And now for the Shopping Forecast…

 The Shipping Forecast on Radio 4 is a British Institution, a bit like Morecambe and Wise at Christmas, wet weather at Wimbledon and the Queens speech. Even though I harbour no ambition to take to the open seas, I listen to it on a regular basis (not understanding every word) and there is something very soothing in being told there is a force 8 gale blowing off Cromarty when you are safety tucked up in bed with a hot water bottle and the latest Trollope (Joanne or Anthony take your pick). However, this morning when the announcer was asked if she has ever fluffed her lines when giving out the shipping news, she made mention of a colleague who after a late shift opened with the lines, “and now for the shopping forecast.”

This set the brain racing and after a little research I found that indeed there is a UK shopping forecast. Unfortunately, unlike the Met Office, the shopping centres are not grouped geographically, with updates on till queues or visibility across the food aisles which for consumers, would be extremely helpful. However, they do give a retail forecast for the year ahead and in fact up to 2015, and the good news is that they felt that as their 2012 forecast was a little too pessimistic, they have revised their figures for retail growth to 2% in 2014.

Consumers will spend on home products in 2014 and less on entertainment

Non-food growth will continue to outperform food growth and the areas they feel that consumers will spend their money on, is in clothing, homeware, sportswear, furniture, DIY, floor coverings and curtains. Their prediction for a downturn is around leisure, entertainment, electronics, music and books and they have been reviewing what the highs and lows have meant for the retailer. Although retail sales continue to improve they acknowledge that in their words “price competition is so vicious that there is little retail-inspired inflation about.” It would seem that we are busy snapping up the bargains and ensuring our hard earned cash goes as far as possible.

Let’s get back to basics with good customer service

What they do not comment on, is the increase in companies vying for our custom and the levels of customer service that each and every business now has to offer. There have been many papers written and computer programmes devised on sales forecasts and buying trends. Businesses are managed around data gathered and analysed, ensuring they have a comprehensive understanding of their customer’s behaviour. It is a pity therefore that some them fail to offer even the basics of good customer service, whilst others have had happy consumers logging onto iRateiSlate and singing their praises.

If there is going to be a downturn in some of the retail sectors mentioned above, then now is a good time for those in the industry to work on their customer facing skills, improving their online reputation and winning back valuable custom as well as attracting new consumers. Here at iRateiSlate, we are only too happy to help them with this in the year to come, so let’s all work towards a peaceful, healthy and prosperous 2014 for all.

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Where there’s a Will there’s a way of downloading precious digital content

There are many items that I have considered handing down to the various progeny that clustered around the Christmas table looking like a group of baby sparrows waiting to be fed, but digital content and assets never once entered my head. I am not alone in this as regardless of the fact that consumers in the UK spend around £50 billion a year on digital goods and services, few of us ever consider devolving our digital legacy or online content.

There is an enormous amount of often sentimental material in the form of digital photographs, online chat between friends and relatives, Facebook pages, favourite songs and media programmes, all bought and paid for that, once we are gone, cannot be accessed by our nearest and dearest. This week a plea for people to think about preserving and handing down their digital assets was raised by one of the UK’s largest firms, PricewaterhouseCoopers. The cyber security partner Richard Horne is urging us to consider our digital mutterings and downloads as part of our estate in the same way that we view our homes, their contents and valuables.

Consumer’s digital assets in the UK valued at around £2.5 billion

In a way it does make a lot of sense because as consumers we have paid out a lot of money for these digital images and footage, and Mr Horne estimates the whole sum of the UK consumer digital assets to be valued at around 2.5 billion. Most of these assets are held on a number of different devices such as laptops, iPhones and the like. However, it does beg the question, how do you decide which to hand down and which should really be happily consigned to the internet ether? Do you include Instagram’s for example? Perhaps only if they showed a pictorial record of how your parents came to meet, or spreadsheets covering the household monthly budget? These may be considered important by historians or genealogists in the next one hundred years or so, but inane ramblings on Twitter may be best left alone.

