Following a 0.2% increase in July 2024, the British Retail Consortium reported that store prices decreased by 0.3% in August when compared to the same month in 2023.

Non-food goods saw their largest price decline in over three years; falling by 1.5%, while food prices increased by 2.0%, the least since November 2021. This increase was slower than the 2% increase in July.

“Shop price inflation has fallen again in August as many non-food retailers have kept promotional support due to the unpredictable weather,” said Mike Watkins, head of retailer and business insight at market research firm NielsenIQ, which compiles the data.

“Food retailers have introduced more price cuts to help drive incremental sales during the ‘summer of sport’,” Watkins added, referring to the Paris Olympics and the men’s Euro 2024 soccer tournament.

Prices in large retail chains were the subject of the BRC survey from August 1 to August 7.

For the first time this year, the most recent official indicator of annual consumer price inflation, which takes into account both services and retail goods, went up from 2.0% to 2.2% in July.

As the impact of the significant drops in energy prices in 2023 lessens, the Bank of England projects that CPI inflation will reach about 2.75% by year’s end before rising to the BoE’s target of 2% in the first half of 2026.

Investors anticipate that the BoE will lower interest rates by at least one-quarter point before the year ends. Interest rates were lowered from their 16-year high earlier this month.

Meanwhile, the UK private sector expanded faster than anticipated in August, marking the fourth month of consecutive increases in activity. This resulted in the pound reaching a 13-month high versus the dollar and suggested strong economic growth in the upcoming summer.

The post UK shop prices dip for first time in nearly three years, survey shows appeared first on International Finance.

In today’s episode of the ‘Start-up of the Week’, International Finance will talk about ‘Al Etihad Payments’ in detail, which is the world’s leading payments authority, delivering best-in-class payment solutions to its customers in the UAE.

Knowing The Company In Detail

Al Etihad Payments is the national payments entity created in 2023 as part of the National Payment Systems Strategy to develop and operate best-in-class financial markets infrastructure for the UAE.

The company has licenced over 150 financial institutions and payment service providers, by using its payment services, and has processed payments of over USD 200 Million across systems every year.

The key purpose of the company is to support the government’s objectives of a cashless society, national digitisation, and the Central Bank of the UAE’s objective of being a top ten central bank globally. For this, the company has enabled licenced financial institutions and other payment service providers, which deliver excellent financial services efficiently and without friction to all the customers in the UAE.

“Our focus is on meeting the unique needs of our customers in the UAE with cutting-edge solutions. We are a forward-thinking and customer-focused payments company with a growth mindset, constantly driving innovation to meet the rapidly evolving demands of the national digital payments industry,” Jan Pilbauer, CEO of Al Etihad Payments said.

The company’s strategic objectives are to provide innovative payment solutions, support a cashless society agenda, and enhance financial stability. For this, the company has implemented innovative, interoperable, and enabling payment infrastructure, allowing licenced financial institutions and payment service providers to further enhance customer experience through advanced payment solutions.

On the other hand, for safe, easy and secure transactions, Al Etihad Payments has launched an instant payments platform called Aani, which enables customers of licenced financial institutions and payment service providers to offer instant payment services to consumers, businesses, merchants, retailers, government and other entities in the UAE. With this app, customers can transfer funds up to AED 50,000 immediately and conveniently, on a 24/7 basis.

With the help of Aani’s practical feature set, users can send money right away to anyone, anywhere in the world, just by providing their phone number. ‘Request Money’ and ‘Split Bills’ are two more features of Aani that efficiently streamline different payment experiences.

Moreover, Aani supports QR codes, making it easier for customers to make cashless purchases at retailers.

“We’re going to be adding more features soon, like electronic cheques and real-time direct debit,” Pilbauer said.

Al Etihad Payments has been working with Magnati, Mashreq/Neo Pay, and Network International to enable Aani QR-based payments with merchants, with the goal of onboarding tens of thousands of merchants through these and other licenced merchant acquirers in the coming months.

NPCI To Ink Pact With Al Etihad Payments

Meanwhile, according to a PTI report, National Payments Corporation of India (NPCI) International Payments Ltd and Al Etihad Payments will sign a deal in Abu Dhabi to enable cross-border transactions.

An agreement will be signed regarding the UAE’s development of a domestic card scheme modelled after India’s RuPay debit and credit card stack, the report stated.

The agreement will be signed in the presence of India’s commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal, who is leading a business delegation to Abu Dhabi.

