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The latest retail news from Very, Joules, Boohoo, Pandora, Hugo Boss, THG, H&M and articles on why recovery-wear is the next trend in sportswear, how conversational commerce can drive sales, how influencers can help in the metaverse and much more.

Brand Requests is now live!! You can now get your editorial requests in front of all of the PRShots brands in a minute (John Lewis, Hotter, Next, M&S, Primark, Sainsbury, DFS, Oliver Bonas, Nest etc). Just click along to Brand Requests tell them what you need, eg pics for a feature, AW22 previews etc say what your deadline is and how you want to be contacted and it'll instantly appear to our brands.

To see the latest news go to our Twitter account @prshotsr

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THE LATEST RETAIL INDUSTRY NEWS

Joules CEO to exit as it warns cost-of-living crisis has hit profits

Joules has warned that profits had fallen below expectations for the 13 weeks to 1 May and its CEO Nick Jones is to exit the fashion retailer during the first half of the next financial year.

Boohoo boss pledges to ‘rebound’ as profits slide and returns rates spike

Boohoo posted a 28% fall in adjusted EBITDA to £125m in the year to Feb 28 exacerbated by slowing international growth, but boss John Lyttle says the brand is “well-positioned to rebound strongly”.

Retail footfall boosted by May bank holiday weekend

Springboard footfall figures show retail footfall up by 3.1% last week and up 8% over the May Bank Holiday weekend, narrowing the gap from 2019 to an average of -8.3. 

Pandora revenues climb 21% in Q1

Pandora said its collaborations with Marvel and Padlock jewellery helped raise Q1 revenues by 21% to €764.7m an 18% improvement over the same period in 2019.

Hugo Boss powers ahead in Q1 as Europe, Americas sales surge

Hugo Boss sales grew 52% to €772m in Q1 - 17% above 2019 levels – as it saw "robust momentum" in Europe (with a 21% rise against the same quarter in 2019) and the Americas (up 17%).

Retailers call for business rates cut to help battle cost-of-living crunch

A coalition of leading retailers and trade bodies has launched a ‘Cut the Shops Tax’ campaign, arguing for a business rates reduction to combat inflationary pressures and protect industry jobs.

UK vacant store unit numbers fall again

​Vacant store numbers in the UK improved again in the first three months of 2022, the figure now stands at 14.1% down from 14.4% but they still have a long way to go to reach the pre-covid 12%.

THG to spend £200m on growing its capacity in order to handle increased orders

The Hut Group (THG) has announced a £200m investment in a new warehouse and robots to handle up to £14bn worth of orders every year, a significant amount over its current sales of £2bn a year.

Tesco teams up with Uber Eats to boost Whoosh speedy delivery service

Tesco has joined forces with Uber to bolster its Whoosh rapid delivery service initially in 20 of the 200 Whoosh capable stores including Edinburgh, Bradford, Portsmouth, Norwich, St Albans & Letchworth.

McColl’s shares set to be suspended from London Stock Exchange

McColl’s is set to have its shares suspended from the London Stock Exchange as bosses said they would be unable to get accounts signed off by the auditors in time.

TRENDS, STRATEGY AND TECHNOLOGY

Recovery-wear is the next sports fashion frontier

Consumers who like to keep fit are training harder and longer. They could fuel a boom in demand for sportswear and technology that supports recovery and reduces the possibility of injury.

How conversational commerce can help drive sales

Data reveals that 86% of people are ready to pay more for a greater customer experience and one of the way of achieving this is through one to one conversations in messaging apps.

How brands can succeed in the metaverse with influencer marketing

Where do brands fit in the metaverse and how should they explore talent and influencer marketing in the new web 3.0 world?

Forget everything you know about influencer marketing and start from scratch

Why brands need to rebuild their influencer marketing strategy from the ground up with the same scrutiny they would apply to any other strategy

Why younger beauty consumers demand same-day delivery

​Gen Z and Millennial consumers are fond of buying beauty online, but they’re getting more demanding when it comes to delivery times and next-day won’t do for many of them.

The future of payments is convenience and cash

As retailers increase the speed and convenience of payments while using data to improve customer interactions and relationships cash will also remain surprisingly important, according to the experts.

Eight in 10 are now interested in buying in the metaverse

51% of shoppers are interested in buying digital clothes to wear in a virtual environment in the next year, while 39% have already bought digital clothes or accessories for an avatar or themselves.