Digital memories should be bequeathed to the next generation

This begs the question often asked, what would you grab from your burning house once the nearest and dearest were safe and sound outside? Photo albums were often near the top of the answers but nowadays your Smartphone or mobile device probably does house a lot of your precious memories. Not having bought such an item, then I would have to grab the wedding album, the bear I was given at my christening and my personalised message and autograph from Alan Titchmarsh. It probably makes sense then to get all my photos onto a mobile device because carrying that lot down a burning staircase lowers my chances of getting a fireman’s lift. Hopefully, I will never have to make that choice but it has got me thinking about what to do with the digital content I have amassed, paid for and created. Instead of gathering for a reading of the will, families in the future could very well be sent a URL link to a last Will and Testament download.

It certainly does give pause for thought but, in the meantime, let’s concentrate on enjoying what we have now and look forward to a Happy and Healthy New Year.

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Elderly population starved of company as well as food

Christmas is coming and the goose is getting fat but it is a sad fact highlighted in a report this week that many of our elderly are not. Age UK have launched a project that aims to raise awareness of malnutrition which over a million older people, above the age of 65, are suffering from in the UK today. 

In today’s throw away consumer society with an excess of food waste, grocery stores open 24 hours and door step delivery, plus the rise in obesity levels amongst British residents, it seems unthinkable that the old man or woman down the street from us, could be clinically underweight and starving.

Walk along any High Street or city centre on a Friday or Saturday night and you can usually see discarded litter with half eaten take away food dumped in waste bins or scattered on the ground. Supermarkets fill crates and skips with food, that has passed its sell by date or been spoiled or damaged in some way, and they cannot put it out for sale. Yet behind closed doors, often alone and without the help of care providers or family support, someone near to you could be at risk of not eating properly.

Pilot scheme raising awareness of malnutrition backed by government funds

At this time of year, when the stores are filled with more than the usual fare and television advertisements entice us in with a glittering array of goodies, I find it hard to stomach the fact that, some elderly people cannot manage the means to put together a basic hot meal at least once a day. Fortunately, this is being tackled with the help of government funding in five pilot areas and with the backing of Age UK, who know just where to start their project. Working with GP’s, care homes and hospitals, they aim to raise awareness of this disturbing problem, because malnutrition cases typically end up seeing their doctor or being admitted to  hospital twice as often as those who are well fed.

The Malnutrition Task Force was set up last year and will be targeting five areas in the UK with the Salford pilot in Lancashire and Lambeth pilot in London starting this January. Sometimes it is not the finances that cause older people not to eat properly, but a range of other issues, such as loneliness or depression so that they cannot be bothered to get up and out and start cooking.

Have a Cool Yule and help a Senior Citizen

We have several days of feasting and celebrating ahead of us over the next few days, and many of us then start the dieting and fasting ready for the New Year. Whilst out and about getting in the last minute shopping, stocking up our fridges and freezers for what seems like two months, let alone two days, spare a thought for your elderly neighbours and friends.

We all want to have a Happy and Healthy Christmas and a Peaceful and Prosperous New Year so share a little Yuletide consumer spirit and help make someone’s life a little healthier and cheerful.
From everyone at iRateiSlate – we wish you all the best for the Festive Season and look forward to hearing from you in 2014 – we’re listening!

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Counterfeit booze – a definite case of Maybe Sham!

It would seem that some of us need to careful when raising a glass to welcome in the Christmas season and the New Year as bottles of counterfeit alcohol are being sold to consumers who think they are getting a bargain. Bottles of vodka, containing alcohols that are usually found in antifreeze or cleaning fluid, are being sold, usually  “under the counter,”  in small corner shops but have also surfaced in some nightclubs as well. Trading Standards Officers in Sheffield have been finding this a particular problem since April of this year as they have confiscated around 2,300 bottles. This does not appear to be a “one-off” crime, as the Sheffield men of steel have been very vigilant and state that this current haul is double the amount they found in 2012, and twice as much as the number confiscated in 2011.

Fake vodka causes consumers to turn a blind eye

Whilst many of us like to make home brew strictly for our own consumption, the makers of this illicit vodka have brewed a cocktail of drink that is extremely dangerous and causes temporary blindness and in some extreme cases, death. Trading Standard Officers also said that they had found bottles sold for public consumption that contained chloroform and industrial alcohol. Students at Sheffield University admit to being stupid enough to buy some of these fake bottles and have ended up having problems with their eyesight as well as extreme stomach pains.

What is worrying is that people are turning to counterfeit products as the squeeze on our disposable income continues, and they are beginning to be seen by customers as the “norm”. London is the region that is the most “fake infested” in terms of consumer products, followed by Northern Ireland. Back in October, one in five people surveyed said they bought counterfeit alcohol without giving a thought to the effect it could have on their health.

