Category Archives: Retail

News, Retail, Sales

Record demand for rattan furniture

A Leicester-based garden centre has seen online enquiries and sales for its rattan garden furniture double during the past twelve months. Sapcote Garden Centre reported the record figures as part of an overall upward trend, with visitors to its website reaching an all-time high during the period.

Rattan furniture is made from a man-made fibre and doesn’t require upkeep or maintenance, meaning it can be left outside and uncovered all year round. The synthetic rattan is wrapped around a rust-proof aluminium frame, making it ideal for the UK climate.

The centre has suggested that the increase in interest may be linked to the pandemic.

A spokesperson from Sapcote Garden Centre said: “Our website has never been busier and rattan furniture is proving particularly popular. Comfy outdoor garden furniture was a must-have when we couldn’t mix indoors, and the added bonus with rattan is its longevity. It lasts incredibly well, with next to no maintenance required, meaning it will be in prime condition to use in the future when we can socialise with friends and family once more.”

The centre has a range of rattan furniture available including sofa sets, hanging chairs and day beds.

For more information go to www.gardencentreshopping.co.uk

News, Retail

Vision Express Selects Qualtrics CustomerXM

LONDON, JAN. 21, 2021 — Qualtrics, the leader in customer experience and creator of the experience management (XM) category, today announced that Vision Express, one of the UK’s biggest opticians and eyewear retailers, will use Qualtrics CustomerXM.

CustomerXM allows companies to predict, deliver, measure, and respond specifically to customer needs, in order to improve the customer experience and impact key business outcomes such as customer lifetime value, acquisition, and retention. To learn more, visit www.qualtrics.com/customer-experience/.

“Organisations around the world are dealing with an unprecedented surge in call centre volumes. With agent capacity down and demand way up, many are thinking about how they enable customers to self-serve online and accelerate their digital transformation,” says Léonie Brown, XM Scientist. “Qualtrics CustomerXM for Digital enables organisations to uncover broken digital experiences and create stronger omnichannel customer care journeys that boost loyalty, satisfaction and CLV.”

About Vision Express –

Part of Europe’s largest optical retail group GrandVision, Vision Express opened its first store in 1988 in Newcastle.

About Qualtrics – 

Qualtrics, the leader in customer experience and creator of the Experience Management (XM) category, is changing the way organisations manage and improve the four core experiences of business––customer, employee, product, and brand. Over 12,000 organisations around the world are using Qualtrics to listen, understand, and take action on experience data (X-data™)––the beliefs, emotions, and intentions that tell you why things are happening, and what to do about it. The Qualtrics XM Platform™ is a system of action that helps businesses attract customers who stay longer and buy more, engage employees who build a positive culture, develop breakthrough products people love, and build a brand people are passionate about. To learn more, please visit qualtrics.com

News, Retail

Nottingham’s Victoria Centre Car Parks Go Cashless

Nottingham’s Victoria Centre has announced that its car parks are going 100% cashless to help save shoppers’ time and reduce touchpoints.

From Saturday 16th January, there will be three different ways for visitors to pay using either card or contactless payment:

  • Take a ticket on entry and pay via card or contactless devices on foot at one of the pay stations located in the car parks.
  • Take a ticket on entry and pay using card or contactless directly at the barrier when you insert the ticket as you leave the car park.
  • Rather than taking a ticket on entry, visitors can tap a contactless payment method at the entrance barrier and then tap again at the barrier as they leave to make a payment.

Commenting on the changes, Nigel Wheatley, centre director at Victoria Centre, said:

“Over time, we’ve seen our customers increasingly making card and contactless transactions in our car parks. If you take the last three months of last year as an example, less than 20% of car park payments were made using cash.

“By making our car parks cashless, and providing different options for card and contactless payment, we’re aiming to help our visitors save time, as well as reducing touchpoints in the centre, which is really important right now.”

Victoria Centre is currently operating on a partially open basis due to national restrictions. This means that only essential stores are open, including Boots, Tesco, Superdrug and The Post Office at WH Smith. In line with government guidance, a small number of stores are offering a click and collect service and some food outlets are providing takeaways.

Nigel added:

“Given the current circumstances, we’re urging people to only visit the centre if it’s absolutely essential and if you do have to visit, ensure you wear a face covering (unless exempt) and follow all social distancing advice.

