Marks And Spencer Share Discussion Threads

[darrin1471] 03/1/2023 12:51

In principle I have no issue with being charged the cost of returning a parcel. Legally a seller can not charge for a faulty item or an item that is not described correctly. If it does not fit or suit then it is cheaper to pay the return fee than drive to a local store, pay for parking then drop it off in the shop. Most omnichannel stores will offer a free drop off option if more convenient.
The omnichannel software is becoming so personalised now that soon you will be able to work out profit per customer. To a profitable customer you could offer free returns on additional items added to their shopping basket.

[debsdowner] 03/1/2023 12:38

ALDI posts it's best ever Christmas sales which are up 28% in December which means some supermarkets will have struggled as shoppers appear to have gone to dicounters



MORRISONS cuts 130 product prices which isn't that surprising they are being hit by lost sales the last year and falling behind now lost their fourth place to ALDI



The analysts don't think MORRISON will get back into fourth place in fact LIDL may overtake Morrisons in the next two years or even before pushing them into sixth place.

[debsdowner] 03/1/2023 12:29

House of Fraser which is owned by Frasers has closed it's Westfield store its now left with about half it's shops since taking over HOF.



Moubtain Warehouse, THG and Moss Bross introduce charges for returns and more will follow it costs retailers more than the return fee to deal with returns which have to be checked and someimes cleaned and re-packaged or sold on at a dicount to third parties or even auctioned off meaning in some cases all all the profit gone.

[philanderer] 03/1/2023 10:56

Footfall across the UK’s retail destinations dropped by more than a quarter in the week after Christmas compared with the week before, figures show.

Retail expert Springboard said footfall last week was 28% lower than the week before, and 20% down on the same week in 2019.

It was just 7.2% higher than the same week in 2021 when the country was still experiencing the impact of coronavirus restrictions.

However, Springboard said a large part of the difference was due to last week beginning on Christmas Day, when footfall is at its lowest, whereas the year before it began on Boxing Day.

The end of 2022 saw a spike in footfall on Boxing Day when footfall was 39% higher than in 2021.

The gap between the end of 2021 and 2022 was at its narrowest on New Year’s Eve, with footfall just 1.9% higher in 2022.

Diane Wehrle, insights director at Springboard, said: ‘Not surprisingly, footfall across UK retail destinations during the week of Christmas was significantly lower than in the week before that in the final trading week.

[debsdowner] 03/1/2023 10:32

Retail had a good start as soon as market opens hoping for reasonable trading updates. I was in Dunelm this morning and quiet but you would expect that after people went back to work and on an early wet morning.

[topazfrenzy] 03/1/2023 09:32

Bargain hunters out in force to start the year ..

[darrin1471] 02/1/2023 19:20

22nd December: Superdry H1 pre close (to 29 October 2022)said Total Retail was +9.6%.
"performance from third party sites being the key drivers of growth."
i.e Next, MKS etc

[careful] 02/1/2023 17:46

Trading update on Jan 12 will be revealing.
Are things as bad as we are led to believe by the Daily propaganda in the press?

Full employment, savers finally getting a return on their cash, lots of blingy cars on the road and thousands of holidays being booked.

I suspect the gloomy bullish*t will be exposed as false.

I expect a reasonable update.

[debsdowner] 02/1/2023 16:33

You are probably right the stuff I bought wasn't discounted, a curtain pole and curtains but some curtains are discounted online.

On other news John Lewis not ditched its "never knowingly unsold" logo to " ‘for all life’s moments’ and marketing people not convinced this is the right message to convey

[xxxxxy] 02/1/2023 14:54

Almost 50 shops closed down every day last year as retailers grappled with soaring energy costs, wider inflation and online shopping, according to new figures laying bare the challenges on the high street.More than 17,000 sites around the UK shut their doors for the last time, according to figures from the Centre for Retail Research.The figure is almost 50pc higher than 2021 and marks the highest number of closures in the last five years.Only 32pc of the closures followed insolvency proceedings. The rest were due to larger retailers deciding to close some stores to cut costs, or independents deciding to throw in the towel.Almost 65pc of the sites were closed by independents, and the rest by large retailers.There are 423,690 retail sites in the UK as of the end of 2022, including those which are vacant or to let. Professor Joshua Bamfield, director of the Centre for Retail Research, said: "Rather than company failure, rationalisation now seems to be the main driver for closures as retailers continue to reduce their cost base at pace."... Daily Telegraph

[darrin1471] 01/1/2023 16:47

Debs, did you see many Christmas lines in the sale or was it general and sale stock?
I took a look on Christmas eve and there was very little left to clear. May be just a local thing.