Three cheers for a healthy and safe Festive season

Raising a glass and saying “cheers” especially around the festive season has long been a tradition in the UK. In fact the word “cheer” was first recorded in England back in the middle of the 13^th century. The root of the word comes from the Middle English word derived from the Latin word for “face”. So when youngsters state they are “off their face” when inebriated perhaps this is not too far wrong! By the mid 1400’s a popular greeting was, “may the chere be with you” and chere or cheery began to mean good humoured. In 1919 the word “cheers” was written down as a  greeting before taking a drink and now it is an informal way of saying thank you or goodbye.

If however you want to stay cheery and still see your glass as you raise it to your face, then steer clear of fake alcohol. Watch out for the 4 P’s – price, place, product and packaging. In other words if it is unusually cheap, is not from a reputable retailer or distributor, is a brand you haven’t seen before, smells like nail varnish and is a fake of a well-known product and the packaging contains spelling mistakes or the seal on the bottle has been tampered with, then leave well alone.

If you have been offered or had experience of counterfeit alcohol – get in touch with us at iRateiSlate – we’re listening!

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Hidden charges give rise to dramatic increases in theatre tickets

Which? Consumer have just published a report on the hidden costs that consumers did not realise they were paying for, when ordering theatre or concert tickets on line.  In fact, this has so incensed the consumer forum, that they are starting a campaign, “Play Fair on Ticket Fees,” to raise awareness of this state of affairs, that has seen some businesses charging up to 38% more to unassuming consumers. The difficulty facing customers is that there is no consistency across Britain around what is and is not charged on top of the admission price and along with a lack of transparency on fees and admissions that is putting people off seeing live performances.

Customers who make a concerted effect to save money face additional costs

Consumer complaints included charges levied at customers for printing out their own tickets at home or additional charges for collecting them from the box office where the show or concert was taking place. So not only do you have to pay for the ticket but also cover the cost of your own printing ink, paper plus electricity to run the equipment to print it out yourself and get charged again for the privilege of doing so? Even worse, actually going to collect your ticket could also cost you money, even though the venue is not actually having to do anything like pay for posting to send them out to you!

When questioned about why people were charged for printing out their own tickets, Ticketmaster explained that this generated a cost because their company has to “provide access control systems to check the ticket at venues.” In my day, access control systems meant having someone standing the door, tearing off one end of the ticket and telling you where your seat is, aka an usherette. Surely these venues have to provide people at the doors and exit points from a health and safety point of view, so why can’t they scan your ticket to ensure you have printed off the correct one? Or issue them with the old hand held point of sale scanners if it is a barcode that has to be read.

The final curtain call for ticketing agents?

I think the truth of the matter comes out in the statement from See Tickets who said that as they did not get anything from event organisers for selling the tickets, then most ticketing companies have to charge added fees to make any money. Which? are clear that ticketing businesses who don’t display their compulsory charges would fall foul of the Advertising Standards Authority regulations, as well as unfair trading regulations.

I would say that ticketing organisations who are not upfront about their trading practices and stand behind such ridiculous statements around the cost of access control systems will continue to fall foul of the paying customer and then it will mean facing their final curtain call.
Unfortunately, this could have a knock on effect on live venues and entertainment events, if you have been charged over and above the odds for concert or theatre tickets let us know at iRateiSlate -we're listening!

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Consumer outrage as Winter Wonderland Santa’s fail to deliver the goods

Having just come back from a visit to Bletchley Park this week which was an incredibly interesting experience, I did have a few hours to spare and was tempted to go in search of Father Christmas after seeing the bright lights of the Milton Keynes Winter Wonderland. The website photos show a jolly bearded Santa with his five reindeer along with the offer of husky dogs and ice skating the whole family can enjoy.

Winter Festival ice rink not all it was cracked up to be…

However, not all is well in Wonderland it would seem, as consumers who paid £6 per child to meet Chris Cringle in his grotto found that he didn't appear until around 4 pm. This was a free festival which promised a lot and delivered very little, with several poorly suited and booted St Nicks who took the shine and sparkle out of the Christmas magic. In fact the only thing that seemed to work was the point of sale machines that coined in customers hard earned cash, although the Facebook website now has been taken down, the event has closed after just a few days and apparently refunds have and will be given.