“Given the reduced number of visitors, our multi-storey car park (off Woodborough Road) will be closed until further notice. Anyone driving to the centre will be asked to access the Basement Car Park via the Glasshouse Street only as the York Street entrance is closed.

“The first hour of parking will be free to allow people to access essential retail and click and collect services. After the first hour, normal car park tariffs will apply.”

For additional information and updates, visit www.victoria-centre.com or follow Victoria Centre’s social media channels – Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Marketing, PR and SEO, News, Retail

Grosvenor Group backs NearSt in £2m round to capitalise on burgeoning demand for footfall boosting technology

Google-backed, NearSt, a British retail technology business driving more people onto the high street has raised £2m in seed funding from one of the world’s largest privately-owned international property companies to fuel footfall into bricks and mortar stores at a critical time for physical retailers.

The London-born startup witnessed a tripling in demand from shoppers seeking out local product availability in 2020, as the pandemic shifted traditional shopping behaviours online; including the way people shop with local stores.

The latest funding takes the total raised by NearSt to £5m – following an earlier £2m raise in February 2020 – and brings in finance from the Grosvenor Group, retail specialists True Global, consumer tech specialists YYX Capital and Moscar Capital.

Founded in 2015 by Max Kreijn (37) and Nick Brackenbury (32), the duo developed technology that makes products on physical store shelves visible to shoppers searching online nearby. Businesses like Google use the technology to show real-time local product availability directly in search results.

As millions more people turned their attention online during Covid, NearSt’s technology helped redirect them back to the nation’s high streets – locating items they were searching for online in nearby bricks-and-mortar stores.

The tech is helping shoppers realise that buying local is often faster and easier than ordering on Amazon and providing a welcome boost for convenience stores such as Nisa, Londis and Budgens and luxury boutiques like Creed, Christopher Kane and Hirsh.

Marking Grosvenor Group’s first direct investment into the tech sector, the international property company is already using NearSt’s technology across it’s Mayfair and Belgravia estate, with plans to expand internationally.

The British retail tech startup has seen a 3-fold increase in local product search demand throughout 2020, and will use the cash injection to accelerate uptake by retailers in the UK with a wave of new hires, and launch the startup’s offering internationally.

“NearSt’s funding comes at a time of seismic shifts in how we shop and what it means to be a retailer.” said co-founder Nick Brackenbury.

“We all know that the pandemic has driven shopping behaviours online; what’s often overlooked are the millions of people now going online to search for things locally on the high street.”

“We’ve witnessed extraordinary growth in ‘local-availability’ searches throughout 2020. In the first lockdown customers searching for products nearby surged 620% compared to February levels, before levelling off at a 270% increase between July and September.”

“While this most recent lockdown has driven another 500% surge, what’s clear is that shoppers are getting used to going online to find things in the local businesses they prefer to buy from.”

“Online shopping is often positioned as the death knell for the high street – we think it’s far from this, and will rather be the foundation of a vibrant and healthy future for brick-and-mortar shops.”

The footfall boosting technology is used by Google to display in-store products in local listings directly on the main search page, as well as across Shopping, Google Maps, and other Local Listings.

NearSt has also recently started working with Facebook on their Commerce Accelerator to help drive Facebook’s local shopping capabilities forward.

With almost a third of all Google searches relating to location and over 80% of all retail spending still taking place in physical shops, NearSt believes there is a lot to win in the high street’s fight against the online giants.

Ian Mair, Managing Director of Digital Innovation at Grosvenor Group, added “Digital technologies and the changing customer expectations will radically change the property industry over the next decade.

“We are putting the customer at the heart of our thinking and are creating innovative ways to make the physical shopping experience more efficient and enjoyable. Making it easier for customers to find items they are looking for in local shops will encourage them on to their local high street rather than ordering online.”

“We have already seen the benefits of NearSt on Grosvenor’s London Estate and as part of our wider innovation agenda across the Grosvenor Group, we will look to roll this out to other retailers in the locations that we operate.”

“Google already sees the impact live in-store inventory data can have. This is a multi-billion dollar market that technology has barely touched, and NearSt has the potential to truly transform how we all interact with physical retail.”

How NearSt Works

Shops install a small piece of powerful software that automatically connects to any type of shop point of sale or inventory management system. Shortly after stores start seeing their entire in-store inventory appear in local search results, sending nearby shoppers in-store who might otherwise have ordered online.