The commerce ministry said in a statement that India and the United Arab Emirates will talk about problems and difficulties related to current investments in each other’s nations.

“The meeting will also review the outcomes achieved through the work of the Joint Task Force to date, and the two sides will continue exploring ways to facilitate investment in areas of mutual interest with the potential for economic growth,” the statement said.

The post Start-up of the Week: Al Etihad Payments empowering safe, easy and secure transactions appeared first on International Finance.

The current challenge for brands that interact with a customer across numerous platforms is the build-up of multiple identifiers for each single real-life human being. According to Gartner, more than 90% of marketers struggle to seamlessly connect more than three channels on the buyer journey.

However, brands should not be suffering in silence, and marketers must double down on their commitment to be responsible practitioners. Help is at hand in the form of retailers, who often know more about customers than the brands themselves. These collaborations are known throughout the marketing industry as second-party data partnerships.

Second-party data is simply another organisation’s first-party data, shared between brands and retailers to enable better data-driven marketing. The technique is becoming increasingly popular and by next year, the use of second party data is expected to grow by 26 percent to be used by 64 percent of all advertisers.So how do brands and retailers make the most of the data gold mine they’ll be sitting on? It’s all well and good having this customer intel but knowing how and when to act upon it is key. Like with any campaign, trial and error will be paramount to understanding what works and what doesn’t to give marketers peace of mind when it comes to embracing creativity. When evaluating potential second-party data partners, marketers can ensure the data is ethically sourced by following these best practices:

Customer experience is crucial
All marketers will know that customer data always comes with rules—it’s not a straightforward and seamless process. Not only must marketers aim to meet their customer expectations, they must also be aware of these expectations when it comes to their data and how it is used for marketing purposes. It is fair to say that some customers aren’t always fully aware of how their data is being used for marketing purposes. However, action has been taken by the implementation of General Data Protection Regulations (GDPR), which ensures there is full transparency and the option for customers to opt in or out of communications. Of course, there is still room for improvement from marketers on this front.

What constitutes a successful second-party data partnership?
In order to form a successful second-party data partnership, it is crucial that marketers always renew the privacy policies that were present at the point of collection as well as defining how, when and where the data can be used to support their privacy. To avoid disputes, it is also key that customers are provided with adequate notice and opt-out choices—performing actions like these will also help marketers remain one step ahead of their competitors.

How brands can find the right retail partners
At a time where customer data is at an all-time high, with internet use dominating the technology industry, retailers are facing immense pressure to compete within all e-commerce channels, while maintaining brand reputation and customer loyalty. Finding the right retail partners can make or break a brand’s reputation, so it is essential that they choose wisely. There is so much to gain for brands when it comes to strategic partnerships, but there is also a lot at stake if they fail to plan effectively. It is crucial that brands do not rush this process by partnering with retailers that aren’t the perfect fit—this will inevitably have a negative impact on brand reputation, particularly when it comes to competition.

Handling data and adhering to industry regulations and GDPR
Customers and marketers are both operating in a society that is regularly talking about ethically sourcing everything. In particular, marketers are experiencing a trend where reports of unethical data use are a regular occurrence and as a result, they must double down on their commitment to become responsible practitioners. Organisations are rightly adopting more rigorous approaches to data sourcing, in order to gain a well-rounded view of their customers.

The creative techniques marketers should be adopting with second-party data
Creativity is key when it comes to marketing and second-party data. There are several benefits to second-party data—it enables trust and transparency and quality, which have all become the cornerstone of every decision for marketers. In-fact, 54% of consumers said trust is the forefront of their minds when it comes to sharing their personal data. As with any situation, it is important that marketers are always ensuring they are one step ahead of their competition, while living up to customer expectations and providing a seamless experience.

Second-party data and creativity can enhance all customer experience. If marketers’ source and activate in a secure, compliant and privacy driven way, they will remain one step ahead in their industry. Putting data first, whilst adhering to all data-ethics, will make it difficult to go wrong.

By Steve Martin, Managing Director, Data, International at LiveRamp

The post Why should brands collaborate with retailers appeared first on International Finance.

“If Brexit had happened 20 years earlier, Superdry would never have become the global success that it did. We would have struggled to cope with negotiating customs and tariffs. Perhaps even more importantly, Europe was our staging post because inside the single market we had no fear of opening a store in France, Germany, Belgium or anywhere else.”, Dunkerton told The Observer.

