British Home Stores to Challenge the Big Four Supermarkets with BHS Food

Shopper Discounts & Rewards looks at BHS food

Department store chain BHS has announced this week that it is to pilot a food selling scheme, starting with its stores in Staines and Warrington. This could spell out some stiff competition for other supermarkets, as BHS has vowed that its produce will be up to 10% cheaper than the “big four” – Tesco, Sainsbury’s, Asda and Morrison’s.

BHS food store comes to Staines

The first food store will open this week in Staines, closely followed by Warrington at the beginning of April, selling branded foods including bread, cakes, fizzy drinks and some frozen items. struggling to recover BHS has actually been facing a fair amount of difficulty in recent years – making losses and struggling against rivals such as Debenhams and Marks & Spencer. Its move into competitive food retailing, is therefore arguably, a bold one.

BHS takes on the big four

By taking on the big four with competitive pricing, BHS could be set to change the supermarket landscape. And of course, Sir Phillip Green’s big objective is to turn around the fortunes of the company, which posted a pre-tax loss of £71 million last year. how does the future look? With a view to the future, if everything goes well, the plan is for around 10 of large BHS stores to be dedicated solely to food halls. And although certain industry analysts are sceptical about the extent to which BHS could impact the market alone, there is potential for other big players to enter into deals with Sir Phillip in order to join forces in the price fight. Do you think BHS could put up a fight against the other big supermarkets? Is price the most important factor for you when shopping for food?

BHS on YouTube

Ok so they are yet to produce a video about BHS Food, but they have posted this fun video to launch their lighting sale event:

Shopper Discounts & Rewards: Boden holds a sale this weekend, up to 40% off

If you’re looking for a nice way to spend away the weekend, then look no further! Clothing retailer Boden is holding a flash sale on their website, which ends midnight on Sunday. You can buy all sorts of clothing items, including some really good children’s wear as well as office outfits and evening wear. Boden is a little more expensive than some other clothing retailers, so it’s well worth getting involved when they hold a sale like this!

don’t forget to check out their clearance…

The Boden site also has a 70% off clearance part of their website, where you can get some great buys! These items are going out of stock fast, but if you get there quick enough you can find all sorts of accessories for less than half price, as well as clothing items like this wrap jersey top (pictured) for just £17.50.

As well as the amazing discounts on offer on the Boden site this weekend, members of Shopper Discounts and Rewards can claim an additional 10% cashback on their purchases.

Retail Review: LookFantastic.com | How about Bunches.co.uk for Mother’s Day?

Mammoth Disney film sale at Play.com

2-for-1 on DVDs, Blue Ray & 3D

Play.com is holding a massive sale for their Disney films from now until 20th April. To celebrate this massive sale, we want to know what your favourite Disney film is!

Shopper Discounts & Rewards

On top of this whopping 2-for-1 discount, members of Shopper Discounts and Rewards can get 10% cashback when shopping at Play.com.

British Home Stores Joins the Food Fight | Which is the biggest online brand?

Which Retailers Fooled You Today?

Shopper Discounts and Rewards brings you April Fools!

The UK national newspapers got in on the fun of pulling the nation’s leg by publishing some phony stories this morning. And many retailers got a piece of the action too! Here are some of our favourite April Fool’s pranks by retailers.

a bling-bling bathtub

Better Bathrooms claimed that they were rolling out a limited edition crystal bath made from more than 67,000 1-carat diamonds this morning. Priced at £382m, a phony spokesperson was quoted saying:

“It’s the ultimate bath which oozes Hollywood glamour. The great thing about this irreplaceable item is that no one else will have one.”

world’s biggest (and most inefficient) tablet

Ocado boasted that the sLablet has a whopping one hour of battery life, and only needs to be charged for 19 hours, and is just 20cm deep! This big fat tablet also has a great camera:

“The next generation 12 MP HD camera features image stabilisation so muscle spasms induced by holding the sLablet don’t ruin users’ selfies” “We saw a 42″ gap in the tablet market”

Ocado wasn’t the only one to play around with a tablet joke – Tesco announced the Cudl “tablet for two”, a play on it’s home brand tablet the Hudl.

toast worth toasting to

Have you ever dropped a piece of toast? And do you find that it always lands butter-side-down? To mark 1st April Sainsbury unveiled an ingenious solution to this common woe of mankind – “butter-side-up-bread”!