The technology has seen widespread uptake by British retailers as a low-effort but powerful tool to fight back against the likes of Amazon, with retailers spanning convenience, DIY and garden centres, health, pharmacies, and even luxury fashion and jewellers all using the platform.

Speaking to three independent store owners, Steve Tonks, of Lincolnshire-based DIY shop, Tonwood Home Hardware said, “It took us a year to upload 500 products on our website, compared to using NearSt which uploaded 29,000 online instantly.”

“By having our products at the very top of the Google search results, people can see what they want is in our shop – an instant gratification that even Amazon can’t deliver.” added Karen Heriot, from Edinburgh-based gift shop Daisy Cheynes.

Marine Vincent from London-based pharmacy Make Me Feel continued, “I got phone calls from new customers asking about products they saw online. I wondered how they knew about this as we didn’t show these items on our website. Then I realized it was NearSt!”

NearSt first struck a partnership with Google in 2018, pioneering a solution enabling local shops to automatically list live inventory in Google See What’s In Store and Local Inventory Ads.

Other notable investors include: Will Hobhouse (Heal’s, Jack Wills, Whittard of Chelsea), Ben Laurie (Google Research & Machine Intelligence) alongside senior engineers from pioneering AI firm DeepMind.

Today shops pay a one-time connection fee of £399 and then NearSt’s core search product is free, with the option of purchasing weekly add-ons to drive additional local visibility. In addition to listing a shop’s products in Google, NearSt also provides detailed insights to the retailer about what’s popular with customers searching nearby.

Retailers who are interested in joining should visit near.st to begin their quick and simple setup.

E-Commerce, Retail

UK personalised gifts market anticipated to reach £1 billion in the next 12 months

  • UK shoppers are set to spend over £750 million on personalised gifts over the coming festive period, fuelling market growth.
  • The average shopper is willing to spend an extra 7% on gifts that have an element of personalisation
  • Most popular personalised gifts are books, clothing and babywear and calendars
  • Number one driving factor behind purchases of personalised gifts is that they are considered to be more thoughtful
  • Online retailers like Notonthehighstreet and Etsy are by far the most popular places to buy personalised gifts

The UK personalised gift market is anticipated to reach £1 billion over the next 12 months, according to the findings of a European study of 5,000+ shoppers from Roland DG.

The research also found that UK shoppers are set to spend over £750 million on personalised gifts over the coming festive period, with buyers of personalised gifts expected to fork out more than £40 each on unique gifts for their loved ones.

According to the data, the average UK shopper is prepared to spend an extra 7 percent on gifts that have an element of personalisation, such as adding a name, personal message or image. The most popular categories for those who anticipate purchasing personalised gifts are books (29 percent), clothing and babywear (24 percent) and calendars (also 24 percent).

The number one driving force behind purchases is how shoppers consider personalised gifts to be more thoughtful (chosen by 21 percent of respondents), closely followed by the fact that they are unique and can’t be bought straight off-the-shelf (chosen by 20 percent of respondents).

With many brands and consumers pivoting to eCommerce since the start of the pandemic, online retailers including Notonthehighstreet and Etsy are by far and away the most popular places to buy personalised gifts, and is the most likely place for nearly a quarter of respondents (24 percent). High street businesses with in-store personalisation offers was a likely place for nearly a tenth of respondents (8 percent).

Younger shoppers are far more willing to spend more on personalised gifts than their older counterparts. On average, 18-34 year olds will be willing to fork out an extra £30 compared to shoppers over 55 over the next 12 months.

Stephen Davis, EMEA Marketing Director at Roland DG UK, said: “These might be turbulent times, but the British public does not intend to let the pandemic interfere with their appetite for personalised gifts. Our desire to treat each other in difficult times may well be a factor in the huge projected spend over the festive period. But make no mistake: the market for gift personalisation is vast, and only set to grow as it becomes easier and faster to source gifts with that personal touch. It represents a lucrative source of revenue for manufacturers and retailers.”

“Retailers who are willing to add customisation options to their products, diversify the options they currently offer, and integrate these services online using tools like PersBiz, are sitting on a golden opportunity. The even better news is it’s easy and inexpensive to add personalisation options, from the most simple to the most complex. There are products for every budget to tap into this burgeoning market,” Davis continued.