The 53- year old co-founder of Superdry had left the company earlier this year, after seeing it expand to 500 retail outlets.

This donation is set to fund a polling blitz that organisers are hoping will be crucial in injecting some critical momentum in the campaign. Those that are backing a new public vote face a race against time—before Britain ceases to be an EU member after March next year.

Dunkerton added further : “I’m putting some of my money behind the People’s Vote campaign because we have a genuine chance to turn this around. I’ve got a good instinct for when a mood is going to change and we’re in one of those moments now. It’s becoming clear there is no vision for Brexit and the politicians have made a mess of it. Increasingly, the public knows that Brexit is going to be a disaster. Maybe they just need to be given that little bit of hope that comes when they see how opinion is moving.”

““I will be paying for one of the most detailed polling exercises ever undertaken by a campaign so that more and more people have the confidence to demand the democratic right for their voice to be heard – to get a People’s Vote on any Brexit deal or the outcome of these negotiations.” He concluded.

An Opinion poll for the Observer has found that 40% now believe that it is most likely that the UK will leave in next March without a deal – up sharply from 31% last month. One in five (22%) think Britain will leave with a deal, and 16% think Britain will not leave the EU in March.

The campaigners are planning what is now described as “one of the biggest polling operations ever undertaken in UK politics”. The most recent polling suggests that 45% of voters want the electorate to have a say on the final Brexit deal, with 34% opposed to it.

Serious issues still remain over how a second vote can be achieved, whether there is enough time to hold it and what question voters should be asked. Leaders in both the Tory and Labour parties are opposed to the idea.

Some senior ministers fear that there is no Commons majority for Theresa May’s proposed Brexit deal, that was unveiled to her ministers at a meeting at her Chequers retreat earlier this summer– and resulted in the resignations of the Brexit secretary David Davis and Boris Johnson.

Many MPs and donors are expecting Johnson, the former foreign secretary, to make a pitch for the leadership– while hard Brexiters continue to draw up their own preferred Brexit deal.

The post Superdry founder donates $1.2 mn to boost People’s Vote campaign appeared first on International Finance.

November 30, 2016: Verifone (NYSE: PAY), a global provider of payments and commerce solutions, announced that Denmark’s third largest retail company Dagrofa and the country’s fastest growing discount chain REMA 1000 have selected Verifone to enable more options for the way consumers shop and pay in their stores. Dagrofa and REMA 1000 represent significant wins and growing market share for Verifone.

With its chamber of commerce proposing to make all money transactions electronic, Denmark is a leader in the world’s shift towards cashless societies with approximately 80 percent adoption of non-cash payments. The country is also home to one of the world’s most progressive and widely adopted mobile payment schemes. MobilePay, created by Danske Bank, is installed in more than 90 percent of Danish consumer smartphones, and is only surpassed by Facebook and Messenger in app acceptance.

By upgrading to Verifone, Dagrofa and REMA 1000 will be playing a significant role in driving consumer adoption of mobile payment in the country, as it is ready for future mobile payment options such as plans by Dankort, the country’s national debit card, to enable payments through consumer mobile devices.

“We already support MobilePay, but now we are the first in Denmark to integrate mobile payment with card payment in just one piece of hardware. We want to make it even easier for our customers to make digital payments. Verifone has all the necessary functionality and provides an open and very straightforward solution at the cash register. Combining every type of payment in the same device makes life easier for both customers and our employees. Our goal is to deliver excellent experiences related to food, and Verifone’s solution will help us deliver on this goal,” says Dagrofa CEO Per Thau.

“With the Verifone device upgrade, we can ensure our customers will have an easy and convenient experience using their preferred payment method whether it is a Danish or international card, Dankort or MobilePay,” says Torben L. Sørensen, CFO, REMA 1000.

”We are very proud that Dagrofa and REMA 1000 have selected Verifone as their payment solution provider. Our solution benefits both our clients and their customers alike as it can handle many payment methods including all payment cards and many mobile apps,” says Chris Lund-Hansen, General Manager of Denmark, Verifone.

The post Verifone ropes in leading Danish retailers appeared first on International Finance.

November 24, 2016: With the holiday season just around the corner, merchants are preparing for the most active online shopping time of the year. But, while many focus on marketing and deals, retailers and issuers face a bigger overlooked issue that could move them into the red.

