Sainsbury’s To Establish Home Energy Centres For Sales Of Energy Efficient Products
UK retailer Sainsbury’s is set to become the first supermarket chain to offer its shoppers the chance to buy renewable energy products.
Sainsbury’s in a joint effort with energy company EDF Energy says it plans to open three new concessions known as Home Energy Centres (HEC’s) at its retail outlets in Kidderminster, Leicester and Camberley.
The Home Energy Centres will behave as showrooms, and provide shoppers with information and advice, as well as a number of energy saving and renewable energy products such as solar panels, insulation and air source heat pumps.
Customers visiting an HEC will also have the ability to sign up for a new electricity or has deal, and staff members will help customers to apply for government subsidies to fund making energy efficient improvements to their homes.
The retailer says the centres have been established to act as a complement to its national sales line, where consumers nationally can order products from the retailer, and have them delivered and installed by an EDF Energy professional.
Sainsbury’s commercial manager Adam Zeiderman said: “There are lots of people who want to invest in renewable energy products but they don’t know how or where to start. We use some of these products in many of our stores, and now we’re making it easier for people to use them in their own homes.”
Sainsbury’s To Expand Its FairTrade Product Range
UK supermarket chain Sainsbury’s says it will broaden the range of it Fairtrade products, as it seeks to attract more ethically minded shoppers. 
Sainsbury’s says it hopes the expanded range, alongside its RSPCA endorsed meats will help differentiate the retailer in an increasingly competitive marketplace.
Sainsbury’s Fairtrade product range is currently 700 strong, including tea, coffee, bananas, sugar, rice and chocolate. The company claims to be the largest fair-trade retailer in the world, selling over £210 million worth of fair-trade goods.
Fairtrade is an international organisation that aims to provide better terms and working conditions for farmers growing products in developing nations, by branding the goods as being ethical, being able to charge a little premium, and ensuring that producers get their fair share as payment.
MP Douglas Alexander, Secretary of State for International Development, said: ” Supermarkets stocking Fairtrade goods give millions of shoppers the opportunity to make a difference to farmers in the developing world.”
UK Supermarkets Improve Their Customer Satisfaction Rankings
According to a new survey of customer service, UK supermarkets provide a higher level compared with their non-food retailing peers.
In the most recent UK Customer Service Index, the UK’s supermarket chains received an average score of 80 out of 100 for their customer service in a study which polled some 26,000 shoppers.
The top retailer which provided consumer satisfaction in the index was Waitrose who scored an average of 86, and was closely followed by Marks And Spencer who scored 85 points.
Asda came in third in the rankings, scoring 81 points, and was followed by Sainsbury’s and Iceland. The UK’s largest retailer Tesco scored 79 out of 100.
Bottom of the supermarket customer service list was the Co-op with a score of 75.
The top non-food retailer in the UK John Lewis was John Lewis and as a category non food retailers managed an average score of 79 points.
The results of the survey show that the retail sector in general has managed an improvement of four points during the last two years, and now top the industry consumer satisfaction rankings ahead of tourism and consumer services.
Tesco No Longer Amongst Big Three Retailers Globally
Tesco is no longer amongst the big three global retailers according to recent ranking and report authored by professional services firm Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu.
According to the report, the UK’s leading retailer has dropped from third spot to fourth in the ranking of world’s largest retailers, and was replaced in the number three spot by German retail behemoth Metro.
The report shows that perennial number one, US based retailer Wal-Mart, owner of the UK’s second biggest supermarket chain Asda, retains its position as the world’s largest retail group, ahead of French giant Carrefour.
UK chains Morrisons and Sainsbury’s were also included in the top fifty.
The report, which was featured in the Times newspaper suggests that recession was the primary reason for a fall in profits at tw-thirds of the companies listed.
Ira Kalish, author of the Deloitte report, said: “This has been a tumultuous year for the global retail industry. Sales growth slowed and profitability fell, sharply for some. Many retailers ‘bought’ sales with heavy promotions which hit the bottom line hard. However, we are already seeing evidence that as economic recovery takes hold around the world, retailers should be able to return to a path of improving profitability.”
Tesco is poised to release its Christmas trading update on Tuesday
British Retailers Expected To Post Impressive Christmas Trading Results
Retailer Marks and Spencers is expected to announce the first increase in its underlying quarterly sales since 2007 on Wednesday, and the earnings announcement is expected to kick off a season of trading updates from all the major British retailers during the next week.
Speculation about which retailers emerged as the winners of the Christmas retail price wars have intensified over the last few weeks.
Clothing retailer Next will also be announcing its results on Wednesday and is also expected to report a rise in sales. Sainsbury’s reports on Thursday and is expected to report a slight decline in its sales figures, largely as a result of a drop in food price inflation.
John Lewis which is viewed as a benchmark indicator for the overall performance of the entire retail sector has seen improvements in the performance of both its high end food store Waitrose and at its flagship department stores, boosting expectations of improvements in trading results of the industry in general.
After what can only be described as a terrible economic calendar year, expectations have risen after an extremely robust and busy Christmas shopping season.
The level of discounts declined compared to the previous year, suggesting that retailers have managed to hold on to their margins. However sales figures for the period may be artificially inflated due to a large increase in the number of consumers purchasing big ticket items such as electrical products and white goods before the increase in VAT becomes effective on January 1st.
Campaigners Blast Low Supermarket Booze Prices
British supermarkets have had accusations levelled against them suggesting that they tend to promote irresponsible alcohol consumption habits by selling booze at cheaper prices than bottled water.
Campaigners have accused retail giants including Tesco, Morrisons and Sainsbury’s of tacit approval of binge drinking, after the retailers were found to be selling beer at a little over 5p per 100 ml, which is 3 pence less than the typical cost of a 100 ml bottle of water.
The campaigners claim that supermarkets encourage binge drinking through the use of cheap alcohol prices to attract customers to their stores, ignoring the health risks that are associated with excessive consumption of alcohol.
Alcohol Concern’s chief executive Don Shenker said that government policy aimed at dealing with binge drinking was being seriously undermined by the price cuts undertaken by retailers.
“Unless they tackle the problem of cheap alcohol, they are fighting a losing battle.The evidence shows young people and harmful drinkers are drawn to very cheap alcohol. Supermarkets sell alcohol at a loss because they know it gets people into the stores. A lot of these sales are irresponsible.” Mr. Shenker said.
A spokeswoman for the British Medical Association added: “It is a real worry that you can buy alcohol cheaper than mineral water. We have a huge problem with alcohol abuse in the UK, so we want a clampdown on these cut-throat price deals.”
Sir Liam Donaldson, the UK’s chief medical officer last month criticised the cheap availability of alcohol at supermarkets, and recommended the introduction of minimum pricing for booze.
Mr. Donaldson suggested that an increase in the average cost of a six pack of beer to £6 or by 50 pence per can, could save as many as 3,400 lives and reduce the number of hospital admissions by as many as 100,00 per year.