For more information on growing your personalisation offering with Roland DG, see:

 Methodology

Online survey polled 5,014 18+ year old consumers in the following markets: UK (1000 respondents), Spain (1002), Italy (1002), Germany (1008) and France (1002). Survey conducted by Censuswide, 18th – 23rd November 2020. All stats are based on the 1,000 respondents from the UK. All extrapolations are based on 52,673,433 18+ population figure from the ONS 2019 midyear population estimates.

 

About Roland DG

Roland DG Corporation is the world’s leading provider of digital printing solutions. The company’s inkjet printers, printer/cutters and cutting machines are widely used to create a broad range of promotional items including banners, signs, vehicle graphics, stickers and labels, and to provide customisation services for apparel and personal items like smartphone cases. Recently, Roland DG has embarked on a promising new retail frontier by capitalising on individuals’ increasing desire to create their own, uniquely designed and decorated items. The company’s COTO business division has developed proprietary design and print management software which enables customers to design their own gifts, apparel and treasured mementos, and to enjoy an unforgettable creative experience.

For more information, please visit rolanddg.co.uk.

 

Retail

Is the High Street over? 61% of UK consumers predict the end of the high street

A look at the headlines in recent weeks paints a worrying picture for retain, with many of the UK’s high street chains teetering on the brink – in recent weeks we’ve witnessed the collapse of the Arcadia Group, Debenhams and Bonmarche – and Peacocks is desperately hoping for a rescue to save 5000 jobs.  The future of the UK’s high streets and the people who work in them has never looked more uncertain.  Meanwhile the rapid growth of Amazon and it’s dominance online and tendency to undercut their own sellers is giving rise for concern both in Europe and the US.

Researchers found that 61% of Brits are concerned that the British High Street is at risk of disappearing, with big-name store closures likely to permanently change the retail landscape.

Certainly, shops have been some of the biggest economic casualties of the pandemic. Following the second lockdown and now the prospect of the majority of us living under on-going restrictions under the tier system, the outlook for the high street is increasingly bleak.

So what does the future hold for our town centres?

From surveying 1,000 consumers in the UK, KIS unearthed some interesting findings including:

• 61% of Brits are worried the high street will disappear completely in the next ten years due to the ever increasing number of big-name store closures.

• Fashion, food, beverage and value brands are predicted to be the biggest victims of the high street due to online competition.

• Convenience is a key factor that affects our shopping habits.

Whilst the high street has been in decline for many years, the problem has accelerated at an alarming rate this year. According to research by The Local Data Company and PWC, the first half of 2020 saw over 11,000 outlets shut, which is double the amount for the same time last year.

Of course the pandemic has been the final nail in the coffin for many retailers, with the increasing popularity of online shopping intensified by the Covid restrictions.

Online sales soar to new heights

In February this year 19% of all UK retail sales were online, which represented a substantial increase over the last 10 years, as back in 2010 only 8.5% of purchases were made online. However the impact of the pandemic is clear to see, as by May this year 32.8% of sales were online. This fell slightly when the first lockdown restrictions were eased in the summer but has remained around 28%, still a substantial increase compared to pre-pandemic levels.

Shopping habits look set to change for good

Worryingly for stores, and the vast majority of us who will be sad to see the high street go, the habit of shopping online looks set to be the norm in future for many people. 87% of the UK now shop online, the highest compared to other European nations and even higher than North America where 84% of the population shop this way. In fact during the pandemic the UK has spent an additional £5.4 billion online.

With recent research finding that 66% of people don’t think the Government has done a good job in managing the pandemic, it’s also likely that many may continue to avoid physical shops due to fear of infection, in which case the domination of online sales looks set to continue.

Why are so many consumers choosing the online option?

Convenience has always been one of the benefits of online shopping with 64% of those in our survey stating that this was the key reason that they chose to shop this way.

It’s this desire for ease that is behind the phenomenal success of Amazon. With many customers placing convenience at the top of their priorities, the impact on both large and small physical retailers is devastating. In fact the success of Amazon is clearly one of the key factors behind the demise of so many outlets.

Why has Amazon had such a devastating impact on our high streets?

The unprecedented growth of Amazon over recent years has certainly had a massive impact on our shopping habits, which has in turn contributed to the decline of many traditional retailers.

