Category: News

Retailers deal with aftermath of Storm Emma

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

As the thaw continues, retailers around the country are counting the cost of the last week’s weather disruption where heavy snowfall and the Red Weather Alerts saw many forced to close their doors from Wednesday. Some businesses have still not re-opened in the aftermath of the severe weather.

Lorraine Higgins, deputy chief executive of Retail Excellence Ireland, said different sectors experienced varying degrees of disruption. “The focus on grocery purchases meant that purchases in other sectors were postponed. Huge losses were incurred as a consequence of being closed for five days. It’s the loss of sales, employee costs and general clean-up costs that they are facing now,” she explained. Ms Higgins said retailers are now trying to encourage footfall back into their stores after several days of closures and some quiet days over the weekend. “Retailers who had an e-commerce capacity were advertising online quite heavily. It’s been a difficult time for many sectors so I’d be encouraging people to go out and support retailers with a physical store presence and divert some of the spend from businesses overseas to retailers here.”

According to Miss Higgins, the big winners from spending in the online sphere are overseas retailers that do not have a physical presence here, with an estimated two-thirds of spending online by Irish consumers leaving the country. “Many discerning retailers with an online capacity here had sales of 15-20% to encourage people to spend online over the past few days. But that comes at the expense of heavy advertising,” she said. “What this points to is the need for retailers to have ‘omnichannel strategies.’ They’re becoming increasingly important in light of the frequency of recent weather events,” Lorraine Higgins concluded.

The heavy snow presented numerous challenges for grocery stores, which saw huge demand for fresh food in supermarkets over the weekend. Retail group BWG Foods has revealed a Brennan’s Sliced Pan was the number one item in demand over the last few days, followed by litres of milk, 6 packs of eggs, firelighters and wine.

Call for government support for retailers in fight against online giants

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

Retail Excellence Ireland has called for State support for retailers as it was revealed 60% of Irish online spending in 2017 went to foreign retailers.

Lorraine Higgins of Retail Excellence Ireland said the threat posed to Irish retailers by online operations overseas has been growing for more than a decade. The retail representative body is concerned that unless some level of State-intervention is implemented, many indigenous businesses that make the Republic’s retail space unique would shut.

According to Ms Higgins, “Consumers see a huge price differential between online and bricks and mortar shops, but many of the prices that we see online do not include VAT or duty and seem much cheaper. Around two-thirds of consumer spending is leaving the country every single day, and that presents a massive challenge to the retail industry and to Revenue.”

Less than 30 per cent of Irish retailers have an e-commerce capability on their websites, and 22 per cent have no online presence at all. According to Retail Excellence Ireland the numbers highlight the size of the challenge many retailers face if they are to survive, and she called for State support for small enterprises seeking to build websites to compete against overseas competitors. The calls came in the wake of the closure last month of a branch of the Walton’s music shop on Dublin’s South Great George’s Street.

Thomas Burke, director of Retail Ireland, the Ibec umbrella group for the industry was cautiously optimistic about the future, “I see it as a glass half full kind of situation. Shopping is not just the transaction, it is a past time and it is a social activity, and I think retailers need to take advantage of that fact they do not have to just go toe-to-toe with the big online retailers on price and can offer something a bit different.”

Retailers want online market places to pay VAT and duties

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

The retail representative group, Retail Excellence Ireland, have called for legislation to make online market-places liable to collect VAT and duties.

The group say the proposed measure will help to counteract the level of retail spend leaving the country. Retail Excellence Ireland is calling for legislation similar to the UK’s Finance Act which was introduced in December. Under the Act, online market-places were made responsible for collecting VAT and duties.

“We think that we should expect no less here in Ireland, because it’s not enough in budgets to just increase consumer spend and think that takes care of retail,” said Lorraine Higgins, Deputy Chief Executive of Retail Excellence Ireland, “We need retail-focused solutions for the future.”

