Forward Features 2019 - Retail Gazette
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Forward Features 2019
Retail Gazette
2019 Features Schedule
January
LOOKING AHEAD
• What can retailers expect in 2019?
• Will the shocking year UK retail endured in 2018 have a chance at recovery?
• What issues/topics might we expect to dominate retail news this year?
• Any trends or issues from last year expected to continue in 2019?
o Deadline for quotes: Friday, January 11
o Story to be published w/c January 14
February
BREXIT
• Brexit will officially take place next month. What can retailers expect?
• Will the deal (or no deal) have any benefit for retailers? Why or why not?
• What is the state of inflation and what is the outlook like for retail shop prices?
• Will the sectors that did fairly well in 2018 – eg luxury retail – have reasons to feel nervous post-
Brexit?
o Deadline for quotes: Friday, February 15
o Story to be published w/c February 18
March
RETAIL EMPLOYMENT POST-BREXIT
• How can the UK retail industry attract talent – both local and overseas – in a post-Brexit world?
• With the UK leaving the EU this month (and with it free movement of EU citizens, if it’s a “no
deal” Brexit), how will retailers be impacted by Home Office’s strict monthly cap on sponsored
visa immigrants?
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• Will retailers have to raise wages/salaries to attract UK workers to fill skills gaps? If so, what
impact would this have on their margins or profits?
o Deadline for quotes: Friday, March 15
o Story to be published w/c March 18
April
SPORT AND RETAIL
• How can retailers take advantage of major sporting events?
• How can retailers prepare for a possible drop in footfall thanks to road closures, such as during
the London Marathon (April 28),
• How can retailers make the most of consumers staying home to watch major sporting events
taking place overseas, such as the Olympics or World Cup?
• In what ways do retailers benefit from official endorsements or sponsorships of sporting events
and teams?
o Deadline for quotes: Friday, April 19
o Story to be published w/c April 22
May
CULTURAL & RELIGIOUS HOLIDAYS
• Do UK retailers stand to benefit from celebrating more of the country’s religious and cultural
diversity?
• How can retailers take advantage of being more culturally inclusive, without making it look like
a tokenistic gesture or a blatant cash-grab?
• The UK has one of the biggest populations of Muslim citizens in the west, yet Ramadan (this
month) is not high on retailers’ priority when it comes to marketing or visual merchandising.
Should that change?
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• Should retailers consider bespoke marketing and/or visual merchandising campaigns for
individual stores depending on local demographics, rather than a generic campaign as they do
for Christmas? Why/why not?
o Deadline for quotes: Friday, May 17
o Story to be published w/c May 20
June
PRIDE IN RETAIL
• How has UK retail improved on LGBT inclusivity – or not – since Retail Gazette’s last feature on
this topic? Is marching in Pride enough?
• Why do retailers continue to barely make a blip on the Stonewall Workplace Equality Index?
What positive impacts would it have on staff and customers if they appeared on the annual list?
• Which retailers have an enshrined policy or charter to ensure LGBT staff are treated with
respect?
• Was Christopher Bailey’s departure from Burberry a blow to boardroom diversity in retail?
Why/why not?
o Deadline for quotes: Friday, June 21
o Story to be published w/c June 24
July
DEPARTMENT STORES IN 2019
• Mid-market department stores had a horrid year in 2018. How are they faring so far this year?
• What improvements and wins have there been?
• What are the issues that still need to be addressed to remain relevant and keep this UK
heritage alive?
o Deadline for quotes: Friday, July 19
o Story to be published w/c July 22
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August
RISE OF INSTA-SHOPPING
• Instagram has grown to become a viable online shopping platform. Is it worth the investment
for retailers to take advantage of it in their multichannel strategies?
• Insta-shopping is fashion-centric at the moment. How can businesses in other retail sectors
(eg: grocery, DIY) take advantage of this shopping platform in order to attract a core audience
of Insta-fans and influences alike?
• What other social media sites or apps provide shoppable technology for retailers and how do
they compare to Instagram?
o Deadline for quotes: Friday, August 16
o Story to be published w/c August 19
September
BREXIT: SIX MONTHS ON
• How has UK retail been impacted by Brexit, so far?
• Which retailers were well-prepared for the outcome of the deal and how are they faring now?
• Which retailers were ill-prepared and how are they faring now?
• How has inflation fared since Brexit and in what ways has this impacted the UK retail sector?
o Deadline for quotes: Friday, September 20
o Story to be published w/c September 23
October
SINGLES DAY VS BLACK FRIDAY
• Black Friday 2018 failed to impress in terms of high street sales – will 2019 be another “bleak”
Friday?
• Black Friday also led to the biggest drop in footfall for the month of November 2018. How can
this be avoided this year?
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• Looking at the successes of Chinese retailers on Singles Day, what can UK retailers learn for
Black Friday?
• Do extended discount periods leading up and after Black Friday make any difference?
Why/why not?
o Deadline for quotes: Friday, October 25
o Story to be published w/c October 28
November
CHRISTMAS ADVERTS
• An overview of the 2019 adverts from UK retailers
• Which retailers stood out and why?
• Why is the retail industry obsessed with their Christmas advertising campaigns?
• Does investing millions in TV adverts boost Christmas sales? What about retailers that don’t
have TV ads?
o Deadline for quotes: Friday, November 22
o Story to be published w/c November 25
December
THE YEAR THAT WAS
• A look at the key themes, issues and news stories that dominated UK retail in 2019
• Why did they dominate the news cycle?
• What effects – if any – did they have on UK retail?
o Deadline for quotes: Friday, December 13
o Story to be published w/c December 16
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NOTES:
• The Retail Gazette is an online-only publication. However, deadlines are strict and non-negotiable.
• The Retail Gazette is only seeking quotes in response to the points/questions posed in each monthly topic.
• Submissions must be in the form of quotes, with a strict maximum of 350 words.
• Additional quotes that do not necessarily respond to the questions are welcome, however it must still relate to
the topic in general and must still be within the word limit mentioned above.
• Submissions of quotes are open to anyone. Those that come from direct-to-consumer retailers are given
special priority.
• Commentary bylines and/or opinion pieces for each monthly topic are welcome, provided the author works
for a direct-to-consumer retailer, a shopping centre, a retail lobby group/business chamber (eg: the BRC), or
is a retail/finance academic associated with a university. Word count: 600-800.
• Commentary bylines or opinion pieces written by a supplier, consultant, lawyer or any other business that
work with retailers, will only be considered for publication if it’s part of a wider marketing campaign with the
Retail Gazette.
• Case studies are welcome, but they must relate to the topic of the month and they must pertain retailers.
• Case studies will be considered as part of a feature, not in their own right.
• Case studies in their own right, ie: in the form of a feature submission or byline, will only be considered for
publication if it’s part of a wider marketing campaign with the Retail Gazette.
• Due to the nature of retail’s fast-paced news cycle, Retail Gazette will only consider submissions from the 1st
day of each month and onwards.
• Submissions sent earlier than the 1st day of each month or anything else in advance will not be considered.
• Please note that Retail Gazette is always inundated with submissions and therefore we can never respond to
each request nor can we guarantee to publish each submission.
• The Retail Gazette reserves the right to edit submissions, reject them or select what would be appropriate for
the feature in question.
EDITORIAL ENQUIRES ADVERTISING ENQUIRES
P Elias Jahshan P Phil Burnard
T 0208 222 0503 T 07401 241 979
E elias@retailgazette.com E phil@retailgazette.com
W www.retailgazette.co.uk
A 4 Cavendish Square, London, W1G 0PG
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