Amazon’s mission is to enter and disrupt new markets, with the aim of dominating them, leading to many smaller retailers being pushed out. With 90% of us now turning to Amazon it’s hardly surprising that their profits have tripled during the pandemic. With so much money behind them it’s easy for Amazon to absorb initial losses in order to penetrate a new market and savagely undercut existing providers.

Amazon have successfully mastered the approach of being second to market, which has enabled them to copy what others have done and then utilise the Amazon infrastructure to undercut on price and speed. Certainly their speed of delivery has given sales a real boost during the lockdowns, attracting customers away from other online retailers who simply can’t compete.

Their ability to cross-subsidise in this way clearly gives them an unfair advantage over other retailers, as does their ability to minimise their tax liabilities in the UK. In fact in the last year their UK revenues increased by 35% whilst their tax bill only rose by 3%

Amazon even undercut their own sellers!

Amazon’s success in launching their own brand of products has even seen them undercutting other retailers selling on the Amazon platform. In fact Amazon boss, Jeff Bezos had to answer questions from Congress in the USA over whether they were using 3rd party sellers’ data to develop their own products.

The European Commission is also charging Amazon with ‘illegally abusing its dominant position’. The long term risk of this level of market dominance is that consumers are likely to see a reduction in choice and ultimately an increase in prices over time.

Job losses in the retail sector hitting an all-time high

Recent data by the Centre for Retail Research has revealed that 140,437 jobs have already been lost in retail in the UK this year, with the total predicted to reach 235,704 by the end of the year. The impact of this will be felt across the economy for years as people struggle to find alternative employment.
In comparison Amazon, who’s operations are largely automated, only expect to create 7000 new jobs in the UK, which will barely make any impact on the overall picture or go anyway to helping the UK economy recover.

So what needs to change if the high street is going to survive?

One trend that has emerged during the pandemic is the desire by many consumers to support local businesses. Whilst many of the big names are finding themselves in trouble, smaller independent retailers are stepping up and adapting their offering to fill the gap. Some have developed home delivery and online options for the first time which has helped them to reach a widder customer base.

We spoke to retail expert James Child, retail analyst at Estate Gazette, about this shifting pattern towards shopping local. James said :

“There has been a swell of goodwill for both retailers and community groups that have come together during these difficult times. Consumers will be more aware of the potential of local shopping than they perhaps may have been previously.”

Certainly, the desire for a sense of community appears to be strong at a time of great uncertainty and local retailers need to really tap into that now and find ways to maintain a loyal shopping base as we eventually move out of the pandemic.

Local retailers need to adapt to meet customer needs

James says:

“Customers are as loyal to businesses and stores as they are to brands. Tapping into this has always been paramount to success, the current conditions have allowed these retailers to showcase their offer.

In order to maximize this during this relative window of opportunity, these retailers shouldn’t always need to replicate what larger retailers do, as it’s their differences that often set them apart.

Increasingly people are willing to pay a little more to support local stores. I believe this trend will continue in a post-COVID19 UK, especially for those with disposable income.”

If independent businesses can adapt to changing shopping habits and demands then the high street may well survive, albeit in a different form.

As James says:

“Whilst it is true that consumers will be ready to spend, it is worth remembering the psychological impact that months of lockdown will have had on shopping and leisure habits. People may be more sceptical about spending time in busy enclosed spaces like shopping centres, but local high streets may be a more attractive proposition.”

Holly Andrews, Managing Director at KIS Finance says:

“As many large retail outlets close we may see a continuation of the pattern over recent years of vacant properties switching to residential use.

Certainly, there has been an increase in applications for bridging loans for those wanting to convert shops and offices into residential units. With the changes to the UK planning system proposed by the Government, the process of converting empty retail space into much needed housing could be one way to bring people back into central locations.

For this transition to work high streets need to find ways to reinvent themselves to remain a relevant space at the heart of our communities.”

News, Retail

A new report looks at the state of British High Street and C19 as a catalyst for retail change

DownYouHighStreet.com has published a new report looking at the evolution of the British High street and how Covid-19 has been a catalyst for change within the retail environment.

The report shows that history tends to repeat itself. If we look at the impact of change on Blockbuster, and then again on Borders, we can see that these two once great retailers failed to respond to changes in customer needs and desires. What customers value most has changed considerably in the last few years, and this has been accelerated by C19. Right now, customers want convenience above all else – and it will be the retailers who give them this that will thrive.

