SBWire

2013, just like the previous year, presented a challenge to apparel specialist retailers. A very late and harsh winter followed by a snowy, rainy and cold spring prevented many people from visiting stores or being in the mood for shopping at all. Thus, the year began rather slowly in terms of sales for most apparel retailers, hitting smaller or independent stores especially hard. Less affected by the weather was the online channel, which benefited from consumers being able to make purchases from the comfort of their own homes. Nonetheless sales in 2013 could have been stronger if consumers had been more motivated to shop.

Mixed retailers' sales increased in current value terms in 2013 as both department and variety stores performed well. Trends within department stores are largely influenced by the expanding Trafic outlets. The brand is proposing a refund and a EUR10.00 voucher if consumers can prove to have found a cheaper product within a 15km range. Galeria Inno, on the other hand, saw its value decrease in 2013, mainly suffering from competition from other categories.

Table linens are an essential accessory for the home, protecting the table from heat and stains and presenting a crisp and uniform surface upon which people feel comfortable eating. It is not surprising then that pure white linen is the most popular choice for caterers, who wish to create a blank canvas upon which to present their culinary creations. The only setback is that good linens can cost a fortune, especially when required on an industrial scale to serve events and venues. Table Linens For Less offers wholesale prices no matter the scale of the order, and has now added a range of catering-friendly table skirts.

Bridalsbox.com brings the opportunity for the worldwide women to shop for designer wedding dresses at affordable prices. The online store brings discount deals on a daily basis for their woman customers. These daily deals guarantee up to 50% discounts on dresses from some of the top brands.

Most men probably start their daily routine by shaving before getting ready for work. There are many shavers available in the market today and hence it becomes all the more important to select the right shaver depending upon the schedule, lifestyle and most importantly the skin type. There are basically two types of shavers: rotary and foil shaver. The rotary electric shavers come with rotating circular cutters which are 3 in number that work according to the shape of the face. These shavers suit men with skin types that are regular or tough with a course to medium beard density. The foil shavers on the other hand are traditional looking shavers but have number of blades placed underneath the rectangular metallic foil. They can be moved in straight or long motion across the bearded area. These shavers best suit sensitive skin types because of their design and functioning systems.

CompsDoc, LLC, a leading Boston, MA, computer services provider specializing in custom software programming, web application, database development, and SQL management, today has announced the release of its newly upgraded custom business web application – The Tigra III.

Vending registered strong growth in Turkey during 2013. The 11% current value growth recorded during the year was higher than the 10% current value CAGR recorded over the entire review period. This can be attributable mainly to advancements in the technology employed in vending machines in Turkey. Vending machines have benefited from the development of change return slots, a feature which has been common in vending in Turkey since 2012. Prior to 2012, consumers needed to have the exact change if they wanted to purchase something from a vending machine, which presented a major limitation to growth in the channel. With the introduction of these new vending machines which offer change, the number of Turkish people who are prepared to use vending machines has increased. There are still some vending machines which do not return coins and become dysfunctional as the machine runs out of coins. However, this is gradually changing as newer machines replace the old.

In 2012 and 2013, leaving Argentina and seeking a more-stable overall economic environment, several international premium brands opened stores in Uruguay. Louis Vuitton, Prada, Salvatore Ferragamo and Tiffany & Co either opened stores or refurbished existing ones in Punta del Este, to continue targeting a select group of Argentinean consumers who live or spend their vacations in these resorts, as well as affluent Uruguayan consumers. Other international brands such as Fila, Gap and Lacoste also opened new stores in the country.

The main reason behind the stagnating sales in electronics and appliance specialist retailers is the growth of internet retailing in Switzerland. Whilst store-based sales are still predominant in consumer appliances, a strong shift towards internet retailing affected consumer electronics. Consumers read up online before they choose the brand and type of new equipment, and then also search for the cheapest price online.

Lower purchasing power and sluggish economic recovery had an impact on the performance of overall mixed retailers in 2013. Consumers became increasingly price-sensitive, resulting in more cuts in spending. This therefore changed the pricing strategies of mixed retailers, to help them carry on attracting consumers and increase their household penetration rate. Mixed retailers therefore chiefly moved to offering price decreases to maintain their shares in South Africa.

Vending continued to fall in 2013 due to the growth in distribution through convenience stores. In addition to this, vending also faces indirect competition with sari-sari stores (local traditional mom and pop shops). Sari-sari stores are spread all over the country and provide consumers convenient access to products.

Despite the high level of maturity of most channels in the German retailing market, continuously positive albeit slightly slower economic development, and thus stronger demand for premium and specialist products, supported growth of overall retailing in 2013. Particularly strong growth in terms of value sales was seen in internet retailing, specific grocery channels and non-grocery channels such as drugstores. As such, 2013 emerged as a strong year for value growth in German retailing.

