Black Friday

Black Friday, shoppers heaven to some but not to others. Black Friday occurs the day after Thanksgiving and it is comparable with the Boxing Day sales in the UK. Retailers offer stock on that day at really low prices, which tempts people to go shopping. More deals, more shopping, same amount of floor space and parking spaces. You work out the equation. It is called Black Friday because it has been said that this is the day that the retailers go into the black, meaning they are making profit. It also allows retailers to clear end of the line stock, ready for the new products coming in. In the past as you will read in the attached article, there have been "incidents" occurring in shops due to the frenzy being stirred up for the latest deals and last remaining items on the shelves. Retailers such as Walmart are now saying that if the product is not on the shelf on that day,not to worry, pay for it and the product will be delivered from another store or warehouse and you can pick it up on another day. Go one step further, why focus on one day a year, spread the savings out over the year. Article

Merger

A merger between Boots Alliance and Walgreens is set to become the worlds largest healthcare retailers. The synergies between the two companies is set to or should I say hope to equate to more than the 2 separate companies. This should result in increased market share, higher turnover and profits. A greater number of retail outlets, sharing of products resulting in a wider product range, shared development costs, distribution costs and many more. This could also mean diseconomies in scale with regards  to communication and job losses as restructuring takes place. Could there be potential derailment if the culture and leadership of these two companies are not aligned. Article