There is a danger when using photographic images to promote an event or indeed goods and services, that consumers could be misled as to what is on offer, but consumer legislation is very clear about services and goods being “ as described”. There was an ice rink at this event, albeit some plastic sheeting around a small rink of ice, and two husky dogs made an appearance with some reindeer but there, it would seem, the resemblance to the promise of a land filled with winter wonder, came to an abrupt halt.

Christmas event not quite as described as consumers found out to their cost

I can fully appreciate that Lapland will not magically materialise in the middle of Milton Keynes, carefully avoiding the concrete cows, but the comments and feedback from disappointed and angry parents made it clear that not much of an effort was made to provide anything near what was advertised. There is a vast difference between those who can afford around £400-£500 for the day to fly to Lapland from Manchester Airport and those who have scraped the money together to treat children to a visit to Santa in his grotto, and some people would say that you pay for what you get, however the MK Winter Wonderland advertising did seem to be skating on thin ice. As consumers we don’t want to feel that we have been conned and especially when it comes to treats and events for children, so a little less airbrushing and glam shots and a bit more realism and honesty this festive season please.

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Brands that go hand in hand

Sales of Costa Coffee have risen by more than 20% which has pleased owners Whitbread, who have invested in opening 246 new coffee outlets world-wide with 133 of them in the UK. Whitbread have seen group sales increase by nearly 14% and this also includes their Premier Inn profits, which the corporation owns as well.

This set me thinking about the types of goods and services a corporation has within its portfolio and how well some of them fit together. Take Whitbread for example, not only can you go out and have a night on the tiles imbibing their beers, but you can then crash out in one of their overnight hostels and cope with a raging hangover by downing copious amounts of their black coffee. They seem to have Friday night all tied up but what about other combinations?

The owners of Findus or Birds Eye could team up with McCain oven chips and News International and we would have the old British suppertime standby all neatly wrapped up in the daily bulletin of our choice. The possibilities are endless and could form the basis of this year’s Christmas party games down at the Dog and Duck this New Year’s Eve. No doubt Whitbread have a sound five year business strategy and operational plan that looks into the viability of the product and the brand before buying it up but in the case of the coffee, snooze and booze combination I think this was probably a happy accident.

Things ain't what they used to be..

As consumers we are a canny lot particularly in today’s economic climate and our shopping habits are changing as we move away from some of our favourite brands to cheaper alternatives. However there are some products that no matter how the company and manufacturer try, they don’t seem to match up to the original particularly in the food industry. Take chocolate covered marshmallows for instance, years ago when taking a bite, the best bit was the blob of jam in the centre which nowadays seems to have disappeared. Wagon Wheels also used to be a lot bigger with more chocolate around the edges but this seems to have worn away with the passage of time no doubt.

Consumer voice gave Heinz a dressing down

Consumers do become attached to a brand, remember the furore when Heinz said they were going to stop making salad cream? Fortunately, common sense prevailed and we can still purchase it the shops today but for how long? Hopefully for many years to come, along with Worcestershire Sauce, Maggi stock cubes and Waitrose Mango Chutney (a selection of goods I have to take over to a friend in France on my annual visit). It will be interesting in 2014 to see what other brands will live or perish according to consumer demand – let iRateiSlate know about your favourite brands – we’re listening!

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Consumers are a gifted bunch

This year with many consumers cutting back on Christmas spending, the stores and marketing managers have got their work cut out thinking up new and innovative ways of getting us to splash our cash around. When asked in October and November this year more than half the people taking part in an online poll said that they planned to spend less this Christmas and 14% had decided to make homemade gifts. Sainsbury’s have got in on the act with their Christmas television advert made up of over 360 home videos of the public showing clips of how they spend their festive season. Lakeland have been increasing their stock of “make to give” products such as bottles for making flavoured oils and chocolate moulds. Prezzybox have come up with candle making packs and even a dog-treat making kit.

Here’s one I made earlier…….

I can’t help thinking that this is not really true to the idea of the homemade gift and can work out more expensive. Searching around the charity shops can produce a range of attractive bottles that can easily be filled with virgin olive oil and some sprigs of rosemary or basil from the garden at a fraction of the cost of a specially bought pack. However, the retailer has to be fairly canny in times of recession to get hold of our disposable income particularly as only a quarter of shoppers polled plan to visit the High Street for their gifts, with the majority using the internet.