No more butter-side-down bread. Our new bread-slicing method means you'll never lose your breakfast again. http://t.co/NjP2q4CjH1—
Sainsbury's (@sainsburys) April 01, 2014

We’re sure consumers are waiting with baited breath for this product to hit the shelves!

What have been your favourite April Fool’s gags? And, more importantly, which were you taken in by? Comment on the Shopper Discounts and Rewards blog below :)

best kids films for the long Easter weekend | Shopper Discounts & Rewards

Easter Sunday is on the 20th of April this year, and with the long weekend, parents are starting to think about how they want to spend their time. When you need a little space to tend to the garden, or prepare a Sunday lunch, you may want to pop your children in front of a film. On the quiet bank holidays you might even look forward to a trip to the cinema!

five films to watch at the cinema over Easter

Time Out has created a list of cinema films for families to enjoy this Easter.

• Rio 2 “A wise-cracking animated character is put in mild peril and learns a few life lessons along the way” ~ Timeout
• Noah “a stunning ark with more decks than a Mediterranean cruise liner, and the drama veers off the Genesis account to tell a human story”
• Divergent “Love, identity and the spirit of independence make heady teen themes”
• Khumba “Set in the South African Karoo, a young zebra must go on a mission to discover why he’s only got half his stripes”
• The Amazing Spiderman 2 “When Peter Parker takes on a mysterious and powerful company, a whole lotta supervillainry heads his way”

five films to catch at home this Easter

Having a look through the recommended childrens’ films on Netflix has given us some ideas for the Easter break:

• Tangled
• Toy Story 3
• Up
• Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs
• The Princess And The Frog

What are you planning for the Easter weekend? Comment below on the Shopper Discounts and Rewards blog!

Fashion sales did better in March than expected, as retail sector shows resilience

Easter falls slightly later this year than it usually does. This meant that many expected the retail sector to suffer as a consequence. However, figures just announced by the British Retail Consortium (BRC) and KPMG suggest that the sector actually performed much better than expected in March. There was a decline in retail sales, but this decline was much softer than what was expected. Today, the Shopper Discounts and Rewards blog looks at more on this subject.

The Spring/Summer 2014 Collection at London Fashion Week

good weather boosts fashion sales

It’s thought that one of the key influential factors in this was the weather. The mild weather in March encouraged many people to shop for spring and summer wardrobes. It is these fashion buys that drove retail performance most strongly. Items such as women’s ballet pumps and summer dresses did particularly well. It was lucky, then, that the good weather coincided with the launch of many new seasonal ranges in shops!

Helen Dickinson, Director General of the British Retail Consortium, said:

“Retailers have worked hard to create popular new collections, and have been rewarded with strong demand for women’s clothing and footwear in particular. This improves on the slow start to the season last year when shoppers were more reluctant to spruce up their wardrobes.”

late bank holiday put people off DIY in March

There were some sectors of retail that actually performed lower than hoped. For example, an area that is normally expected to do very well in March is that of household and furniture – but this is usually because of the Easter bank holiday weekend. The bank holiday weekend did not fall in March this year, which is why household, furniture and DIY items showed a slightly weaker performance in March than expected. But perhaps it will pick up in April! Webloyalty recently revealed our Easter plans:

What will you be spending on over the Easter bank holiday weekend? Are you planning on some DIY, or looking to buy some new summery clothes? Shopper Discounts and Rewards wishes you a Happy Easter!

Discount fashion retailer Primark announces store opening in the US

an exciting week for Primark

It’s an exciting time for Associated British Foods, the owner of the retail chain, as they announce the launch of Primark in the US. As reported on the BBC website, Primark owner Associated British Foods said half-year operating profits at its retail operations, which include Primark, rose 26% to £298m.

the first store will be in Boston

Plans are underway to open the first US Primark stores in Boston, Massachusetts. The Retail Bulletin reported that Primark has signed a lease for 70,000 sq ft of selling space in the city’s Burnham Building, which was previously home to the famous Filene’s Department Store.

