UK consumer confidence fell to a record low in June as shoppers grappled with a stark new economic reality, figures from Gfk’s long-running series of reports show. Its confidence Index dipped one point to -41.

​The first monthly retail sales report for June is out and it doesn’t look good. The Confederation of British Industry has released its regular report and said retail sales volumes fell slightly in the year to June.

Easy payments financier Klarna has launched a loyalty card feature on its app. It will allow users to store and access their physical loyalty cards as a digital version “removing the need to carry plastic equivalents".

Shoppers awaiting the start of the renowned Harrods summer sale will have to wait a bit longer. ​The  luxury department store in London’s Knightsbridge has delayed its next sale season by a fortnight.

As the cost-of-living crisis deepens, it’s no wonder almost a third of UK consumers are now feeling insecure about their finances, according to a new survey from audience insights company GWI.

​E-tail giant Boohoo Group has named Shaun McCabe as its new CFO to succeed Neil Catto whose role will transition to an Executive Director, remaining on the board, “with responsibility for strategic projects”.

​Matalan has filed its accounts for its latest financial year and also updated on the first quarter of this year with the company clearly making progress in its turnaround.

​Loro Piana has announced the winners of the sixth edition of its international Knit Design Award competition. The winners were students Po-Chieh Chiu and Shanon Poupard from the Institut Français de la Mode, Paris.

M&S has lost its patience over long-running delays surrounding the demolition and rebuild of its flagship store at the Marble Arch end of London’s Oxford Street.

Here’s a dilemma. Customers expect personalisation during every brand interaction — but they don’t trust brands to keep their personal data secure and to use it responsibly. 

​Britain is becoming a more closed economy due to Brexit, with bad long-term implications for productivity and wages to leave the average worker £470 a year poorer by the end of the decade, a study said on Wednesday.

​Soaring food prices pushed British consumer price inflation to a 40-year high of 9.1% last month, the highest rate out of the Group of Seven countries and underlining the severity of the cost-of-living crunch.

Tuesday’s opening strike action across the UK by railway workers has had a dramatic impact on retail, figures from Springboard show. Footfall across all UK high streets is down 8.5% on last week with London hit hard.

UK small businesses lost an average £15,600 a month due to serial refunders in 2021, according to card payment provider Paymentsense. But ending free returns would be a dealbreaker for many UK shoppers, it said.

​The billionaire whose family controls Primark’s parent company has poured cold water on the idea that its newly-announced trial of click & collect services could lead to an eventual full offer online. 

Plans for a new UK online sales tax should be abandoned on the basis that it would add to inflation while the related costs would be passed on to the consumer anyway, a report suggests.