Ms Higgins, Deputy Chief Executive at Retail Excellence Ireland, said two-thirds of online spend is leaving Ireland, and retailers here are aggrieved by competition from online retailers based outside the state who do not have to pay duties. “First and foremost we need to look at the online market-places, and the fact that they don’t have any duty on them,” she said. “So what we’d like to see is robust legislation introduced in the upcoming budget that would make online marketplaces jointly and separately liable to collect VAT and duties.”

She said retailers “were investing heavily in marketing campaigns to try and offset the type of cheap imports that were coming from websites, predominantly outside of the EU” She said the industry is seeing is an elongation of the shopping period at Christmas time, and a lot of retailers have stepped up to the mark and offered bargains, deductions and discounts in November, in order to try and encourage people into stores, to offset the challenges coming from websites outside of Ireland.

Krispy Kreme gets go-ahead to open in Blanchardstown…with 24/7 drive thru!

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

After months of excitement, it’s been confirmed that US doughnut giant Krispy Kreme will soon be arriving in Blanchardstown Centre after Fingal County Council approved its planning application yesterday.The new store will also consist of a drive-thru which will be open 24 hours a day.

The retailer confirmed plans to brings its operations to Ireland in September 2016 to much excitement. According to the planning application “Krispy Kreme will include a food production area for the proposed cafe/restaurant use, which will also provide for distribution of produce to other outlets, and a drive-through facility. ‘The proposed development includes alterations to the elevations, alterations to the layout of the adjacent surface car parking area primarily associated with the drive-through facility, alterations to the existing service yard, signage for each unit, and associated ancillary works.

Krispy Kreme was founded in 1937, and it opened its 1000th international outlet in Peru last year. In total, there are over 1,300 shops in 31 countries, and after 81 whole years in business, the retailer will make Ireland it 32nd country.

An official opening date for Ireland’s first Krispy Kreme is yet to be announced.

1,300 hotel rooms to be added to Dublin, but supply will still be tight

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

It’s forecast that Dublin will see 1,300 new hotel rooms added to the capital this year. More than 500 of the rooms will come from extensions to existing hotels while six new hotels are expected to open in the city in in 2018.

Dalata, Ireland’s largest hotel group, will continue to grow opening three Maldron Hotels and a Clayton Hotel, a 140 room property on Kevin Street and a hotel on the site of the former Charlemont Clinic on the Grand Canal which will have 180 bedrooms opening in September. This month, the McGill family’s Iveagh Garden Hotel will open on Harcourt Street. The family also own the Harcourt and Harrington Hotels and the new 152 room property houses an underground river which will act as a source of renewable energy.

The Liberties will see the opening of Ireland’s first Aloft hotel in the spring with 202 rooms. The hotel is bound to be a hit with tech lovers as guests can use smartphones and Apple Watches to open their room doors. The Dean’s sister hotel, the 41 room Devlin will open in Ranelagh this summer, along with its own 50 seat cinema. According to Davy Stockbrokers said that 2018 will be the first time in almost 10 years that Dublin will see a “meaningful increase” in the supply of new hotel rooms.

Despite these new openings, Dublin’s hotel supply will still remain tight as Dalata close two hotels, the Ballsbridge Hotel and Tara Towers towards the end of 2018/start of 2019. Tara Towers will shut down later this year ahead of being redeveloped into a 140-bedroom Maldron Hotel while the groups lease on the 392-bedroom Ballsbridge Hotel is due to expire in October and while the group is expected to seek an extension of the lease until March of 2019, the property is then set to re-developed by Chartered Land.

Outside of Dublin, Belfast will get 4 new hotel additions, the Grand Central Hotel opening at the end of May with 304 rooms, the Maldron with 237 rooms, Marriott Hotel will open in the Quays area with 190 rooms and a Hampton Hotel will host 180 rooms. Cork’s South Mall area will also get sees a new Maldron too with 230 bedrooms.

Restaurants being urged to charge ‘no-shows’

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

The Restaurants Association of Ireland is urging restaurants to take a non-refundable deposit when customers are making a booking to guard against ‘no-shows’.

