Latest / The Retail Podcast / Five Things Friday UK - Aldi pay rise, Topshop Liberty comeback, Asda Express expansion, JD Sports earnings, The Very immersive fashion

Transcript

Five Things Friday UK - Aldi pay rise, Topshop Liberty comeback, Asda Express expansion, JD Sports earnings, The Very immersive fashion · The Retail Podcast

• 0:00
  It's Friday and literally it is Friday.
• 0:02
  Welcome to five Things Friday UK edition and I'm joined by the
• 0:15
  lovely Simone. She's back from holiday.
• 0:18
  Hello. So listen, Simone, I know you've
• 0:20
  got a hard stop in 1520 minutes and I've got to get this edited
• 0:24
  and out. So if you're listening to this
• 0:26
  on Friday, know that we're literally flying.
• 0:31
  Actually, for those who've never joined, I think everyone has
• 0:35
  like where have you been if you've not been listening to
• 0:37
  this show? But if you haven't listened to
• 0:39
  the show, I'm Alex. I help retailers maintain their
• 0:42
  relevance in the wonderful world of retail.
• 0:45
  And my lovely Co host Simone. I am the Co founder and CEO of
• 0:49
  business called Need it for Tonight, also known as NIFT.
• 0:52
  I always say the easiest way to describe us is kind of like
• 0:56
  delivery, but for quality fashion.
• 0:58
  Yeah, she's keynote speaker, found the mentor, a whole load
• 1:02
  of other things, but she's too modest.
• 1:04
  But anyway, so let's get straight into this.
• 1:07
  Actually some really good news. ALDI bigger than expected pay
• 1:11
  rises for their staff, which is a welcome break from some of the
• 1:17
  news that we have in retail because it's all about cuts and
• 1:21
  and that's it's still there and even more in value.
• 1:24
  So you know, the tug of war between pay packets and price
• 1:28
  points. Are these dropped to bigger than
• 1:30
  expected pay rise for store warehouse teams?
• 1:32
  Which is another shot across the bow for anyone trying the old
• 1:36
  wage line before peak. As we go into Christmas and and
• 1:40
  peak trading, while colleagues are really happy shoppers
• 1:44
  counting their or watching their wallets because Tesco's mill
• 1:49
  deal has climbed another £0.25 to £3.85 with, with Clubcard I
• 1:54
  have to add and £4.25 without. So that's quite quite, you know,
• 1:59
  a big jump and it's a tiny lunch sort of signalling towards
• 2:02
  shrink flation and the pricing mix are still very much in play.
• 2:07
  And then you layer on that the BRC NIQ showing the food
• 2:12
  inflation is ticking up to 18 month high.
• 2:15
  And as we head into the Christmas season, I don't know
• 2:18
  if it's this is a a blip before we get there or this is what
• 2:21
  we're going to be going into the Christmas season as, but it is
• 2:24
  quite worrying to what what's happening with food inflation.
• 2:27
  You put all of that and Aldi's still doing the right thing.
• 2:30
  So well done ALDI. You've got to look after your
• 2:33
  people to protect and retain them and I think that's a lovely
• 2:37
  news story to start with. That is a positive story to
• 2:40
  start with. Yes.
• 2:42
  And I think keeping the positivity, how about we move on
• 2:45
  to you? Yes, So Topshop.
• 2:49
  I wonder how many times I've said the word Topshop on this
• 2:51
  part. You're just.
• 2:52
  A man, it's OK. But Topshop is officially back
• 2:56
  in a physical space. They've launched in Liberty this
• 2:59
  week, the iconic Liberty. And this is the first time in
• 3:02
  four years that they they've had a High Street presence in the
• 3:05
  UK. Very beautiful.
• 3:07
  But this move for me signals, you know, something big for
• 3:12
  bricks and mortars. You know, I think we chatted
• 3:15
  about this before, Alex, that pop ups are the new flagships.
• 3:19
  You know, you don't need hundreds of stores.
• 3:21
  You just need more memorable moments.
• 3:23
  And I really do think that top Shop a back a back with
• 3:26
  intention. But yeah, I think, you know, the
• 3:28
  bottom line is if you're thinking about launching a shop,
• 3:32
  you know, consider first launching a, a moment in a, in a
• 3:37
  pop up. You know, it doesn't have to be
• 3:38
  permanent, it doesn't have to be dated.
• 3:40
  It just needs to be something absolutely now and relevant and
• 3:44
  and fun. And I think that's what Top Shop
• 3:46
  have done. So kudos.
• 3:48
  Would you just have interest? I presume you like the style
• 3:51
  that they're doing. I do yeah.
• 3:53
  I haven't shopped in Top Shop for, I'm going to say quite a
• 3:55
  few years years, but I I do like the style that they're bringing
• 4:00
  back. It's it's cool.
• 4:02
  It's. That's cool.
• 4:03
  Well, moving on, I actually wrote about as the LinkedIn
• 4:06
  earlier this week. It's like one of those disc one.
• 4:09
  It wasn't a disc one. It was like, look, I I like the
• 4:11
  brand, I like what they do. I appreciate the value that they
• 4:14
  offer. But the opening hours, if you're
• 4:16
  next to a 24 hour gym, just try and get in line with, you know,
• 4:20
  the customers that are coming out.
• 4:21
  Whereas Tesco's that was 500 metres up the road was open.
• 4:26
  And yeah, I just thought it was a really good.
• 4:28
  But anyway, it's not I'm not going to hop on about that
• 4:31
  tracking where growth is coming from, convenience and smart
• 4:35
  expansion is still happening as there is back on the throttle
• 4:38
  restarting the express roll out with 20 stores in October, no
• 4:43
  mean free. Little is trying to keep up with
