The news from over the holidays was a little depressing – shops weren’t getting the sales that they had hoped and the January Sales came early in December, it still couldn’t save some shops such as Blacks from being taken over.

Robert’s earlier post about ecomms is extremely valid – shops need to provide a multi-offering to customers. With sites such as groupon and vouchercodes receiving high hit rates over the holiday maybe it’s time to assess what the shopper wants. Is the reason why people aren’t buying products such as clothes and electronics because they are too expensive in the first place?

Take an iPhone, it costs £500ish new but in reality the phone costs about £3 to make and the rest of the money is for the brand. Not many people can afford these luxuries when the cost of living is going up. 

Of course, not everything can be discounted everyday to the extent that vouchers and sales offer – but what is the solution?

Any ideas....