The Association is calling on its members to take the deposits as a way to discourage the practice of people booking tables and then not turning up. According to Adrian Cummins, chief executive of the association, the problem was “rampant across the country” during the Christmas period, with a marked increase in no-shows. In an attempt to curb the issue, the association is encouraging members to take non-refundable deposits which would then be deducted from the table’s final bill or forfeited if the party doesn’t turn up.

The association has proposed a €20 deposit on tables of more than four but according to Mr Cummins, the Competition Authority will not allow the association to set the rate and they are encouraging members to define their own policy in terms of both the price and the sizes of parties charged based on the size of their own operation.

Mr Cummins pointed out that bookings for tickets for concerts and the cinema are forfeited if people do not turn up. “The industry needs to do something about this. We need to stamp out ‘no-shows’. People will have to give advance notice of 24 to 48 hours if they are going to cancel.” Mr Cummins pointed out that bookings for tickets for concerts and the cinema are forfeited if people do not turn up. “The industry needs to do something about this. We need to stamp out ‘no-shows’. People will have to give advance notice of 24 to 48 hours if they are going to cancel.

‘No-shows’ can be extremely costly for restaurants, in terms of both staff and produce bought in. Mr Cummins used one example when speaking to Newstalk this morning of one restaurant which had experienced the ‘no show’ of a party of 20 which was one-third of the restaurant’s capacity and had been very costly for them.

 

black friday

Black Friday boosts retail sales by 2.6% in November

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

The volume of retail sales increased by 2.6% in November on a monthly basis, with retail sales up 6.8% on an annual basis, according to the latest figures released by the Central Statistics Office. The figures, which were stronger than expected, come on the back of strong Black Friday sales during the month. Retailers reported their strongest ever ‘Black Friday’ and ‘Cyber Monday’ sales on the 24th and 27th of the month.

Electrical goods performed particularly strong in the period with sales seeing a 14.5% increase from the previous month. Department stores sales increased by 6.7% while “other” retail sales – which include the likes of carpets, toys, flowers, plants, pets animals and pet food – increased by 5.7%.

There is some debate amongst analysts as to whether the U.S inspired Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotional events actually increase sales and encourage shoppers to make additional purchases or just act as an incentive for shoppers to do their Christmas shopping early. “The question remains whether spending has merely been brought forward from the traditional December season to November,” Davy analyst David McNamara said, noting industry surveys suggested that December spending was disappointing for Irish retailers.According to Retail Ireland, early indications show that December sales will be on par with 2016. However, he acknowledged that Irish consumer spending “will be higher once again in Q4 as a recovering labour market and wage growth drive demand”.

Merrion economist Alan McQuaid said that while retail sales remain erratic on a monthly basis and are still swinging back and forth, the underlying trend is positive. “While most attention has been on new car sales in the past couple of years, which were lower in 2017 than 2016, personal spending in other areas has picked up over the same period and is becoming more broad-based,” the economist noted.

Bumper ‘Cyber Week’ for retailers says Retail Excellence Ireland

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

Pharmacy, cosmetics, electronics, technology and fashion have been the biggest draws for Irish shoppers so far this Christmas season. A report conducted by retail representative body Retail Excellence Ireland show a sales lift of up to 60% year-on-year during the final week of November. This week, dubbed ‘Cyber Week’ has fast become a crucial time for retailers as it sees online retail figures spike in time for Christmas. It stems originally from US retailers tempting shoppers by offering bargains around the American Thanksgiving holiday. Events such as Cyber Week have prompted many retailers to adapt their sales strategy with a view to elongating the Christmas shopping period.

Lorraine Higgins, Deputy Chief Executive of Retail Excellence Ireland, said the survey was representative of all the retail sectors in Ireland and the fact that retailers were reporting a 20-60% increase in sales is a very positive story. According to Higgins, the benefits to the Exchequer are also obvious as well and she highlights how Budget 2018 resulted in many with increased disposable income, which is impacting positively on consumer sentiment. A record number of people are also back at work and so will up their spending.

