UK Retail Pricing Intelligence Index Report – January 13

Against a reported positive end to 2012 for many retailers, the headlines in January have been a vivid reminder of how tough the market is for many retailers.  The focus on price we’ve seen over the past few years is set to continue in 2013.  That said our retail pricing intelligence and reported financial results suggest that the lowest price isn’t everything but customers perception of value is. (more…)

Here is the Cogenta Price Indexing Report.  To download please click on the button below:

As usual we’ve had a look at what has happened to prices during the sale period.  Using our retail pricing intelligence to look at which retailers drop prices on products they were selling in the run up to Christmas.  This gives us a good insight in to which sales are genuinely across current ranges and which are likely to contain older ‘sale’ stock.

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The last few years have seen the Christmas sales start ever earlier.  Yet again this year has seen some early sales but the retail pricing analysis we’ve produced this week suggests that most categories haven’t had to discount as early.

The exception is clothing, footware and fashion where discounting started a few weeks ago and is now quite deep.  This is not unusual although stands out more this year as the other categories have held pricing for longer.  The table below shows the level of discounting that has been applied to products that have been available online consistently over the past 6 weeks: (more…)

Cogenta Pricing Intelligence: Toys CategoryWe’ve updated the retail intelligence report for the toy category.  We had feedback from a few people who said they’d prefer a more definite price positioning indicator so we’ve added one.  This report shows an index that has been created by looking at each retailer’s price position against the market.  The analysis compares the products available at each retailer against the other retailers offering the same product.  This creates a more robust piece of retail intelligence and shows a clear competitive position acoss the market.

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Why do certain parts of the media take such a negative view of retailers? The latest online article by one of the daily papers suggests that online price variations are used to rip consumers off.  I really don’t understand how retailers driving prices down is bad for consumers. There may be times when some retailers attract people with misleading pricing but with the exception of these cases the consumer gets a great deal from online price matching.

It’s tough for retailers to build the right processes that ensure their price position is competitive whilst also enabling them to make money. If they don’t adapt they don’t survive with the consequence being a loss of choice for consumers, more empty shops and people losing their jobs. Comet being a perfect example but there have been a number over the last few years.

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Mary Meeker presented the KPCB end of year update this week.  As always there is some fascinating information on internet usage as well as some great insight to the way the internet continues to change our lives.  With every presentation the impact of mobile internet usage is more prominent highlighted by India being the first geography where mobile internet has over taken desktop usage, with more countries to follow soon.

I’ve listed below some of the more mobile related insights but it is worth taking the time to flick through the slidedeck when you have more than a few minutes!

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We’re starting to publish a new range of reports which compare the price performance of UK retailers in different categories.  Here is the first report showing the relative price of retailers in the toys category as of 30 November 2012.  The analysis is based on all the products collected and matched through the Cogenta platform which covers the UK’s top 150 retailers.  Products were only included in the analysis where there were three or more retailers selling that product.

See an explanation of the columns after the table. (more…)

Nightmare checkout experience? Remind you of anything? Surely, we can all relate to it.  Given the number of retailers trading online and the tools and technology available today, said 67% of online customers abandon  shopping carts just before transacting. Google being Google have mustered up a witty video on this very serious retail issue.

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Competitive Intelligence Business Cogenta Advises How to Choose the Right Business Intelligence Provider for Best Return on Investment and Long-Term Success

Windsor, UK, 16th October , 2012

New retail and pricing intelligence providers have entered the market in the recent years. Choosing the right vendor is crucial in aim to capitalise on the benefits of the relationship. Market-leading competitive intelligence provider Cogenta suggests retailers and brands consider the following before choosing a new vendor.

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