In the US, the sales spree will be initiated on the fourth Friday of November with Black Friday, the day after the Thanksgiving holiday. In 2015, online sales for this event added up to an astounding $2.72 billion, with an additional $1.73 billion spent on Thanksgiving Day.

What started in the 1990s as a curious ‘anti-Valentine’s’ celebration for single people in China, has transformed into the biggest online shopping day in the world. Ostensibly held on November 11, but often extending to a week-long sale, the holiday set a new sales record of around £19 billion in just one day this year.

While these celebrations are increasingly global and popular, with record-breaking sales, huge amounts of attention from customers and greater earning potential for merchants, statistics reveal that severe consequences are likely to follow in terms of chargebacks.

Chargeback volumes can increase by as much as 50% during the holiday season, and this percentage is only likely to continue. But, what are the reasons behind this?

Buyer’s remorse is one of the biggest problems most closely associated with peak shopping days. The drop in prices and the multiple sales during the shopping seasons make customers feel pressured into buying something before it disappears. But, later, with a cool head, customers sometimes change their minds or find a better deal elsewhere and no longer want the product. This regret often results in illegitimate chargebacks for customers trying to find another way to get a ‘refund’.

Similarly, customers are becoming increasingly demanding. Tight deadlines and high pressure around the holidays means small mistakes can be unforgivable to shoppers. If consumers are having a bad shopping experience and are not satisfied with the merchant’s performance, they may initiate a chargeback. A new report from Radial indicated that 71% of shoppers expect their online orders to arrive within five days, while 51% would stop shopping with a retailer if their order arrived later than the promised delivery date.

Adding to this problem, there is a flawed impression for ecommerce regarding the source of fraudulent chargebacks. Even though fighting cybercriminals and protecting customer’s data and money must be a priority for all merchants, criminally fraudulent purchases are surprisingly low on Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Singles’ Day. Only 10% of chargebacks can be attributable to criminal fraud, with 20% coming from merchant error and 70% from friendly fraud.

Friendly fraud occurs when a consumer makes an online shopping purchase with their own credit card, and then requests a chargeback from the issuing bank after receiving the purchased goods or services. It is a problem which is not currently being properly addressed by most retailers.

The truth is the industry is also slow to react. Merchant liability often surfaces in the weeks following these shopping holidays – approximately 90 days after the purchase — as the costs of online fraud and chargebacks become apparent. In addition, big purchasing events, like Black Friday, produce significant alterations to normal customer shopping behaviours, making it even harder for merchants to identify and stop friendly fraud.

For them, sales are often seen as more important, but chargebacks can essentially make a greater loss when adding the value of the lost sale, as well as the cost of the goods and a chargeback fine. Worse still, ineffective or poor chargeback management is about to become even more costly.

The burden of chargebacks is not only owned by online merchants; issuers are getting increasingly serious about enforcing better governance on them. MasterCard recently acted to help reduce its own encumbrance by introducing its new Dispute Administration Fee (DAF). This is a fee passed through to merchants who fall foul of customer chargebacks and fail to effectively dispute their legitimacy. Ecommerce merchants can expect to pay an additional €15 fee for chargebacks they accept without filing rebuttal, and up to €30 if a non-compliant response is filed. Issuers are penalised as well with the reverse incentive.

As this year’s shopping season progresses, merchants who lack a disciplined chargeback policy are likely to be more vulnerable than ever before. The only way to avoid this is for retailers to understand chargebacks and the detrimental affect an ineffective risk mitigation system can have on their business. Beyond losing merchandise and revenue, online retailers can face additional fees and consequences, particularly if they exceed allotted chargeback thresholds.

Adhering to best practices reduces the risk of chargebacks. Superior results are obtained through the use of combined methods which leverage both in-house and outside expertise.

Recent studies performed by Global Risk Technologies revealed that merchants using a combination of fraud management strategies experienced improved performance within every fraud detection tool and reported a gain on average of 22.4% over those who did not utilise a layered approach or combination method.

Retailers don’t need to accept chargebacks as a cost of doing business. Acknowledging the problem and putting in place comprehensive management strategies can ensure merchants benefit from huge shopping days without sustaining enormous financial disasters.

Monica Eaton-Cardone is CIO and co-founder of Chargebacks911

The post The real shopping season sales killer appeared first on International Finance.

Monica Eaton-Cardone

November 24, 2016: With the holiday season just around the corner, merchants are preparing for the most active online shopping time of the year. But, while many focus on marketing and deals, retailers and issuers face a bigger overlooked issue that could move them into the red.

