation is currently at the chemistry stage and the client is close to drawing up a shortlist of prospective agencies.
Charlotte Guiver, head of supporter acquisition at the BHF, said: “After a number of years of collaboration with Target Direct Marketing, and with major development underway, the time was right to re-assess our agency needs. We are looking to work with an agency who consistently demonstrates a fresh and innovative approach in engaging new and existing supporters.”
The project is being overseen by consultant Allan Freeman of Freestyle Marketing.
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