Understanding your industry: Retail, Leisure and Hospitality

With over a decade of experience and knowledge, Blue Octopus continues to lead the way in talent acquisition within the Retail, Leisure and Hospitality industry.

In our series of industry blogs, we look at the influences and trends affecting the industry. Customer experiences and the environment are key focuses in December. Below we explore some of the big stories so far…

• Many retailers need to improve their online customer experience
  A new report by Which? surveyed over 7000 members who identified some of the worst online UK retailers, with Homebase, Zara and WHSmith’s all in the top ten poorest performing. Harry Rose, editor of Which? magazine, said: “We continue to see the same brands performing poorly in our survey, with some of the bigger retailers offering disappointing levels of service and inferior websites which often seem to run out of stock.” The research showed that it was often a personalised service that was lacking with some of the bigger brands.

• Tesco partners with WWF to reduce environmental impact of food
  Tesco has partnered with World Wide Fund for Nature to measure the environmental impact of popular products. From 2020, the supermarket giant will start tracking the impact of some of its biggest selling brands, as part of its goal to halve the environmental impact of the average shopping basket by 2022. From tomatoes to diet cola, they will record scores over time to measure the success of their sustainability efforts.

• Amazon’s Deliveroo investment raises ‘serious competition concerns’
  Amazon’s investment of (approximately) £450m in the online food courier Deliveroo, has raised serious competition concerns that may require in-depth investigation, the Competition and Markets Authority has said. There are real concerns that the current deal may leave customers and businesses facing higher prices – coupled with poorer services. Both companies have five working days to offer proposals to address the concerns raised.

• Creating authentic experiences requires real responsibility
  As world travel becomes more accessible to more people than ever before, there is an increased demand for ‘real’ and ‘authentic’ experiences. Whilst this is an exciting time for the hospitality industry, it’s imperative that communities and the wider environment are protected. Destinations must be safeguarded so they can remain authentic – both now and in the future. There is a responsibility by companies to ensure this happens and future generations can continue to enjoy the world and what it has to offer.