Black Friday

UK shoppers on Black Friday have been buying more items but spending less, credit card data suggests. Barclaycard, which processes half of all UK card payments, said that by 15:00 GMT it had seen 10% more transactions from a year earlier. However, the value of spending was down 12% on last year. Separate data suggested a continuing trend for Black Friday bargain hunting to be done online rather than on the High Street. Barclaycard said it had processed 1,087 transactions per second between 13:00 and 14:00 GMT, a record high. Due to the volume of traffic online some shoppers were 'locked out' and placed in online queues as sites struggled to manage the demand.Consumer groups have warned people to check whether deals are as good as they seem, saying many products are cheaper at other times of the year. In contrast there has been a continued rise in people taking part in 'Buy Nothing Day' which encourages people to shop less and live more. 

Black Friday

IKEA Re-organisation

Ikea may open large stores in city centres as it seeks to adapt to changing shopping habits. Javier Quinones, UK boss of the Swedish furniture giant, said the stores would be "in between" the size of its new smaller city centre format and its big out-of-town stores. "There are many formats we can try and will try," he said. The retailer plans to add 4,000 staff to its global workforce over the next two years as part of a business revamp. In total the company is creating 11,500 new posts, but eliminating 7,500 other jobs by 2020 as it focuses on e-commerce and the new smaller city stores. As many as 350 jobs are likely to go in the UK, mainly in head-office functions. The firm has been relatively slow to move to online shopping, but he said it had to respond to a fall in car ownership and consumers' desire for shopping to be convenient.The number of visitors to Ikea's website rose 10% to 2.4 billion, higher than the 3% rise in store customers to 838 million.

IKEA

Junk Food Ad Ban

 

A ban on junk food advertising across London's entire public transport network will be introduced next year. Under the scheme, posters for food and drink high in fat, salt and sugar will vanish from the Underground, Overground, buses and bus shelters. London Mayor Sadiq Khan has said he wants to tackle the "ticking time bomb" of child obesity in the capital. The Advertising Association has said it would have "little impact on the wider societal issues that drive obesity". The ban will take effect across the Transport for London (TfL) network on 25 February.The scheme is backed by child health experts including chief medical officer for England Professor Dame Sally Davies who described it as an "important step in the right direction". However, the Advertising Association said commuters could suffer as a result of the ban. Chief Executive Stephen Woodford said the UK already has "the strictest rules in the world when it comes to advertising high fat salt sugar foods", which mean under-16s cannot be targeted. "This will lose revenue from advertising for TfL and that will potentially have an impact on the fares that passengers have to pay," he said.

Junk Food Ad Ban

Window Washing Drone

Window washing drone takes flight A huge drone that can wash buildings and put out fires is being developed in Latvia. The Aerones drone weighs about 55kg (121lbs) and is tethered to the ground with a hose. The company says it can clean buildings 20 times faster than humans and fly higher than firefighter ladders can reach. When 5G mobile connectivity arrives it will be able to stream high-definition video to operators on the ground, Aerones says. Click the link to watch it in action.

Window Washing Drone

Mystery Christmas

Parents are spending heavily on mystery toys as a craze in wrapped-up collectables is set to dominate Christmas sales. Sales of collectable toys - such as the L.O.L. range - have risen by 30% in the year so far, compared with the same period of 2017. Inspired by "unboxing" videos on sites such as You Tube, the product comes with layers of wrapping before the child reaches the mystery toy inside. There are various toys to collect. Launched in April last year by privately-owned MGA Entertainment, the creators of the Bratz dolls, with no TV advertising, the level of success of L.O.L. was a surprise to the company itself, according to its managing director in the UK, Andrew Laughton. They now account for three in 10 of toys sold, analysts say.The British toy market has dipped by 5% in the first nine months of the year, compared with the 2017 equivalent, according to sector analysts NPD. Spending on Christmas toys totals £110 per child up to the age of 11, down from £121 a year ago.

Mystery Christmas

Eat Grubs

Crickets are set to hit the shelves as Sainsbury’s becomes the first supermarket to sell edible bugs. Customers will be able to fill their shopping baskets with Eat Grub’s Smoky BBQ Crunchy Roasted Crickets in 250 of the supermarket giant’s stores from Sunday. The house crickets, also known as acheta domesticus, are farmed in Europe will come in packets of about 50 and sell for £1.50 per bag. Anyone brave enough to try the snack is promised to get a “crunchy texture with a rich, smoky flavour”. Bugs already form a significant part of diets around the world and the global edible insect market is set to exceed $522m (£406m) by 2023.Gram for gram, dried crickets contain more protein than beef, chicken and pork – with 100g containing 68g of protein, in comparison to just 31g of protein in beef. Bugs also top the list when it comes to sustainable food sources. They emit considerably lower levels of greenhouse gases than most livestock and are much more efficient in terms of the resources needed to farm them – crickets, for example, need 12 times less feed than cattle.

Eat Grubs

Marmite Sprouts

Iceland have decided that Brussels sprouts aren’t bad enough, and have hatched a plan to make them even worse. Or, depending on your tastes, they’ve decided they’re not delicious enough, and have hatched a plan to make them even better. The supermarket is launching a special edition product for Christmas – Brussels sprouts smothered in Marmite butter. The aim of the launch is to breathe new life into tired old Brussels sprouts, as more and more families are exiling the divisive vegetable from the Christmas dinner table. A third of Brits say they haven’t been served sprouts in the last three years, and a fifth have never bought a Brussels sprout in their life.

