Priceline: the price still isn't right

Published By Datamonitor

Polarization in the sports goods market: opportunities lie at the premium end

Over the past five years we have seen the sports goods market become increasingly polarized. Serious sports enthusiasts are looking for specialist and professional products, while leisure shoppers want needs-based products at low prices. To grow in this market, retailers must decide who their target customers are, and ensure a strong point of differentiation to fight competition and drive sales.

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OFT: investigating the use (and abuse) of behavioral targeting in online retail

Online retailers in the UK are being investigated by the Office of Fair Trading for target pricing practices, the act of altering the price of goods according to users' online purchasing history. Regulation around the use of users' cookie data is either loose or non-existent, but retailers must use online customer data in an ethical manner to ensure continued customer brand loyalty.

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Morrison: strategic business review

Morrison has announced the details of its long-awaited strategic review. With Safeway fully integrated and its optimization underway, Morrison can now focus on rebuilding its profitability further and delivering a platform for sustainable sales growth. The retailer's new strategy is sound, but catching up ground lost to rivals remains the short term challenge.

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Mobile payments in Russia take another step forward but hurdles remain

Smart card manufacturer Giesecke & Devrient and Sitronics Smart Technologies are partnering with Russia's largest mobile operator, Mobile TeleSystems, and Russia's second largest oil company, Lukoil, to launch contactless mobile payments systems at petrol stations, highlighting the growing inroads the sector is making in the Russian market.

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Metro Group and BP: Polish launch for loyalty card lends a competitive edge

European retail giant Metro Group has launched its multi-brand Payback loyalty card in Poland. The card will be accepted at Metro's hypermarket chain Real and BP service stations, as well as by other companies. The move is expected to be a success: the loyalty card is attractive to consumers and provides companies with additional insight not available from a single-brand loyalty scheme.

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Inditex to enter Australia and South Africa in 2011

After entering a number of new markets this year, Inditex is poised to enter the Australian and South African markets in 2011. Its plans for expansion, which include introducing global online retail platforms, will ensure that it keeps one step ahead of its international rivals, and will provide an opportunity for rejuvenation in the local clothing markets.

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Gap looks to Australia to boost sales

US clothing retailer Gap has opened its first store in Australia in a bid to capitalize on the market's potential, stating that it intends to focus its brand positioning on product quality rather than discounting. However, as Australian consumers are continuing to be driven by value, Gap will have to offer a compelling proposition in order to gain favor among the growing legion of bargain hunters.

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Game Group: had the gain, now for the pain

Fears of a major slump in the previously buoyant video games market have been realized by a trading update from market leader Game Group. The highly cyclical nature of the sector has been highlighted by the dual release of Game's figures for the 53 weeks to January 31, 2009, in which total UK and Ireland sales were up 25.7%, and for the 11 weeks to April 18, 2009, in which they were down 2.4%.

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eCommerce: the Priceline isn't right

Published By Datamonitor