Consumer habits have also changed: they are more comfortable than ever answering questions about themselves online, they are less loyal to brands than in previous years; and buying online has increased considerably and continues to do so.

Although many independent retailers were already adding online to their bricks-and-mortar sales channels, the lockdowns have sped up this move. For example, DownYourHighStreet.com, which helps independent retailers create an online shop, has seen a huge increase in business with more retailers moving online in one day (Monday 2nd Nov) than in the whole of January 2020.

Although unemployment has fallen in the U.K. for the past few years, the retail sector has been experiencing the opposite trend. The British Retail Consortium estimates that 900,000 jobs could be lost in the sector by 2025. Store closures are on the rise and fewer new high street retail businesses are opening.

Some sectors, however, have benefited from the pandemic including:
Technology (Apple Inc. / Microsoft Corp. / Alphabet Inc.); General Merchandise Retailers (Tesco / Waitrose); Entertainment (Netflix / YouTube / Walt Disney Co.); Biotech & Pharmaceuticals (Johnson & Johnson / AstraZeneca PLC); Work From Home Firms (Slack Technologies / Zoom Video / Communications Inc.); and Online Retailers (Amazon / Shopify / Down Your High Street).

A ‘one size fits all’ approach can no longer be applied to retail. Customers want convenience more than anything and that means buying, receiving and returning products the way they want. In some cases, this means going into a shop, for others it means doing it all online.

The report also shows there has been a rebirth of retail. The pandemic has brought a period of change like no other in retail. Lockdowns have shifted long-held consumer behaviours that retailers are having to adapt to for survival. As more people remain confined to their homes and are limiting their social and outdoor activities, the question is: which newly developed behaviours will stick in post-pandemic times?

Research shows several likely outcomes: the flight to online; a shock to loyalty; the need for hygiene transparency; a return to basics and value; and the rise of the homebody economy.

The report also looks at how the pandemic has impacted online sales for those retailers which already had a strong digital presence, how shopping has changed from 2019 to 2020 and how shoppers think they will behave in 2021 in terms of their shopping habits, and which countries make the most sales online (the UK beats the USA!)

‘The Evolution of the British High Street’ provides an up to date look at the High Street in a year that has seen changes no one could have predicted.

The report was commissioned by DownYourHighStreet.com – a free to join, low commission online marketplace on a mission to create the world’s longest high street by connecting community with commerce and giving the Great British High Street an online presence. DownYourHighStreet.com hosts thousands of products that were previously unavailable online, from100s of independent retailers, allowing sellers to create or integrate their online presence saving them time and the costs traditionally associated with establishing a visible online presence.

To learn more visit https://www.downyourhighstreet.co.uk/

E-Commerce, News, Retail

Over 1,000 Local and Small Online Shops offer Amazing Black Friday Deals Through National Discount Scheme

Black Friday is coming this week and many national chains and internet giants are enticing shoppers with the promise of huge discounts and bargains this Friday. My VIP Card is offering UK shoppers a way to take advantage of thousands of Black Friday deals while still supporting local and small businesses with a network of over 1,000 online local shops.

The discount scheme is urging Black Friday shoppers to remember and support local and small shops on one of the busiest shopping days of the year. Local shops need the Black Friday and Christmas shopping season to be fruitful this year more than ever and My VIP Card is hoping the network of local discounts card will encourage shoppers to think locally first. The national discount card gives local shoppers access to thousands of discounts, helping them save on average £500 a year while supporting their local high street.

Maddy Alexander-Grout, Founder of My VIP Card, added, “I created My VIP Card to help the local high street also give back to the community and this Black Friday and Christmas they need us more than ever. My VIP Card supports small businesses by raising awareness and actively encouraging shoppers to benefit from local discounts. By bringing them all together on our platform we are allowing them to compete with the online giants and hopefully encourage many shoppers to shop small this Friday and benefit from some amazing discounts.”

Cybersecurity, E-Commerce, News, Retail

Tools to help you stay safe online as we count down to Cyber Monday

According to Nick Blake, Cyber Security Consultant at Gemserv ”In the lead up to Cyber Monday and the holiday season, it’s important to ensure we all take precautions in order to stay safe online. Things as simple as changing your password can make a great deal of difference between a cyber-attack and a harmless online purchase”.

Cyber Monday was created by retailers to encourage consumers to shop online by offering discounts and promotions. With varying degrees of lockdown restrictions active across the country, this year’s Cyber Monday falls on 30 November and is predicted to see higher rates of online shopping than usual.

