“Congratulations Mrs Morris, you’re three month’s pregnant”
said the Doctor, and promptly handed us a ‘Pregnancy Information Folder’ from the Bounty Parenting Club.
“That’s fantastic news,”, I thought, “one of the happiest moments of my life; there’s a type of loyalty programme I haven’t seen before.”
It’s a tough old world on the high street, as we’re constantly being told, but there is one strand of retail that does appear to be thriving. The virtual high street, of course. According to February’s e-Retail Sales Index from IMRG and Capgemini, overall spend on the internet in February was 20% up on the same month last year. Indeed, UK online retail sales for January and February alone are worth more than £10 billion. Fashion did even better, with clothing footwear and accessories sales up a staggering 34% year-on-year. Even the Head of Online Selling at John Lewis, Jonathan Brown acknowledged: “Fashion led the way, outperforming 2010 by over 50%.
So is it that easy?
After yesterday’s controversial declarations from the big banks, today’s bonus news focuses on the John Lewis Partnership, who have announced that they are sharing £200m with their employees after a 20 per cent leap in profits during 2010. Does anyone resent this?