[xxxxxy] 01/1/2023 08:48

2023...Dividend please... Don't have to be big... But a nod to what this is about.... Investment.... And to the investing shareholders. A contract of faith with all investors.

[debsdowner] 31/12/2022 17:02

darrin hope retailers bounce next year for you and Happy New Year.

QANTAS happy New Year for you and robot and hope you both have a peaceful and prosperous New Year.

[qantas] 31/12/2022 13:22

Dedsdowner wishing you and Robot a very Happy new year 2023.

[darrin1471] 30/12/2022 21:12

FTSE 250 -21%
DAX -13%
CAC -10%
DOW -10%
S&P 500 -20%
Nasdaq -34%

UK retail had a bad year but I am up in all bar Boo -20%
Card +70% (sold)
Marks Electrical +15% (Hold, missed my entry point by £0.01 or could of been +50%)
MKS +3% (Hold)Sold at £2.40ish in 11/2021
The Works +35% (sold at +25%. Bought again, +10% and holding)
Gear4music even (hold)
Next +4% (having a big bet on Christmas results which are out Thursday 6th)

Did best on suppliers to retailers.
McBride and Accrol +20%. IG Design +130%

Worst performer Pressure Technologies -45% Doubled up near current price.

I was 2/3 cash at times this year but now fully invested. Heavily weighted on UK retail and pubs for January.
Taking it day by day but we may see a rally in Q1. China exit from zero covid.

Predicting we may see omnichannel retailers become fashionable with investors. Ukraine war continues. Lower gas prices. Lower commodity prices. Wage inflation remains sticky so no US interest rate cuts. A low of 3000 on S&P 500. One to watch: China for growth, financial and property.

[diku] 30/12/2022 14:36

Exactly my point being in your first para ref footfall...then there is the food takeaways in shopping centers aka say Macdonalds...best gauge is from the individual retailers when their trading figures come out...before that it is all speculation and media sensationalist journalism....

[debsdowner] 30/12/2022 11:49

The problem with footfall counters as I see them is they don't show how much money is actually being spent. You get an awful lot of browsers people just walking around browsing rather than shopping.

I think the bank data is far better for understanding shopping now as there is a lot of money spent online.

Barclaycard and debit card spending better understands how much people are spending.

I suppose footfall data musat have it's uses it will tell you whether you prefer to be under cover rather than out in the High Street.

On other matters looks like the footsie will finish 1-2% up on last year taking account of inflation that means overall investors who are in a tracker are more than 10% down with inflation.

Most retail stocks have fared quite worse and no Christmas or New Year rally this year !

What analysts will be looking for is Christmas trading figures which will be out the next week or so.

[darrin1471] 30/12/2022 10:05

I think Angling Direct talked about instore footfall counters in a webinar. From memory a small investment in the technology enabled better staff planning to enable starting/finishing and breaks to be tweaked to allow better customer service at busier times. Sounds simple. Retail is detail.

[diku] 30/12/2022 09:39

Footfall counters used to limit capacities at events I can understand as they are probably temporary quarterly/yearly events...they are probably manned at entrance/exit...but big shopping centers footfall figures compiled is taken for granted over the years...so called intelligent data solutions...lot of tech mind manipulating gobble-dy-ghook...

[darrin1471] 30/12/2022 09:15

Footfall counters:
Way before my time but I know footfall counting technology is now relatively cheap so that even low footfall retailers can us it.
Angling Direct use it it their stores according to their 2022 annual report using it to "re-allocate labour spends to match customer demand".

Search "people counting" on Google and devices start below £150 on Amazon
A website dedicated to people counting:


I believe footfall counters have been used in shopping centres for decades as data to add a variable element to rents.

They are also used for health and safety in order to limit capacities at events.