In the US, the sales spree will be initiated on the fourth Friday of November with Black Friday, the day after the Thanksgiving holiday. In 2015, online sales for this event added up to an astounding $2.72 billion, with an additional $1.73 billion spent on Thanksgiving Day.

What started in the 1990s as a curious ‘anti-Valentine’s’ celebration for single people in China, has transformed into the biggest online shopping day in the world. Ostensibly held on November 11, but often extending to a week-long sale, the holiday set a new sales record of around £19 billion in just one day this year.

While these celebrations are increasingly global and popular, with record-breaking sales, huge amounts of attention from customers and greater earning potential for merchants, statistics reveal that severe consequences are likely to follow in terms of chargebacks.

Chargeback volumes can increase by as much as 50% during the holiday season, and this percentage is only likely to continue. But, what are the reasons behind this?

Buyer’s remorse is one of the biggest problems most closely associated with peak shopping days. The drop in prices and the multiple sales during the shopping seasons make customers feel pressured into buying something before it disappears. But, later, with a cool head, customers sometimes change their minds or find a better deal elsewhere and no longer want the product. This regret often results in illegitimate chargebacks for customers trying to find another way to get a ‘refund’.

Similarly, customers are becoming increasingly demanding. Tight deadlines and high pressure around the holidays means small mistakes can be unforgivable to shoppers. If consumers are having a bad shopping experience and are not satisfied with the merchant’s performance, they may initiate a chargeback. A new report from Radial indicated that 71% of shoppers expect their online orders to arrive within five days, while 51% would stop shopping with a retailer if their order arrived later than the promised delivery date.

Adding to this problem, there is a flawed impression for ecommerce regarding the source of fraudulent chargebacks. Even though fighting cybercriminals and protecting customer’s data and money must be a priority for all merchants, criminally fraudulent purchases are surprisingly low on Black Friday, Cyber Monday and Singles’ Day. Only 10% of chargebacks can be attributable to criminal fraud, with 20% coming from merchant error and 70% from friendly fraud.

Friendly fraud occurs when a consumer makes an online shopping purchase with their own credit card, and then requests a chargeback from the issuing bank after receiving the purchased goods or services. It is a problem which is not currently being properly addressed by most retailers.

The truth is the industry is also slow to react. Merchant liability often surfaces in the weeks following these shopping holidays – approximately 90 days after the purchase — as the costs of online fraud and chargebacks become apparent. In addition, big purchasing events, like Black Friday, produce significant alterations to normal customer shopping behaviours, making it even harder for merchants to identify and stop friendly fraud.

For them, sales are often seen as more important, but chargebacks can essentially make a greater loss when adding the value of the lost sale, as well as the cost of the goods and a chargeback fine. Worse still, ineffective or poor chargeback management is about to become even more costly.

The burden of chargebacks is not only owned by online merchants; issuers are getting increasingly serious about enforcing better governance on them. MasterCard recently acted to help reduce its own encumbrance by introducing its new Dispute Administration Fee (DAF). This is a fee passed through to merchants who fall foul of customer chargebacks and fail to effectively dispute their legitimacy. Ecommerce merchants can expect to pay an additional €15 fee for chargebacks they accept without filing rebuttal, and up to €30 if a non-compliant response is filed. Issuers are penalised as well with the reverse incentive.

As this year’s shopping season progresses, merchants who lack a disciplined chargeback policy are likely to be more vulnerable than ever before. The only way to avoid this is for retailers to understand chargebacks and the detrimental affect an ineffective risk mitigation system can have on their business. Beyond losing merchandise and revenue, online retailers can face additional fees and consequences, particularly if they exceed allotted chargeback thresholds.

Adhering to best practices reduces the risk of chargebacks. Superior results are obtained through the use of combined methods which leverage both in-house and outside expertise.

Recent studies performed by Global Risk Technologies revealed that merchants using a combination of fraud management strategies experienced improved performance within every fraud detection tool and reported a gain on average of 22.4% over those who did not utilise a layered approach or combination method.

Retailers don’t need to accept chargebacks as a cost of doing business. Acknowledging the problem and putting in place comprehensive management strategies can ensure merchants benefit from huge shopping days without sustaining enormous financial disasters.

Monica Eaton-Cardone is CIO and co-founder of Chargebacks911

The post The real shopping season sales killer appeared first on International Finance.