Round-up | NEWS


21-year low for November online sales as consumers return to the high street


ONLINE RETAIL sales growth fell by almost 20% in November as consumers returned to the high streets – the highest drop since records began.


The IMRG Capgemini Index, which tracks the performance of more than 200 retailers, showed November online sales growth had plummeted by 19.8% compared with the same month last year – the lowest recorded growth in the 21 years of the index. This figure was below the three- month average of -14.97% and the six-month average of -12.64%. Every category of retail, except for fashion, showed double-digit negative growth


for November. IMRG Cap -


gemini suggested that this was a result of consumers returning to the high street, but also supply shortages and delivery disruptions.


Month on month, however, the index showed that sales grew by 40.4%, although that was significantly below the 50% growth figure normally


seen at this time of year.


IMRG Capgemini also pointed to evidence that consumers are spending less when they do buy online, with the average basket value falling to £123 from its 2021 peak of £149. Conversion rates were also down by 20% year on year. With high-street sales up, multichannel retailers fared worse (-23.4%) than their online-only rivals (-13.4%).


IMRG strategy and insight director Andy Mulcahy said: “In retail, we are often prone to focusing on the negatives, but there is no escaping that November’s performance was very poor. The most concerning thing is that traffic was the problem, shoppers were just not visiting retailers’ sites in their usual volumes.” Speaking at the time, Mulcahy added: “To an extent, that could be explained by people taking to big high street locations again, so the weeks in the run-up to Christmas will be very interesting in that respect. There does


seem to be an attitude of ‘getting it in before we get locked down’, and people will not want to go anywhere to avoid having to isolate over Christmas. “We will, from a retail perspective, be in a lockdown in all but name, which will really skew trading figures.” At Capgemini, Lucy Gibbs, managing consultant and retail lead for analytics and AI, added: “The drop in online sales this year is not unexpected, however the month-on-month figures suggest


that spending retailers overall were hit has


been even more subdued. Multichannel


the


hardest, down 23.4%, but online-only retailers also suffered, down 13.4% due to the drop in overall traffic online. “While a return to in-person shop- ping has taken a large share of the spend, other factors such as supplier shortages and delivery disruption have also caused retailers to spread and dilute some of the offers, which could be behind the decrease in conversion by 20% across November.”


Kutchenhaus edges closer to 50 showrooms in the UK


KITCHEN RETAILER Kutchenhaus has opened its first ever store in Croydon.


The new south-London store is at 4-5 Purley Way Crescent and is the 45th franchise in the UK for the German kitchen brand.


The Croydon showroom is owned by business manager Ronnie Adjei (pictured), who has 12 years’ experience in kitchen and bathroom design, having worked as a designer and director for a variety of companies in the Croydon and Wimbledon areas. The 1,500sq ft showroom features eight displays in total, including five kitchen displays, one home office and one bathroom. Appliance brands on offer include Bosch, Siemens, Miele, AEG and Quooker.


The Croydon showroom will benefit from four members of staff who will deal with customer service and design, and Adjei intends to employ


another designer in 2022. Adjei has set himself an ambitious target of £750,000 turnover for the business’s first financial year and is already planning to open a second showroom within the next two years. Speaking about the opening, Adjei commented: “We are so excited to be opening our new store in Croydon and can’t wait for the local community to finally be able to see the contemporary and traditional displays that are on offer. The team have moved quickly to prepare the showroom – it has taken just six weeks to transform the space to high-quality standards. “We plan to use our customer- focused attitude to our advantage so that we can cater to their needs and deliver the best quality product. “I know this location extremely well from working across the borough and in nearby areas over the years and we’re situated in a prominent spot that


been challenging, but Kutchenhaus has adapted and continued to experience fantastic growth, which we hope will continue over the next two to three years. It is great to see that Ronnie is in a position to open a new store in Croydon and offer local customers the opportunity to plan and design their dream kitchen. We love his ambition and can’t wait to see how he progresses.


is easily accessible. I am quite ambitious, so within two years I plan on being able to open a second store nearby. We can’t wait to get started.” On behalf of Kutchenhaus, national head of sales and operations Sean Ford said: “The past 18 months have


Miele’s former global sales director takes over at CDA CDA has appointed Dominic


Worsley as its new MD. Worsley joins the Nottinghamshire- based appliance brand – which is entering


its fourth decade in the


appliance industry – from the Magnum Brands Group, where he was global sales and marketing director. Prior to joining the Magnum brands Group, he spent nine years with Miele,


January 2022 ·


where he became global marketing director. His other experience in the domestic appliance sector includes over seven years as sales director for the UK and Ireland with small appliance specialist Group SEB, whose brand portfolio includes Tefal, Moulinex, Rowenta and Krups.


Commenting on his appointment as managing director of CDA, Worsley


said: “We have many inspiring new developments in the pipeline that will see even more progress and innovation from CDA. Technology has meant that the appliance industry is constantly moving forward, so there are interesting times ahead for both retailers and consumers.”


CDA was acquired by the Polish Amica Group in 2015.


5 .”


“The new showroom will no doubt offer customers an engaging environ- ment and deliver a high-quality product – a market opportunity we know is currently in high demand. We wish the team all the best and wait to see their future success.”


The Kutchenhaus franchise brand is owned by Nobilia. Virtual appointments are possible for customers using Kutchenhaus’s online 3D planning tool to create kitchen remotely, if customers are unable to visit the store.


Page 1  |  Page 2  |  Page 3  |  Page 4  |  Page 5  |  Page 6  |  Page 7  |  Page 8  |  Page 9  |  Page 10  |  Page 11  |  Page 12  |  Page 13  |  Page 14  |  Page 15  |  Page 16  |  Page 17  |  Page 18  |  Page 19  |  Page 20  |  Page 21  |  Page 22  |  Page 23  |  Page 24  |  Page 25  |  Page 26  |  Page 27  |  Page 28  |  Page 29  |  Page 30  |  Page 31  |  Page 32  |  Page 33  |  Page 34  |  Page 35  |  Page 36  |  Page 37  |  Page 38  |  Page 39  |  Page 40  |  Page 41  |  Page 42  |  Page 43  |  Page 44  |  Page 45  |  Page 46  |  Page 47  |  Page 48  |  Page 49  |  Page 50  |  Page 51  |  Page 52  |  Page 53  |  Page 54  |  Page 55  |  Page 56  |  Page 57  |  Page 58  |  Page 59  |  Page 60  |  Page 61  |  Page 62  |  Page 63  |  Page 64  |  Page 65  |  Page 66  |  Page 67  |  Page 68  |  Page 69  |  Page 70  |  Page 71  |  Page 72