Home Retailing: the Death of Home Shopping?
Stephen FoxFox Kalomaski
Depending on which papers you read, and when you read them, this year's holiday trading period was either retailing's salvation or damnation. However, a recent Ernst & Young report suggested that high-street discounts were at record levels with 30% below the pre-Christmas norm, and mark-downs of up to 80% in the January sales that followed. While retail sales volumes may have held up, or even grown year-on-year, it seems highly unlikely that the same can be said for profitability.
Underneath the contradictory trading figures from the vital pre-Christmas period...