PayPal CEO believes the company’s checkout tech can beat Amazon, Shopify and Bolt

PayPal CEO Dan Schulman is betting the company's checkout technology can beat Amazon, Shopify and Bolt's solutions.

BRAND NEWS

The Very Group to give customers personalised size and fit guidance

The Very Group is to improve the customer experience – and presumably also reduce the returns rate - by providing Truefit technologies personalised size and fit guidance across its 300 fashion brands.

BoohooMAN launches first student designed capsule collection

BoohooMAN has launched its first student-designed capsule collection using the winning entry from Jasmine Young who won a competition it ran last year.

H&M Aims to trace more than 200m garments by end of 2022

H&M is expanding its traceability programme with TextileGenesis, a blockchain-based platform, to cover all man-made cellulosics and recycled polyester.

Lenzing reports healthy growth for biodegradable speciality fibres

Lenzing Group revenue grew by 25.7% to reach €615m in the first quarter of 2022, due to continued high demand for wood-based biodegradable speciality fibres and higher fibre prices.

AND FINALLY

Businesses may need to pay to use Twitter, Musk says

Business and government users may be charged a "slight" fee to use Twitter in the future, the company's new owner Elon Musk said.

PRSHOTS TOP 10 SEARCHES

What were our users searching for on PRShots week-ending April 29th 2022?

1/ SS22

2/ Jubilee

3/ Swimsuit

4/ Dresses   

5/ Picnic

6/ Jumpsuits

7/ Hats

8/ Garden

9/ Bathrooms   

10/ Yellow

COLLABORATIONS ON PRSHOTS

Our PRShots brands are looking for media and influencers who want to work with them on collaborations. Register for free at PRShots new collabs service to find out more https://collabs.prshots.com/ 

NEW BRANDS TO PRSHOTS

Peacocks was founded by Albert Frank Peacock in Warrington, in 1884 with the principle of value for money and that still holds today with its good value clothing ranges for men, women and children. The latest Weekend range features brand ambassador Louise Redknapp.

NoLoGo was founded by designer Tina Malhamé who has worked with Sir Terence Conran, Next, Monsoon, Laura Ashley, Anokhi, Per Una and more. NoLoGo-Chic produces beautiful clothing, each carefully designed and sourced, with its own unique detailing, in gorgeous natural fabrics.

Bonmarché returns to PRShots with its Spring Summer 2022 range if women’s clothing. The range features long, midi and short dresses as well as jackets, swimsuits, shirts and t-shirts

Noughty is a British-born, cruelty-free, vegan and naturals brand on a mission to exceed the performance of premium conventional hair and body care with natural alternatives that won’t cost the earth - literally.

Bryony Bel was born out of a desire for aspirational, contemporary and wearable jewellery without the designer price tag. With over 15 years industry experience at a number of jewellery brands, they bring a curated edit of contemporary and affordable sterling silver and 18kt gold vermeil jewellery.

Gold Collagen was started by Tony Sanguinetti whilst on a trip to Japan where he noticed that taking collagen drinks to supplement their diet was key to Japanese women’s youthful appearance and their daily beauty regimes.

The Jacket Bar was born in the streets of Notting Hill by two long-time friends Diane and Sara, who shared a passion for iconic vintage pieces from the early ‘90s with the retro look and style of the era.

The MorphBag by GSK is an award-winning London-based luxury vegan handbag brand. Designed by Italian born award-winning luxury handbag designer Giovanna Sessi-Knott the sustainable bags have a timeless and versatile design and come in three colour-coordinated options.

HELP WITH YOUR IMAGE SEARCHES

The latest images on PRShots are found here https://www.prshots.com/whatsnew why not bookmark the page for a regular feed of the latest images on PRShots!! You can select the latest images from the last 24hours, week, or month.

BRANDS WITH NEW IMAGES

Clothing and accessories

F&F  has new summer, shoes, denim and womenswear ranges

M&Co  has new summer wear from Anya Madsen and Kylie, kids and adult ranges and jubilee gifts

From My Mothers Garden has new scarves and robes

Pretty Little Thing has new swimwear and Jayda Wayda and Alabama Barker ranges

Roman Originals has new summer wear and their new SS22 ranges

Primark has new swim, lingerie, ranges and new Varsity and MODEST ranges

New Look has new women’s summer outfits

Lipsy has a new Love & Roses, Friends Like these ranges and a Chrishell collaboration