Following these store openings, negotiations are under way to open further stores in the north east through to the middle of 2016. These new US stores will be supported by warehousing in the region.

Primark said it had decided to take its discount fashion offering to the US after “extensive research”.

Should Primark be ignoring e-commerce? | Primark trials online ordering with ASOS

Retail parks came out top for Easter footfall this year! Shopper Discounts and Rewards tells you more.

new footfall figures

Did you go shopping over the Easter weekend? New figures released this week suggest that if you did you were most likely shopping at a retail park! The figures illustrate that retails parks came out as winners in the retail sector over the Easter weekend, with higher footfall of shoppers than other retail spaces such as the high street or shopping centres.

Monday was the best day for shopping

The figures were released by retail performance insights firm Springboard. They found that over footfall in the retail sector dropped by 1% and 1.9% on Good Friday and Easter Saturday respectively. However, footfall until 1.00pm on Easter Monday saw an increase of 22.9%. On the high street specifically, the last day of the Bank Holiday weekend saw footfall boosted by 10.2%. For shopping centres the picture improved on Monday in comparison with Saturday and Sunday, when footfall grew by 7.1%.

Diane Wehrle, Marketing and Insights Director at Springboard, said this week, looking back on the weekend:

“Monday is the last day to enjoy shopping and make a day of it before the bank holiday ends, and calm weather has encouraged people to head out for last-minute spending.” 

high performance in London’s West End

Shopping numbers in London’s West End have also been performing well during the Easter period, rising 2.4% this March compared to year, outperforming the UK average, reported the New West End Company, which represents 600 retailers.

Chief Executive Richard Dickinson at New West End Company said:

“Our strong sales and footfall performance in March is proof that our retailers have been working hard to attract shoppers to the West End, with promotions and special activities up and down the district.” 

How did your own shopping compare over the long weekend?

Sources:
The Retail Bulletin - Telegraph

Wall’s introduces touch of humour in new campaign| Shopper Discounts & Rewards

Unilever has been tasked with the relaunch of the Wall’s ice cream brand… and have been having some fun with it! From great graphics to social engagement and video content, the relaunch of the brand seems to be wide spread… but will it have the desired effect?

#GoodbyeSerious from Wall’s Ice Cream

Here are a few images from the #GoodbyeSerious campaign. They have been shared online via social networks and also throughout press sites. Which is your favourite?

Police stop cars in America.. to hand out icecreams

Another creative element of this campaign is how Wall’s is using video. In this campaign, they have asked Sheriffs to stop cars and hand out icecreams!

#GoodbyeSerious gets social

The Wall’s campaign has certainly created a buzz. Are you talking about it yet?

May Day! We've got a different kind of maypole for you this evening… #GoodbyeSerious http://t.co/1NlbhMWo8x—
Wall's Ice Cream (@walls) May 01, 2014

Do you care about all of this online stuff, or do you just want the quality of the ice cream to stay the same? Share your thoughts by commenting on the Shopper Discounts & Rewards blog today.

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This is the blog for the Shopper Discounts & Rewards programme.

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It is an online membership programme ideal for people who shop online regularly. Members have access to an array of benefits, including an initial cashback reward, plus ongoing benefits that include a monthly cashback reward and 10% cashback at over 650 online stores. Membership is free for 30 days, after which there is a monthly fee, which is referenced as SHOPPERDISC.CO.UK on members’ bank statements.

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Shopper Discounts & Rewards

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Amazon Fashion launches Dress Shop on UK site

a dedicated online dress shop

Amazon has launched a dedicated dress shop online at their UK site. Bringing together fashion brands, and letting customers shop by style, occasion and brand. This will most likely be seen as a massive improvement, as it makes it very easy to search for dress items and browse what’s on offer.

battle of the brands

The new dress shop lets brands create online Amazon identities, giving retailers a chance to own their image on the most popular shopping site in the UK. Here is an example of a brand page:

Sergio Bucher, European vice president of Amazon Fashion, says:

“Fashion is one of the fastest growing categories at Amazon.co.uk. Our new dress store features a hand selected seasonal edit to help our customers easily find the latest on-trend products, whilst also being able to browse a wide selection of shoes, jewellery, bags, and accessories to complete their outfit.” ~ Retail Bulletin

This latest development could be great for the brand, which so far has not been seen as a place for fashionistas. If the returns and refunds policy is good, this could create a strong presence for Amazon Fashion. Would you buy a dress from Amazon?

