Retail sales in Germany, the biggest European economy, gained a surprise 6.3 percent in June, provisional figures released Friday showed. Analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires had forecast a much more modest seasonally-adjusted increase of 1.7 percent from May, but economists agree that the indicator is volatile and subject to frequent revisions. A statement issued by the Destatis national statistics office also noted that the result was affected by a change in the sample of companies that were polled. The increase was still a sharp rebound from the month-on-month fall of 2.5 percent in May, however. The German economy, Europe’s largest, is weathering theregion’s sovereign-debt crisis as companies step up hiring to meet export orders, fueling consumer spending. The Bundesbank last month raised its 2011 growth forecast to 3.1 percent from 2.5 percent, citing stronger domestic demand.
Friday, July 29, 2011
Tuesday, July 26, 2011
Guess what's in a Box? Photobox acquires Moonpig.com
More of us are jumping on the Social Media bandwagon and sharing aspects of our personal lives online through Facebook, Twitter etc. Though it seems that there is still a market out there to convert and share our favourite images, photos and messages in paper format. The self-service market of tools to enable us do that is relatively small but growing fast. Hence it came as a no surprise when digital photo service Photobox has announced that it is merging with the personalised greetings card company Moonpig.com. Photobox will pay £120m for Moonpig, some of which will be paid for with shares in the new company and some of which will come from bank loans and new funding from private equity investors.
The deal will see Moonpig's chairman, Nick Jenkins, cash in part of his 35 per cent stake in the company he set up in 2000. He will continue as an adviser to the merged entity. As FT reports, the companies have about 6m customers between them and both are experiencing rapid growth. Moonpig’s sales rose by 21 per cent to £38m in the year to April 2011, while PhotoBox’s sales rose about 30 per cent last year. PhotoBox’s most popular product is a book of photos which customers can design themselves.
Friday, July 22, 2011
McDonald's Shines on High Street
In contrast to the Retail industry doom and gloom which we are witnessing all around us, one brand stands tall in our High Streets. McDonald's has served record 325m customers at UK stores in the last quarter as its cheap fast food and long opening hours attracted recession-hit consumers.
McDonald's has seen its quarterly profits soar 15% on higher sales across all its global regions. Its net profit for the three months to 30 June totalled $1.41bn (£866m), compared with $1.23bn a year earlier. Revenue growth was led by Europe, where McDonald's same-store sales increased by 5.9%. They rose by 4.5% in US, and by 5.2% for the rest of the world.
No wonder McDonald's loves UK and London in particular, as evidenced by the announcement that they will build four restaurants in London, one of which will be the largest and busiest McDonald's in the world.
McDonald's has seen its quarterly profits soar 15% on higher sales across all its global regions. Its net profit for the three months to 30 June totalled $1.41bn (£866m), compared with $1.23bn a year earlier. Revenue growth was led by Europe, where McDonald's same-store sales increased by 5.9%. They rose by 4.5% in US, and by 5.2% for the rest of the world.
No wonder McDonald's loves UK and London in particular, as evidenced by the announcement that they will build four restaurants in London, one of which will be the largest and busiest McDonald's in the world.
Does India Really Need Retail Therapy?
There is an interesting article in WSJ today which makes the case for 100% FDI in India's retail sector. The author makes the claim that, "the arguments for opening up retail start with the technology, expertise and funds that this would bring to build robust supply chains across the nation. This would reduce wastage (estimated at 30% to 40% of total production), improve food safety, hygiene and increase overall efficiency."
While this argument is fairly logical the key question is would you undertake a challenge of this magnitude if you were running a successful retail chain in say US or UK? The culture of small corner shops and community based transactions are very strong, even in big cities. What would break their monopoly and why would local consumer turn to a "foreign" shopping experience? Cost, Quality, Brand? Can a new market entrant take on decades of community rooted businesses, understand shopping ethics and create their own identity?
It is one thing for Government to open 100% investment but how many retail companies have investment muscle and creativity to break a complex market like India?
While this argument is fairly logical the key question is would you undertake a challenge of this magnitude if you were running a successful retail chain in say US or UK? The culture of small corner shops and community based transactions are very strong, even in big cities. What would break their monopoly and why would local consumer turn to a "foreign" shopping experience? Cost, Quality, Brand? Can a new market entrant take on decades of community rooted businesses, understand shopping ethics and create their own identity?
It is one thing for Government to open 100% investment but how many retail companies have investment muscle and creativity to break a complex market like India?
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