Pink House Mustique has new outfits for the summer

Very has new summer outfits

Radley has new April and Spring drops

Night Store has new summer pyjama sets

River Island  has new summer clothing imagery for kids and adults

Matalan has new summer sandals

Barbour has new menswear

Dancing Leopard has new summer dresses

Cotton Traders has new summer ranges

Sonder Studio has new clothing ranges

Dune London has new shoe and bag ranges

Hope Fashion has new womenswear

Monsoon has new womenswear and kids ranges

See more new clothing and accessories images from the last two weeks from

George at Asda Oliver Bonas Kaleidoscope Freemans Marks & Spencer Shoe Zone Seol + Gold Feelunique Very Daisy Park Fatface Joe Browns John Lewis  Aspiga  

Home and food

Wilko has new Jubilee gifts, DIY, storage, garden, home wear

Dobbies Garden Centres has new home goods, pet accessories and Fathers’ Day gifts 

Nest has new outdoor and indoor home ranges  

Cult Furniture  has new homeware

The Range has new wallpaper, homeware and things for the garden and Jubilee wear

M&Co  has new homeware

Daisy Park Has new Jubilee commemorative pieces and a wide range of mugs

Pink House Mustique has a small range of homeware

Abstract House has new canvases

Primark has new garden furniture, and picnic wear

Fritz Fryer has new lighting ranges

Matalan has new bedding ranges

Marks & Spencer  has new garden furniture and outdoor ranges

Sofology  has new bed and furniture ranges

Joe Browns has new jubilee ranges

Parker Knoll has new furniture ranges

Oliver Bonas has new homeware and decorations

Next has new Beach Retreat homeware available in June

Paperchase has a new Mr Men range

Cuckooland has new modular sofas

Oak Furnitureland has new sofa ranges

Very has new Occasions homeware

See more new home images from the last two weeks from

Wilko Cambridge Imprint  Fatface Lights4fun George Home Next Hotel Chocolat Getting Personal John Lewis & Partners TK Maxx Biscuiteers Baking  Cartwright & Butler  John Lewis and Partnership Furniture Village Homesense Soho House Retail National Trust Shop

Looking for inspiration??

Our trends lightboxes section has lots of ideas for features and themes but If  you can't find something or you need help then email us at support@prshots.com, and we'll see if we can help

May Diary

How to get your brand on the May Editorial Calendars   

Next month sees the start of the Platinum Jubilee 4-day weekend so start to get anything related to the Jubilee up now and get the keywords Platinum Jubilee on anything relevant. 

We’re now well into Spring so carry on adding those spring summer related images and adding keywords relating to summer outfits, swimwear, the garden, garden parties and Barbecues (don’t forget to add all of the other spellings BBQ, Bar-B-Que etc and other related keywords like picnics, garden party etc). 

Now that covid travel restrictions have lifted images of beach holidays and swimwear, as well as holiday clothes, festival clothes can all come back out and all of the associated keywords and phrases sandals, beachwear, swimsuits, bikinis, linen, summer wear. Although not everyone will be going abroad so still keep keywords and phrases like “staycation” “holistay” “holiday at home” to your keywords and why not suggest clothing like cardigans for the colder UK evenings.

May is also the start of wedding season so if you have any wedding related items then get ready to promote them with any wedding keywords, bridal, bride, groom, hen party, stag do etc.

May Diary - Weeks/Months

May is National Walking Month, National Smile Month and Skin Cancer awareness month. It’s also;

Small Business Week – First week in May

Dementia UK Time for a cuppa (1-8^th May)

National Gardening week (2-8^th May)

Chelsea Flower Show (24th – 28th May)

May - Days

4^th – Star Wars Day

4^th – Firefighters memorial Day

5^th –Cinco de Mayo (US Holiday)

5^th –Yom HaAtzmaut (Jewish Holiday)

8^th – VE day

9^th – Europe Day

8^th – Mother’s Day (US and Australia)

12^th – International Nurses Day

13^th – World Cocktail Day

15^th – International Day of Families

19^th – Lag B'Omer (Jewish Holiday)

20^th – World Bee Day

21^st – International Tea Day

22^nd – World Goth Day

22^nd – Craft Distillery Day (US)

25^th - Geek Pride day

26^th – Ascension Day

29^th – National Biscuit Day

25^th – National Wine Day

31^st – Memorial Day (US)

Do you have any news on your brand that you want us to feature, or have a new appointee or a new event that you would like us to feature? Get in touch at news@prshots.com We don't charge, so get emailing now!!!

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