Who's been saying what this week?

Choice quotes from the retail technology world

“This Christmas, sales have even exceeded our high expectations. Poundland is buzzing, significantly outperforming the market, entering the new year with great confidence.” Barry Williams, Poundland’s MD for the UK and Ireland 

“The market has been challenging and particularly promotional in some of our key seasonal categories and we have responded in order to remain competitive for our customers, which has impacted our profit performance.” Sergio Bucher, Chief Executive at Debenhams 

“Amazon believes the future of retail is a mix of mostly online and some offline. Target is the ideal offline partner for Amazon for two reasons, shared demographic and manageable but comprehensive store count.” Gene Munster, tech analyst and co-founder of Loup Ventures

“I love how an investment firm, that probably has an interest in Target, says Amazon will buy Target, and all these "industry experts" jump on the idea like a cat chasing a laser pointer. From their website: Disclaimer: From time to time, we will write about companies that are in our portfolio. #headsmack” Brendan Witcher, Principal Analyst, Forrester - Digital Business Strategy

“Most retailers do not want to publicly accept that wardrobing happens, but it is a reality they have to deal with. At this time of year wardrobing can be seen when a party dress worn for the office Christmas party is returned. It is virtually impossible for retailers to prevent wardrobing, but some are starting to make inroads by using data and analytics to identify repeat returns in order that these customers can be prevented from ordering in future.” Stuart Higgins, Director – Retail, at LCP Consulting

“Why is the United States Post Office, which is losing many billions of dollars a year, while charging Amazon and others so little to deliver their packages, making Amazon richer and the Post Office dumber and poorer? Should be charging MUCH MORE!” US President, Donald Trump

“For us, Amazon is complicit.” Birkenstock’s Chief Oliver Reichert

And Amazon’s response…

“We prohibit the sale of fraudulent products. We work diligently with vendors, sellers and rights owners to detect and prevent fraudulent products reaching our marketplace.”

“This was our busiest-ever Christmas as millions of festive shoppers switched to Aldi from more expensive food retailers. Although we saw strong growth across all categories, the performance of our premium Specially Selected range in particular surpassed all expectations. This is a clear sign that shoppers knew they could indulge in Christmas treats and festive essentials at Aldi for a fraction of the price they would pay elsewhere. We see significant capacity for further growth as there are still more than 400 towns and cities across the UK without an Aldi store. Shoppers in these areas consistently tell us they would shop with us if they could, and we are committed to meeting this demand for new Aldi stores.” Matthew Barnes, CEO at Aldi UK and Ireland