Tag Archives: Retail Excellence

ENNIS based Retail Excellence has confirmed the appointment of Duncan Graham as Managing Director, taking over from David Fitzsimons. Originally from Nottingham Duncan has a wealth of experience in Irish retail since his arrival in Cork in 1996 where he spent two years running the Marks and Spencer store before relocating to Dublin. Since then he has worked with Brown Thomas as General Manager before becoming CEO of a ladieswear company. For the last nine years he has been responsible for the expansion of the Specsavers brand across Ireland, Scotland and Spain. Commenting on the appointment the Chairman of Retail Excellence and COO of Applegreen PLC, Joe Barrett, said: “We are delighted that Duncan has joined Retail Excellence at such a critical time for Irish retail and we wish him success in helping shape the industry for the future.”

Retail Excellence, Ireland’s largest retail representative body, has been admitted to the register of nominating bodies for Seanad Éireann elections. Retail Excellence, which operates from Ennis, can now select a candidate to contest the Seanad elections on the outside panel of the Industrial and Commercial Panel. Deputy CEO of Retail Excellence and former Senator Lorraine Higgins, said, “I am delighted to learn that Retail Excellence has been admitted to the register of nominating bodies to Seanad Éireann. As the largest retail representative body in Ireland with almost 2,000 members who operate in excess of 13,000 stores and employ over 130,000 staff we are honoured and delighted with this news. “This is a huge opportunity for our membership and retail in general and will help put the industry and it’s challenges on the national political agenda should our candidate be elected. “We now intend to invite political parties to put forward suitably qualified candidates which our board will vote on. The …

MORE and more Clare people are moving their shopping habits online, choosing to purchase items from the comfort of their own home, rather than making their way to the shops. Online sales have been growing steadily year on year and are expected to be an even more integral part of the marketplace in 2018. Recent phenomena like Black Friday and Cyber Monday have moved across the Atlantic and are now a firm fixture of the festive season in the Banner County. The trend towards increased cyber shopping was highlighted in recent statistics released by the Ennis-based Retail Excellence Ireland, showing that customers browsing for goods using their mobile phones in December increased by 60% on last year. However, now that the tinsel has been taken down, what do you do when there is a problem with the product you bought online in the lead up to Christmas? According to Paul Woulfe, manager of the Clare Citizens’ Information Centre, there are …

Retail Excellence, the largest retail representative body, today (Monday) released the results of their December eCommerce Dashboard Report which monitors online sales trends in Ireland. The Retail Excellence / StudioForty9 eCommerce Dashboard Report is a monthly publication that has proven to be an invaluable tool for all retailers trading online. The report calculates key online metrics and allows retailers to benchmark their performance within their individual sector. December’s Report confirms there has been a 60% YOY increase in mobile browsing activity when compared to the same period in 2016. Desktop conversion rates decreased by 3% with the average quantity ordered across all devices (desktop, mobile and tablet) also falling by 16% YOY which we attribute to the success of Cyber Week. The pharmacy sector again recorded the highest desktop conversion rate of over 3% and almost 2% across mobile devices. This sector has continually displayed strong growth online over the past 12 months. eCommerce manager at Retail Excellence, David Campbell …

An Garda Síochána in association with the Banking & Payments Federation of Ireland and Retail Excellence will launch the S.O.S. (Safe Online Shopping) campaign tomorrow (Tuesday). In advance of Cyber Monday, November 27, the public and retailers are reminded to shop and sell on line safely, making every effort to protect their financial and personal details. Sergeant Kelvin Courtney of the Garda Crime Prevention National Centre of Excellence said, “Cyber Monday and the run up to Christmas is a time when increased numbers of consumers go online to get the last minute deal. Shopping on line is safe so long as we use our credit/debit cards correctly. We are asking people to take greater precautions when shopping online then they would if purchasing in the shops.”

RETAIL Excellence Ireland (REI) has  welcomed the Seanad’s support of an Upward Only Rent Review Bill, proposed by Senator Feargal Quinn. Ennis-based David Fitzsimons, chief executive, REI stated “This is a significant decision taken by members of the Seanad who are very aware of the untold damage being done to family businesses and jobs because of the continued existence of upward only rent review clauses. “The Bill proposed by Senator Quinn is very fair and balanced and provides for a temporary reduction in commercial rent to a market level. The Government will quote Constitutional issues however our Senior Council advice is clear that the Bill in no way undermines Constitutional property rights. It is a fact that many large private landlords and pension funds have refused to grant tenants any rent relief and have overseen a significant level of business failure and job loss,” he said. Mr Fitzsimons said the last six  years have proven that a cohort of landlords …