festive season news and archive

Jewellery and partywear tops festive spending for 2023

According to preliminary insights from Mastercard SpendingPulse, UK shoppers returned to the high street for the festive period with jewellery and clothing seeing significant growth. The report reveals that total UK retail sales from November 1 to December 24 show a 2.6 percent rise year-on-year, while in-store sales increased by 3.5 percent as...

Fashion |In Pictures Featured

Dior transforms Saks into a ‘Carousel of Dreams’ for the festive season

French luxury fashion house Dior has transformed the 10-story façade of Saks’ New York flagship store on Fifth Avenue with a ‘Carousel of Dreams’ window display and theatrical light show, alongside in-store installations and a digital pop-up to celebrate the holiday season. The immersive festive takeover features the “most extensive” holiday...

Business

Advertisers to spend record 9.5 billion pounds this festive season

Advertisers are set to spend a record 9.5 billion pounds during the Christmas season, according to new data from the Advertising Association (AA) and WARC. This is a 4.8 percent increase on last year’s then-record 9 billion pounds, which the AA states show the continued importance of advertising to the economy during the festive period. Sharon...

Retail

M&S launches Christmas recruitment drive

High street retailer Marks & Spencer (M&S) has launched its annual Christmas recruitment drive to fill 10,000 new customer assistants to support in its stores over the festive period. This year the number of festive vacancies has increased by more than 40 percent, explains M&S and reflects the additional investment it is making in colleague...

Retail

A quarter of Brits planning to start Christmas shopping this month

New research has revealed that 25 percent of Brits say that they will have started thinking about Christmas shopping before the end of August. The survey of 2,000 UK consumers who celebrate Christmas by Censuswide, commissioned by eBay Ads UK, reveals that people are feeling more optimistic about Christmas 2021 as they anticipate a “more...

RetailFeatured

Festive period a crunch time for online retailers

The upcoming festive season is more important than ever for many businesses, with new research stating that one in five online retailers fear for their future unless it’s a success, sales-wise. Research from London-based online payment company Checkout.com reveals that 19 percent of online merchants don’t think their e-commerce offering will...

Retail

Leather jackets most at risk of being nicked this Christmas

London - While different reports indicated that UK retailers could be in a bumper Christmas, retailers would be wise to keep a sharp eye out for the festive shoplifter as up to 1 billion pounds worth of products is set to be nicked during the Christmas shopping season. A new report from Checkpoint, merchandise availability solutions, predicts...