Sales Management

Shoppers are stocking up on festive groceries earlier than ever, with Asda yesterday reporting a surge in frozen turkeys and “lockdown-proof” items alongside a slowdown in quarterly sales.

The supermarket chain said that sales of Christmas trees had increased by 83 per cent, festive lights by 57 per cent, Christmas puddings by 71 per cent and mince pies by 44 per cent, compared with the third quarter of last year.

In a sign that families are preparing for smaller gatherings as social distancing restrictions may remain in place, sales of frozen turkey crowns, which serve three to four people rather than larger families, have increased by 230 per cent.

“After a rollercoaster year, it’s clear our customers are already planning for a very different Christmas,” Roger Burnley, 54, chief executive of Asda, said. “We have already seen a marked shift in buying patterns, with customers stocking up their freezers and … Read the rest

Amazon customers are being urged to shop for their Christmas presents early in an effort to avoid shipping delays amid the festive period.

The retailing giant, which is valued at $1.5 trillion, has asked consumers to order early as coronavirus restrictions force more shoppers to purchase their presents online.

It comes after the online giant employed nearly 250,000 staff at its warehouses and added an extra 100,000 temporary staff to its workforce to help its Christmas operation this year.

Brian Olsavsky, Amazon’s finance chief, explained that the retailer would be ‘stretched’ this year and it would be ‘advantageous to the customer and probably to the companies’ for orders to be put in early, Bloomberg reported.

He said: ‘We’ll all be stretched and it’s advantageous to the customer and probably to the companies for people to order early this year.’

Amazon began offering its Christmas deals in mid-October and also extended … Read the rest

As we approach the end of an unpredictable and tough year for businesses, a new report has found that two-thirds of UK SMEs feel more prepared for the current national lockdown than they did for the first lockdown in March.

The top reasons given for this outlook are mental preparation, the changes they’ve made to their business to make it more resilient, and the Government support in place.

Across the UK, many SMEs are also turning to e-commerce as a way of recapturing some of the opportunities they’ve missed out on, with just under half increasing their online presence since March 2020 – with website improvements, putting services online and social media advertising cited as the measures which have had the most positive impact.  Half of business owners also reported investing in improving digital skills, either for themselves or their staff.

Barclaycard Payments data show that small businesses are being … Read the rest