Retailers should also look at the customer service they provide as well as try to price match and build on the advantage they have in offering easier browsing of goods. For some department stores, it would help if the signposting was a little clearer, and the sales staff were easily identified by wearing a recognisable uniform and a name badge that is slightly larger than the size of the native British ladybird.

Every sale tells a tale

Word of mouth advertising from consumers on their favourite stores and brands can really make an impact on sales figures, and the marketing companies are working with retailers to get them to really engage with their customers. This form of advocacy is higher in industries where services or products tend to evoke a more emotional response from the consumer. The top UK brands that people advocate the most are VW for the car industry, iPhone for Smartphones, Aldi for groceries, Tesco Mobile for mobile telecoms and First Direct for Retail Banking. Apparently people feel closer to their smartphones and their cars rather than their toothpaste for example. 

I look forward to the advert that aims to engender an emotional response towards a tooth cleaning product but would much prefer to see great customer service and a willingness to help each time I walk into a High Street outlet. I also don’t want to waste half of my time, and use up more parking fees, trying to track down the various products and departments within a large store. My Christmas  High Street wishes, amongst others, is for better signage, more recognisable staff and obviously toothpaste that brings out the inner child, let iRateiSlate know your consumer wish this Yuletide- we’re listening!

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Penny pinching consumerism is nipping Tesco’s profits in the bud

This week Tesco’s blamed the latest drop in sales on a weaker grocery market but both Sainsbury’s and Lidl have shown improvements in the third quarter of the financial year. 

Philip Clarke, boss of Tesco’s the UK’s largest grocery chain, had pointed to the continuing squeeze on household income making the market, in his words, “more challenging for everyone since the summer,” hence the 1.5% drop in like for like sales. In the autumn Tesco had reported a 23.5% drop in profits which perhaps shows the changing trend in consumer habits rather than a weaker grocery market?

Umbrella poll shows UK consumers saving for a rainy day

Since the economic downturn really started to bite deep in the UK, consumers have started to shop around and are sticking to their frugal habits because, as many of us know, we are not out of the woods yet. Even though there is some small upturn in the economy, as people have changed their shopping and eating habits they are tending to keep to these “super scrimping” ways. A report by global research firm Mintel noted that British consumers have as their top priorities, paying their bills and saving for a rainy day. Other behaviour changes such as taking less holidays and working longer hours are becoming part of the norm, whilst cooking meals from scratch and baking are also on the increase.

Younger people, as they watch their parents struggle to pay the bills, are now starting to get the message about saving as well- (although I would probably have to write it in lipstick across the body of Robert Pattinson before my youngest took any notice) -lipstick being the appropriate item of penmanship as sale of beauty products tend to rise during times of economic crisis, with people putting on a brave face and aiming to look their best, hence the “lipstick” effect comes into being.

Consumers concentrating on paying bills

Consumers are moving away from branded products and to the cheaper Aldi/Lidl outlets, and this change to a more frugal and prudent approach seems to be benefiting the next generation of shoppers and spenders. Cooking from scratch, the interest in the “slow food” movement, local produce and farmers markets are also very popular at present as well. For the 82% of Brits who are just concentrating on keeping up with their bills, ensuring they still manage to cook a healthy but economic family meal is very important.

Tesco’s answer to the dip in profits is to improve their online sales approach. They are responding by introducing more “click and collect” drive through points at stores and offering one-hour delivery slots.  The trouble with online shopping is that you cannot be there to spot the great price reductions or spot the yellow money off stickers on the sales bins. Many years ago, when working for a large retail outlet, as soon as I got the pricing gun out around 4pm on a Saturday afternoon in the food department (anyone under the age of 25 is now googling “pricing gun) it was a magnet for would be bargain hunters. They would come into the store around that time knowing that price reductions would start on perishable goods.

Perhaps Tesco’s should do something similar – but like a quick fire on line bidding, whilst doing your online shopping there could be a virtual bargain box and you submit a price and if it matches their in store reductions – you can order it with your delivery. Either that or throw in a free bottle of nail varnish and lipstick with every sack of spuds. If you have any good news stories about bargains you have picked up recently or suggestions for improving the food shopping experience, iRateiSlate would love to hear from you!

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