• 4:46
  them and I think has got investor backing to build around
• 4:49
  another 35 stores. So I think again, sign of our
• 4:52
  times, we're seeing what's happening, people in cities,
• 4:55
  we're now getting more expresses from all of the major players
• 4:59
  that the interesting 1 little they're actually going to own
• 5:02
  the freeholds, which I know is an absolute nightmare and
• 5:07
  raising the capital is, is difficult.
• 5:10
  But again, keeping that positive news, my favourite, your
• 5:14
  favourite rituals is also planning another 15 stores in
• 5:17
  the UK and fingers crossed, I will be interviewing ahead of
• 5:21
  stores at rituals over the next month or so.
• 5:23
  So I'm really looking forward to that.
• 5:25
  Sorry, across the UK and Ireland.
• 5:27
  So I have to to be clear on that.
• 5:29
  And the thing I think we spoke about JD and, and I was sort of
• 5:34
  saying, you know, I just athleisure and interestingly
• 5:38
  enough, their sales have reflected what we've, what we
• 5:41
  talked about, but their share price hasn't.
• 5:45
  Because as we could argue in Europe, we've become a little,
• 5:50
  we've moved on from athleisure, if you like, from a perspective
• 5:53
  in Asia, in the US, they're still doing really well and
• 5:58
  they're still growing. So if you like a story of two
• 6:02
  halves in the UK soft sales and I my gut feel I'll continue to
• 6:07
  happen. I I just, it's just really
• 6:09
  difficult to keep, you know, the momentum when so much else is
• 6:13
  happening. Yeah, you really need a new
• 6:15
  cohort of consumer to to go into that sort of into that look and
• 6:21
  I think people are growing up. So we'll see what I'm, but as I
• 6:24
  said, the stock market loves the fact that they're still doing
• 6:27
  well in Asia and in the US And closing we go to you.
• 6:33
  So yes, so today I wanted to talk about a word that I love,
• 6:36
  but a word that I usually associate with like theatre.
• 6:39
  But obviously it's today, it's in the context of retail and
• 6:42
  that is immersive. But yes, this week the very
• 6:45
  group announced their first ever immersive fashion experience.
• 6:49
  It's called the Very big Wardrobe, as you can see.
• 6:51
  Great name or it's more of a 2 day fashion pop up or let's call
• 6:57
  it an experience. It's immersive.
• 6:59
  It's happening on the 5th and the 6th of September on New Bond
• 7:03
  Street. And I got quite excited when I
• 7:06
  read this because this is the first time that we've seen very
• 7:09
  who I have to say, I haven't heard of a very long time.
• 7:11
  Maybe it's because I've never shopped, but it's the first time
• 7:14
  that we've heard about, you know, the people behind very Co
• 7:17
  UK them to shop physically. You know, this is a retailer
• 7:21
  that has built everything online, which is very
• 7:24
  interesting. I was reading what to expect and
• 7:26
  it was saying live shows, big theatrical word again, product
• 7:31
  moments, immersive storytelling, styling zones and lots of these
• 7:35
  kind of interactive installations.
• 7:38
  And, you know, very, for me, I'm not a very customer, but I have
• 7:43
  always associated them with like this catalogue culture.
• 7:47
  Yeah. And I love that they're adapting
• 7:49
  and I guess in a way rebranding for this night TikTok
• 7:53
  generation. I'm really into it because I
• 7:55
  think, you know, as we've it just reinforces that people, you
• 7:58
  know, people just want to be entertained.
• 8:00
  Yeah. And I think they, you know,
• 8:02
  particularly with with the younger generation, they they
• 8:05
  don't want to leave with just a carry bag.
• 8:07
  They want to leave with content. They want to be snapping it,
• 8:10
  taking pictures, sharing it. So yeah, I will definitely be
• 8:13
  keeping an eye on the very big wardrobe.
• 8:15
  Never shopped there in my life, but I will probably go down.
• 8:19
  So I might be a new customer. So it proves it works.
• 8:21
  So tapping into new customers. I think it's an interesting one.
• 8:26
  While you were away, super Drug ran there.
• 8:29
  I think it was a three day event at the brewery I think somewhere
• 8:33
  in London. And it was soup is like
• 8:35
  everything you just described there is what Superdrug was
• 8:38
  doing. So I think the you have to, and
• 8:40
  this is interesting you had, it was a super drug experience.
• 8:44
  You have to buy a ticket for 25 lbs, but you would get something
• 8:47
  like £250 worth of products. Well, that was what they said
• 8:52
  and it was sold out. I was going to go, it was sold
• 8:55
  out and it was like learn how to do your makeup, learn how to do
• 8:58
  your hair, learn how to. It was like this whole immersive
• 9:02
  experience event, but paid. So yes, it was a pop up, but it
• 9:06
  was a pop up paid experience. Trusting.
• 9:10
  Yeah, I just when you were talking there, yeah, but
• 9:12
  unfortunately I might go and maybe look a little bit out of
• 9:15
  place makeup or maybe I wouldn't, who knows.
• 9:18
  But anyway, Simone, thank you so much.
• 9:21
  As I said, we're rattling through this because we.
• 9:23
  It's right through it, yeah. Fantastic.
• 9:26
  And hopefully you're, you're back now, right?
• 9:28
  We've got you for the. Oh, I'm back.
• 9:30
  No more holidays, no more. Holidays.
• 9:32
  Wonderful. And you had a wonderful time on
• 9:34
  holiday. I really did didn't want to we.
• 9:36
  Can we can finish on that bombshell?
• 9:39
  Thanks so much, Alex.