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Great news for GAME as they sell £2 shares

GAME Digital plc, a retailer of video games in the UK and Spain, has announced the successful pricing of its initial public offering (Business Daily). The retailer has confirmed that they will will relist on the London Stock Exchange on 11 June valued at £340m, with shares at 200 pence per ordinary share.

This positive turnaround comes just two years since the company went into administration and closed 277 stores in the UK and Ireland.

This positive press release comes hot on the heels of the news that GAME closed their dedicated Xbox store in Shoreditch, just 10 months after opening.

Since going into administration, it’s clear that a great deal of effort has been put into creating a real gaming hub within their website. Full of gameplay videos, reviews and news, the GAME digital website is now a real destination for gamers.

“We are a truly specialist retailer, with a loyal customer base, operating in a growing market. Our supplier partners are producing increasingly advanced gaming content, for which we will continue to develop and facilitate new ways to buy and play.” ~Martyn Smith, Chief Executive, Game

While we’re talking about GAME, why not take a look at the next big release?

This is a video for DESTINY, out 9th September 2014:
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Halfords celebrates the Tour de France

Here at Shopper Discounts & Rewards, we think it’s great news for retailer Halfords as they have recorded a boost in cycle sales as a result of the Tour de France cycling event. As The Retail Bulletin reports, Halfords revenues increased by 7.9% in the 13 weeks to 27 June as the retailer benefited from a surge in cycle sales in the run-up to the Tour de France. It is clear that this year there has been a real interest in cycling, and Tesco showed the effect in this fun tweet:

Please don't ride bikes around in our stores. We know the #TourdeFrance is exciting, but rules are rules.

— Tesco (@Tesco) July 11, 2014

What does Halfords say?

“We don’t believe this is temporary, we believe that as a country we are falling more and deeper in love with cycling and recognising the joy and health benefits and the power of the bike as a commuter tool and we expect that to continue.” ~ Chief executive Matt Davies

As The Guardian reports, Davies said Halfords was not raising its profit expectations for the year after just one quarter of strong growth. Although analysts said sales were ahead of their predictions, shares in the company dipped nearly 3% to 478p as hopes of an even stronger performance were disappointed.

Tour de Facts, from Halfords

To coincide with the Tour de France, Halfords has created a series of videos for those who need a helping hand to understand their Yellow Shirts from their Disc Brakes:

The Bike Whisperer

Halfords has also started a Bike Whisperer video campaign, which is fun and also informative – and should be a great source of traffic and awareness for the brand. You can see the full campaign over on their YouTube channel now. It’s possibly one of the most original and humourous video campaigns we’ve seen for a while!

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Shopper Discounts & Rewards members can enjoy 30 days free membership before they pay a membership charge. This charge is described on your bank statement as ‘shopperdisc.co.uk’ or ‘shopperdisc 0800 731 9935′, depending on how much room the bank allows for a fee description.

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Members of the Shopper Discounts & Rewards team can not only claim an initial cashback welcome reward, but also an ongoing monthly cashback reward, as well as discounted giftcards and 10% cashback at over 650 online stores.

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Assassin’s Creed Rogue for PS3 and Xbox 360

Excitement for Assassin’s Creed fans as this week it was announced that there are two new games coming soon – Rogue and Unity. PS3 and Xbox 360 users will be pleased that Ubisoft is bringing out a game for these consoles, as well as developing Unity for the PS4.