Home improvement and gardening stores registered the highest value growth within home and garden specialist retailers in South Africa in 2013. This channel was driven by the increasing middle-classes, resulting from higher house ownership. In addition, fierce price competition within the channel was beneficial to home improvement and gardening stores thanks to the pricing strategy of Massmart. As a result, home improvement and gardening stores registered value growth in 2013.

After a longer period of negative sales growth over the review period, retailing witnessed positive growth rates across the board. This compared to the ongoing negative GDP and sluggish economy in Croatia, shows that retailing was one of the few vital industries in 2013. The growth occurred mainly due to the developments in grocery retailers, especially due to food pricing. Volume sales for most products continued to decline throughout all FMCG markets. Since the inflation rate oscillated...

Reduced consumer spending and a shift towards the digital channel caused a decline in the physical store-based apparel sales for the third consecutive year in 2013. However, the impact differed by segment. Thus, footwear saw a stronger decline than clothing. Men's footwear was the hardest hit as Dutch men are eschewing formal wear, whereas demand for sports footwear declined as a means to combine less formal outerwear with more formal shoes and vice versa. Children's clothing saw the least decline. However, Dutch families which already had children or friends with children continued to exchange second-hand clothing to a greater degree in order to save money, as children's sizes change regularly.

Grossman Furniture, a furniture store located in Philadelphia, is pleased to announce the terms and conditions of its price match policy for online purchases. Since 1929, Grossman Furniture has offered a wider variety of high-quality furniture at the most competitive prices while supporting customers with outstanding service. Realizing that they need to stay competitive in order to grow the business even more in 2014, Grossman Furniture has created a price match guarantee for all online purchases. With the guarantee, Grossman Furniture will match any competitor’s prices on any of the products sold online.

South Florida Brand, Holt (http://www.theholtstore.com), is proud to announce the grand opening of its new physical location in Hollywood, Florida. Holt is a luxury brand specializing in hand-painted designs created by Elisea Holt.

BODYJOCK® Co., a premiere online retailer of men’s activewear, underwear, swimwear, and sportswear is proud to present its newest collection in men’s swimwear; the SOBE collection.

Lani Sato, of Shim Sham Life, is pleased to announce the launch of its new website: Best Wine Fridge. The site will provide a one-stop-site of product information and consumer reports and opinions to help consumers research best wine fridges and wine coolers for their home and kitchen.

According to HighBeam Business, more than 1.8 million vacuum cleaners were sold in 2003, and the industry has only gotten bigger since then. This figure includes a huge range of cleaner models, and consumers are presented with a dizzying array of choices. To help people make sense of all of the options, Best Vacuum Info has launched a site that gives information and reviews of the latest models. The site can be found at http://bestvacuuminfo.com (http://bestvacuuminfo.com/).

In 2013 sales through the homeshopping channel continued to decline, with a 1% drop in current value to reach C$2 billion. The channel struggles in the conditions of strong competition coming from store retail and more importantly rising online retail in Canada.

While in addition to constant new developments, product launches and innovative must-haves in the consumer electronics and appliances space, events such as the Olympic Games and football's European Championships drove retail sales in 2012, 2013 faced a rather slow start. Furthermore, more and more people, especially those with a certain affinity for technology, opted for the internet as the main shopping channel for their electronics needs, hitting store-based sales in the process. Store-based sales are mainly driven by consumer appreciation of the additional services offered in such outlets as well as the opportunity to see and try out new products.

Internet retailing continued to record dynamic growth in Austria during 2013. Whereas some 50% of internet retailing value sales in Austria are still generated through cross-border, with products purchased online coming mainly from Germany, Austrian retailers continue to gain value share in the category. The Austrian Federal Economic Chamber (WKO) intends to strengthen and support the online activities of domestic retailers, which resulted in the WKO conducting multiple events during 2013 in order to inform and train Austrian retailers in the best online marketing and sales strategies as well as website design and transaction methods.

Health and beauty specialist retailers performed well in 2013. This channel enjoyed rising consumer demand thanks to the growing urban population in South Africa. Value sales of health and beauty specialist retailers were boosted by the middle- to high-income population. These groups were more willing to spend money on self-medication thanks to the growing trends of appearance and wellbeing. As a result, health and beauty specialist retailers enjoyed value growth in 2013.

Home and garden specialist retailers is set to demonstrate strong growth in 2013, with growth bolstered by improvements in the economic conditions in Turkey, which is encouraging consumers to spend more on homewares and furniture for their homes. Many Turkish people are now changing their furniture and furnishings more frequently due to higher disposable incomes. Furthermore, urbanisation is an important reason for strong growth in the category as the numbers of homes in urban areas of Turkey...