Marmite Sprouts

Death of the High Street

About 14 shops are closing every day as UK High Streets face their toughest trading climate in five years, a report has found. A net 1,123 stores disappeared from Britain's top 500 high streets in the first six months of the year, according to the accountancy firm PwC. It said fashion and electrical stores had suffered most as customers did more shopping online. Restaurants and pubs also floundered as fewer people go out to eat or drink. According to PwC, 2,692 shops shut across the UK in the first half of 2018, while only 1,569 new stores opened. The data looks at retail chains with more than five outlets.Electrical goods stores were among the biggest casualties, largely due to the collapse of Maplin in February that resulted in 50 stores being closed. Italian restaurants also struggled, as Jamie's Italian and Prezzo both shut stores after striking rescue deals with their creditors, while Strada also made closures. There were some bright spots, however, with supermarkets, booksellers, ice cream parlours and coffee shops all seeing slim net gains in their store counts. Newcastle fared worst in the North East, with a net decline of 17 stores, while Nottingham fell by 35.

High Street Decline

Plug Pulled On DVD Players

The DVD's days appear to be numbered after the John Lewis department store chain said it would stop selling the players once found under almost every television. The firm said it would not put more players on shelves when stocks run out. mSales are down 40% as more people watch movies and shows on streaming platforms such as Netflix and Amazon. However, John Lewis will continue to sell Blu-ray players, which can also be used for standard DVDs. The chain also said 55-inch televisions were now the most popular screen size, compared with 36 inches eight years ago. During the World Cup over the summer, 70-inch screens notched up the biggest rise in sales.The retailer said other gadgets proving popular were smart doorbells, which can be linked to WiFi and smartphones, and robotic lawnmowers, sales of which are up 367% and 75% respectively compared with last year.

DVD Players

Dr.Pepper Beans

Dr.Pepper beans actually exist! The beans are only being sold in the US, in Walmart. They’ve been labelled ‘Sweet and A Little Bit Sassy Dr Pepper Baked Beans’, and are made by the Serious Bean Co. Amazingly, they’ve already sold out online but are available in-store for $1.48. The product description reads: ‘With its blend of 23 flavors, Dr Pepper has long been a secret ingredient among top BBQ Pitmasters.‘The 23 original flavors of Dr Pepper give this batch its name and its amazing flavor. Sweet and Sassy success. No preservatives. Seriously Delicious. Always original. Always bold. Always delicious.’

Dr. Pepper Beans

Zoella's Guide To Life

28-year-old YouTube star Zoella, real nme Zoe Sugg, has been slammed by readers of her latest book, ‘Cordially Invited.’ The £20 self-help style book offers some surprisingly obvious lifestyle tips – including how to make a sandwich and the importance of carrying an umbrella during the months of spring. “When ready to assemble your sandwiches, lay your bread out on your work surface and butter each slice,” reads one passage. “Take an umbrella — weather can be a little unpredictable at this time of year so it’s best to be prepared,” reads another. The YouTube sensation boasts almost 12 million followers on her Zoella YouTube account and almost 5 million on her Zoe Sugg YouTube account. Despite her massive fan following, readers of the book have flocked to Amazon to slam its ‘simplicity.’One review advised customers ‘not to buy this book’ because it  ‘gives tips like ‘change the beds’ every season and suggests that you choose spring/summer etc duvets.’
Zoella

Premier Pods

Premier Inn’s owner, Whitbread, is launching a no-frills hotel chain with small pod-style rooms as the company seeks to refocus its business after the sale of its cafe chain Costa Coffee to Coca-Cola. Called Zip by Premier Inn, the new hotels will be located on the outskirts of major towns and cities. Rooms will cost from £19 a night and be less than half the size of a standard Premier Inn room, at 8.5 square metres. Premier Inn prices typically start at £49 while its more upmarket brand, hub, starts at £69 a night. Premier Inn is Britain’s biggest budget-hotel chain. Whitbread’s chief executive, Alison Brittain, said the spin-off would cater for the “ultra-price-sensitive customer looking to zip in and out”. Similar to no-frills airlines, there will be other optional paid-for extras. Rooms are not cleaned daily but additional cleaning can be purchased for £5 per day; wifi is free, although fast wifi costs £5 for 24 hours.
Premier Inn Zip

Greggs Switches Ups Sign

High street giant Greggs has explained why they have reversed the signs on one of their busiest outlets. Shoppers where the store is in Northumberland Street, Newcastle, spotted the curious sign recently. And Greggs explained it's so people taking photos of a department store's famous Christmas display get their logo the right way round in the reflection off the window. The nearby Fenwick window was unveiled on Friday evening and each year many thousands of North East families queue up to see the displays which are seen by many shoppers as an essential part of Christmas. The ploy also ensures that every photo taken of Fenwick's display will also contain a reflection of the baker's logo, while the mirror-image letting also makes it easier for users to take a proud selfie outside Greggs. 

Greggs Sign

Post Malone x Crocs

The most unexpected collaborations of 2018 may as well go to the recent team up between multi-platinum-recording artist Post Malone and footwear manufacture Crocs. alone’s Crocs, which retail for $60, sold out in under 10 minutes. Apparently even Madonna was unable to purchase a pair and messaged Malone on Instagram asking where she could get some. Collaborations like this mark a strange new chapter for Crocs, arguably the most divisive shoe brand in recent history. After first hitting stores in 2004, they grew rapidly and left their foam footprint across the world. In 2007 they created $847m in revenue and CNN described them as “2007’s hottest shoe”. But soon after, Crocs became code for a style faux pas, the ultimate symbol that you’ve given up all hope on your personal appearance.

Post Malone x Crocs