About Assassin’s Creed Rogue

As it’s described on the official website:

“18th century, North America. Amidst the chaos and violence of the French and Indian War, Shay Patrick Cormac, a fearless young member of the Brotherhood of Assassins, undergoes a dark transformation that will forever shape the future of the American colonies. After a dangerous mission gone tragically wrong, Shay turns his back on the Assassins who, in response, attempt to end his life. Cast aside by those he once called brothers, Shay sets out on a mission to wipe out all who turned against him and ultimately become the most feared Assassin hunter in history.” ~ Assassin’s Creed website

Assassin’s Creed Rogue will be released in the UK on 11th November, and is available to pre-order at Amazon for £42.85 from today.

The Assassin’s Creed Rogue video trailer

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Compare the Meerkat goes abroad

In the latest phase of the popular Compare the Meerkat advert series, Aleksandr and Sergei take their adopted pup Oleg to his ‘homeland’ of Africa. Aleksandr describes a zebra as a ‘stripy… pyjama… horse’ and leads Oleg to a watering hole, before being scared off by a herd of Elephants. This looks to be the first in a series of adverts about Oleg in Africa, so lots to look forward to for Compare the Meerkat fans!

The Safari series

This advert series is seamlessly linked to a new toy that Compare the Market has introduced to it’s Compare the Meerkat offering for customers looking for insurance.

This is the description of the new toy on the Compare the Meerkat website:

“This is limited edition Oleg you can adopt by demonstrates you know the difference. Arriving on your doorstep in Africa themed box inspire by his homeland. He will be just as cute as the real Oleg but 89% less dusty. Oleg will be wear specials designer pyjama horse themed baby grow with fresh nappy underneath perfectly fitted by Sergei”

What do you think of the new advert? Is the safari Oleg toy worth trying Compare the Market for car or house insurance? Comment below or tweet @ShopAndReward!Tweet

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Have you seen the new Kia advert?

The latest instalment of the Kia hamster advert series introduces a “sexy” new character in the form of a female hamster, transformed into a full size shapely icon after being ‘zapped’ by the car making machine. Here she is, emerging from the Kia Soul EZ…

The new hamster character

And here she is introduced, in all her (slightly creepy) glory:

The male hamsters then appear to completely shun her as they rush to the new-look car and whizz off into the distance, but it’s clear what their intentions are when they return.

They race back from the pet shop armed with pet hamsters, only to ‘zap’ them and create a dancing possy of human-sized female hamsters. The best part of the advert is probably the dance, performed to Maroon Five’s new song Animals.

You can actually learn the dance over on the Kia YouTube channel!

What do you think of the new Kia advert? Are the hamsters really funny or just a bit weird?

You can get involved by tweeting #HamstarDance

2015 Kia Soul EV Hamster Dance – Featuring “Animals” by Maroon 5 #HamstarDance: http://t.co/IDWePVJTmt via @YouTube

— Lumberton Kia Mazda (@LumbertonMazKia) August 27, 2014

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Haig Club introduces David Beckham

Here’s another whiskey advert with a bit of class, as David Beckham joins a group of models in the Scottish Highlands to share a glass of whiskey and a photo opportunity.

The advert is now live on YouTube, and will appear on UK TV screens tonight, Friday 17th October 2014. See the full length Haig Club advert here:

In case you were wondering, the soundtrack to the ad is Left Hand Free by Alt-J.

The Guardian reports: “Given Alcohol Concern has given David Beckham a bit of stick for promoting a booze brand, after spending most of his football career teetotal, it’s not surprising that he is not actually seen having a sip of the product he helped develop alongside brand Beckham impresario Simon Fuller.”

Nevertheless, we think that it’s a great advert and could put Haig Club at the top of the Christmas list this year for whiskey lovers.

What do you think? Let us know @ShopAndReward

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No celebrities for Marks and Spencer Christmas Advert

The Marks and Spencer Christmas Advert for 2014 brings back the notion of ‘magic and sparkle’ from last year’s advert, but in the form of two fairies. M&S have gone the ‘non celebrity’ route, and actually it seems to work very well. Watch the advert in full here:

The advert, to the soundtrack of Julie London’s Fly Me To The Moon, is enchanting, with sweet references to family time and also finding love. What do you think?

Do you think it compares well with John Lewis’ Christmas 2014 Advert?Tweet

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