But she added that the retail sector is not without its challenges, and the amount of spending that is “leaking out” of the country on a daily basis is one of these challenges. Two-thirds of consumers’ online spend is going out of the country and further supports for retailers to take on the European online stage are needed. She said that Enterprise Ireland currently supports manufacturing and processing companies, and now it is time the agency also supported the retail industry.

Ms Higgins said that online sales is an increasingly important part of retailers’ business and its growth cannot be underestimated. She said that it will become up to 30% of retailers’ business and so is too big to ignore. There are difficulties due to poor broadband services in some areas of the country, but Ms Higgins said that €602 billion is being spent by European consumers online and Irish retailers have to get a slice of that ever-increasing pie. According to Department of Communications figures, 84% of Irish consumers by 2020 will buy “frequently” online, she added.

Irish households to spend average of €2,654 in the lead up to Christmas

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

Irish households are expected to spend an average of €2,654 in the run-up to Christmas, according to Retail Ireland, the retail representative body.

This figure is €870 more than any other month this year as Irish shoppers are expected to take advantage of rising wages and falling prices to spend significantly more in the coming weeks. The Ibec group predicts an increase in total sales of more than €100 million and as a whole, we’re expected to spend around €4.5 billion over the Christmas period, a figure up from the €4.4 billion spent in 2016.

A combination of lower prices and higher disposable income should see consumers more willing to spend. According to the report, the prices of goods have fallen by 2.2% in the first 10 months of 2017 and by 8.4% in the last three years. The pattern of lower prices is set to continue as consumers avail of discounts arising from Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales.While prices are falling, spending power is increasing as gross disposable income has climbed by 5.4% in the first half of 2017, following growth of more than 4% in 2016.

For supermarkets and department stores, it expects the week beginning 18 December to be a “make or break” week, with Christmas Day falling on a Monday. Thomas Burke, director of Retail Ireland, said department stores were expecting Christmas to be “a bit of a nail-biter this year” with last-minute shopping expected well into the final week.For 2017 the major trends centre around personalisation, fragrance, champagne and chocolates. For men, the focus will be on trainers, expensive branded and limited editions at mid-price, and for women, luxury accessories and niche fragrance remain firm favourites.

TVs, tablets and video game systems were key to driving sales for many retailers over Black Friday and Cyber Monday and significant demand for these products is expected continue right up until December 25th. While discounting and promotions were used to generate sales over the Black Friday weekend, there will be a renewed emphasis on margin retention on the run-up to Christmas.

‘Latte levy’ likely to be introduced on disposable coffee cups

Posted on | by Aisling Rafferty

A proposed new ‘latte levy’ on disposable coffee cups is expected to be introduced.

The charge, which could be applied in a similar fashion to the plastic bag levy, is expected to be introduced in the near future. It is reported the initial levy will be set at around 10 to 15 cent per cup.There are a number of other schemes currently under review by the Government such as getting stores to put in place incentives for customers who bring their own cup.

Talks have already taken place with major companies, including Insomnia and Supermac’s, according to the Irish Independent. Roscommon Town has already become part of a ‘pilot scheme’ where customers get discounts for using the “Rossie” reusable cup.

Minister for the Environment Denis Naughten said he wants to try to change consumer behaviour through financial incentives, reusable alternatives and better messaging around the environmental impact of coffee cups.

Mr Naughten said “Some of the areas that we will be looking at involve the potential for local authorities becoming part of a nationwide scheme where customers could sign up, for a small fee, in order to return their used reusable cup to participating cafés and bakeries, and get their next coffee served in another reusable cup,”

There are reportedly in the region of two million disposable coffee cups sent to landfills on a daily basis. The plastic bag levy was introduced nearly 15 years ago, at the price of 15c per bag. The use of plastic bags fell from an estimated 328 bags per inhabitant per year to just 21 bags per capita within a single year. A figure which has continued to fall since.