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…)

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.

(more…)

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!

(more…)

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…)

Major nursery product e-tailer goes multi-channel with new store as families have have fewer offspring and later in life leaving bigger disposable income for retailers to attract. Kiddicare expansion news and insight into competitive pricing.

(more…)

If you have missed the Twitter interview between Mobile Marketing Magazine’s editor David Murphy (further “D”) and Cogenta’s CEO Adrian Hobbs (further “A”), read the interview here. (more…)

One of the best known entertainment retailers, HMV, announced the opening its first multichannel store. The hub for music and technology community will open its doors in Cambridge, becoming company’s 235th store.

(more…)

As it has been broadly covered in the media last week, by now must be aware of the fact that UK is now in the double-dip recession for the first time since the 1970′s. It is more disappointing than unexpected, however the market does not stand still and after a thorough investigation, here is our overview of the retail market performance from the beginning of March through to mid April including after effects of VAT change for Jersey and Guernsey. (more…)

It has only been over a week since the World Mobile Congress took place in Barcelona; however media is continuing to debate whether mobile money is the future. At the same time, numerous industry announcements from various financial and telecommunications businesses are flooding in showing aggressive some aggressive business moves. In this blog we will intruduce you to the most prominent players in the international mobile commerce industry. (more…)