The pandemic has accelerated the shift towards a more digital world and triggered changes in online shopping behaviours that are likely to have lasting effects. More than half of UK consumers are now shopping online, and UK online spend is forecast to increase 29.6% between now and 2024, according to retail analysts at GlobalData.

Now more than ever, it’s important to take precautions in order to stay safe online. Therefore, we’ve put together an ‘online toolbox’ with five tips to help you stay safe online during Cyber Monday and beyond.

Strong Passwords

We all understand the need to have a strong password, but do we really know what that means? The National Cyber Security Centre’s advice is to create a long password by using three random words. The longer and more unusual your password is, the stronger it becomes and the harder it is to hack. You can make it even stronger with special characters, such as using a passphrase, for example: Thisisan3xampleofastrongpass.

A strong password reduces your risk of compromise, even if your password is known. It’s critical that your passwords and accounts are not subject to brute force attacks (guessing), and that they aren’t reused across multiple websites. For example, don’t reuse your Facebook password for your Amazon account.

Tools

Legitimate Websites

During Cyber Monday and in the run up to the holiday season, you should be wary of deals that seem too good to be true, as they usually are! Don’t be lured into clicking “free” offers and disclosing too much information to websites that seem untrustworthy.

Tools

  • You can use tools such as ‘isitphising’ and ‘wheregoes’ to find out the types of websites you’re planning to visit before you even click the link.

The Padlock

Have you noticed the padlock that is present on almost all websites? It’s usually located on the left-hand side of your browser bar. The padlock symbol represents websites that have a valid certificate and are usually trustworthy. Alongside this padlock is the URL of your website beginning with httpS, not just http – the S stands for Secure! If the website doesn’t have a padlock and isn’t using HTTPS, our advice would be to stay well away!

Tools

  • You can use websites like SSL Shopper to check the authenticity of your Padlock (certificate).

Using Antivirus and System Updates

Did you know that the ransomware WannaCry attack that affected the NHS and many more in 2017 could’ve been prevented by a patch released by Microsoft two months prior? It’s important ensure your machine is updated with the latest security patches to prevent new vulnerabilities. There is a reason your IT department asks you to restart your computer and ensure all updates have been installed.

Use of antivirus is imperative to detecting and defending you when connecting to the internet. A computer without antivirus is an open-door invitation to attackers and even free antiviruses are better than no antivirus at all.

Tools

Virtual Private Networks (VPN)

A VPN will create a secure (encrypted) tunnel so that nobody else is able to snoop on the information that is passing through your connection. Be cautious of connecting to a free public Wi-Fi as the signal could be coming from a different location. Even if you’re working from home, the use of a VPN is a good idea to safeguard your passwords, card details and other personal information.

Tools

  • You can see a list of free VPNs, but there are also premium options available.

Gemserv aims to educate users who haven’t thought about their security online and remind even those of us working in these areas every day. We hope these tools can help establish awareness on the common techniques cyber criminals are using to compromise your personal information. Stay safe online this holiday season and happy shopping!

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Food & Drink, Retail

M&S Food Christmas advert launches today with charity at its heart

ONE magical range of festive food.  Two million pounds donated to UK charities.  NINE world-famous icons. (plus some very special M&S colleagues)

This is not just ANY Christmas Food campaign…

This year M&S Food is putting charity firmly at its heart.  In a year when charity funding has declined almost 25%, this Christmas M&S Food is proud to announce it will donate £2 million to good causes.

Central to this, M&S Food is shining a light on a number of important charities, partnering with nine world-famous actors who have added their unmistakable voices to nine brand new Christmas food ads- with food so delicious you’ll want to lick the screen!

The iconic voiceover cast have all chosen to work with M&S, selecting charities close to their hearts to which M&S Food will make a donation on their behalf.

And M&S is doing the same for customers. Every time a Sparks customer shops at M&S in-store or online at M&S.com, we will donate to their selected charity, from a range of 35 different causes.

Susie McDonald, CEO of Tender, one of the charities benefiting from the campaign, said:

“Tender believes kindness is key to healthy relationships. It is great to see this so clearly in action through M&S’s campaign; enabling charities to give support to those that need it the most.”

