Business in the retail industry has been booming this Christmas.
The Centre for Retail Research predicted that there would be a Christmas sales of growth of 2.1% in 2013, and so far it looks promising!
Since Black Friday (thank you, USA), we’ve been flooded with big discounts from major brands.
The shopping complex, Liverpool ONE reported its busiest day since it opened in 2008!
It’s hardly surprising; this year the PS4, Xbox One and other sell-out gifts were introduced just as the holiday season began kicking off.
It’s not just toys that are big this year. Earlier this year, Union Square predicted a sale of over 8,200 party dresses this year, and The Centre for Retail Research predicted that households would spend £215.50 on food alone!
It’s looking up for online retailers, true, with Amazon recruiting 15,000 staff in the UK alone, and famously developing the Octocopters, a fleet of delivery drones, to fulfil Christmas orders.
However, what’s good for the retail big boys could be detrimental for smaller businesses.
Ben Perkins, head of consumer business research at Deloitte, believed that the biggest challenge for retailers will be fulfilling customer’s delivery expectations. Perkins states, “some retailers are able to deliver within 90 minutes, whilst others are offering Sunday deliveries,”
Smaller or independent retailers are simply unable to compete with overwhelming discounts or meet delivery demands.
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