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Retail sales more than double in 30 years


By Alexandra Leonards

Total retail sales have more than doubled in volume terms since 1989, ONS research has found. This compares with a 17 per cent rise in UK population and a 68 per cent rise in household disposable income per capita.


BIS Singapore publish blueprint for retail payments network

The Bank for International Settlements Innovation Hub in Singapore has published a proposed blueprint for enhancing global payments network connectivity. The blueprint, also supported by the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS), aims to improve network connectivity via multilateral linkages of countries’ national retail payment systems.

UK retail prices continue to fall

Shop price deflation accelerated to 1.2 per cent year-on-year in July, compared to the previous month’s decline of 0.7 per cent. But this was a slower rate of decline than the 12 and six month average price decreases of 1.6 per cent and 1.4 per cent respectively, according to figures from the British Retail Consortium (BRC.)

Contactless transactions to hit $2.5 trillion in 2021

The total volume of contactless transactions is set to hit $2.5 trillion in 2021, up from $1.7 trillion in 2020, according to new research from analyst house Juniper Research. Card payments will still account for most contactless transactions – 79 per cent - in 2021 according to Juniper.

eBay to rival Amazon with UK fulfilment service

eBay has announced the rollout of a new end-to-end fulfilment service for UK sellers. British businesses operating on the online marketplace will now have access to fulfilment centres in Leicester and Birmingham, where goods can be stored, packed, and delivered.
Luxury giant LVMH’s sales hit €28.7bn

Like-for-like sales at French luxury conglomerate LVMH have increased 53 per cent to hit 28.7 billion for the first part of its financial year. The Paris-headquartered company owns brands such as Christian Dior, Givenchy, Marc Jacobs, Stella McCartney, and Bulgari and is currently Europe’s most valuable company by market capitalisation.

Third of online shoppers only buy from responsible brands

35 per cent of online shoppers in the UK will only associate with responsible brands, including those that treat staff fairly, source goods ethically, and do not misuse consumer data, according to new research. A study into online shopping behaviour and ethics from Empathy.co, based on a Censuswide survey of more than 4,000 UK digital consumers, found that 47 per cent of shoppers prefer to shop with brands they trust.

Barclaycard announces cashback scheme

Barclaycard has announed a new cashback programme with Visa, giving shoppers automatic cashback when spending at a range of High Street and e-commerce retailers.

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Are shoppers ready for biometric payments?

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