World-famous names

The ad line up is a virtual red carpet of world-famous names and M&S Food will be surprising and delighting customers with the unmistakable voices who will bring its delicious, great quality Christmas food to life like never before.

The ad features the voices of   *DRUMROLL*

  • Chiwetel Ejiofor
  • Eddie Redmayne
  • Gillian Anderson
  • Dame Helen Mirren
  • Jeremy Irons
  • Dame Julie Walters
  • Naomie Harris
  • Olivia Colman
  • Tom Hardy

The series of nine ads kicks off today, Friday 6th November, with Olivia Colman voicing the M&S Light Globe Gin Liqueur, Triple Chocolate Panettone, Our Best Ever Smoked Salmon and Collection Mini Beef and Porcini Yorkshires.  On behalf of Olivia, M&S will make a donation split between three charities: Anthony Nolan; Back Up; and Tender Education & Arts.  Each ad will feature the logos of the charities chosen by the actor providing the voice over.

Each week from now until New Year, customers will be treated to a new ad voiced by one of the nine acting icons, showcasing the most delicious, great quality M&S Food.  Listen out amongst others for Tom Hardy bringing Brussels sprouts to life,

Dame Helen Mirren extolling the virtues of rosé prosecco, Chiwetel Ejiofor making mouths water over moreish Plant Kitchen Chocolate Torte and Olivia Colman voicing ‘fancy pants’ Collection Mini Beef and Porcini Yorkshires.

Abigail Look, CEO of Back Up, said:

“Olivia’s incredible donation ensures that whatever challenges we face in 2021, we can inspire people affected by spinal cord injury to get the most out of life.”

Olivia Colman says:

“I am delighted to work with M&S Food and lend my voice to a campaign that supports UK charities at a time when they need it the most”.

As well as donations on behalf of the acting icons, M&S Food has selected 10 colleagues from across the UK who are its most active charity volunteers, giving donations to the colleagues’ chosen charities. 

In total, the Christmas advertising campaign will donate £1 million to good causes.

But, it doesn’t stop there.  This is just part of M&S’s long-term commitment to doing good.  This Christmas M&S Food will donate an additional £1million across a diverse range of charities including Shelter, Together for Short Lives and the 35 Sparks charities that M&S supports.  Through Sparks, M&S has donated £7.3 million since 2015.

Sharry Cramond, Marketing Director, M&S Food says:

“2020 has been a difficult year for all of us but at a time when charities are seeing their incomes fall significantly, we want to make sure that the M&S Food Christmas campaign builds on our existing charity partnerships and gives much-needed support to those that need it most.

“This is not the year for advertising fairy tales – our customers want this Christmas to be as special as possible but have told us that they want to know about the M&S Food must-haves and how we are supporting others.

“All charities featured in the TV ad will receive their donations ahead of Christmas so they can use the money immediately where it’s needed the most and we are indebted to the nine amazing actors who gave their time so willingly to support these great causes.”

Henny Braund, Chief Executive of Anthony Nolan said:

“We’re so grateful to both M&S, and our wonderful patron Olivia this Christmas, for this generous donation which will help us add over 800 new donors to the stem cell register; every one representing hope for person with blood cancer or blood disorder searching for a second chance of life through a stem cell match.”

The advertising campaign will go live at 9am across social media and on TV.  M&S Food aims to reach more than  47 million adult shoppers across the UK during the campaign with a targeted mix of TV, social media and print, ensuring M&S Food is front of mind throughout the festive season with family shoppers across the UK.  On launch day alone, the ad will be seen by 7.2 million people on YouTube.

Alongside the advertising, M&S Food will also run festive editions of its popular What’s New at M&S tasting panel, now in its third year.  This self-filmed content featuring top celebrity tasters Amanda Holden, Emma Willis, Paddy McGuinness and Rochelle Humes, sees the tasters review new products, sharing them with their combined nine million Instagram followers. Since the first lockdown, viewing figures have increased by two and a half times.  This autumn M&S welcomed the addition of two new tasters: TV presenter, Andi Peters and Olympic medallist, Tom Daley.

And, not forgetting Tik Tok!  Since launching on this platform in August, M&S has gained over 25,000 followers.  The weekly Percy Pig videos have become a viral sensation, tapping into trending songs and Tik Tok challenges.   There have been over 4.8 million video views across all social channels since launch in September.  Look out for a very special festive special today, live from 11am.

Please visit the M&S website to watch the ad.