Gary Barlow’s tweet that launched 15,000 visits Friday, 16th December 2011

A tweet sent by Take That star and X Factor judge Gary Barlow before last weekend’s final sent over 15,000 visitors to online UK sweetshop AQuarterOf.co.uk

In a matter of seconds after sending the tweet from his account at @GBarlowOfficial, over 15,000 of Barlow’s 972,000 fans logged on to the sweet specialist’s website, signalling an unprecedented spike in traffic from fans eager to ‘Check this bag of goodies out @aquarterof.co.uk’, as Barlow’s tweet suggested.

Michael Parker, managing director of A Quarter Of, said: “We had no idea what was going on. There was a sudden massive flood of orders which, on top of Christmas, put a real strain on operations. But we’ve got a great technology team and a great hosting company so we just ploughed on until we got everything done.”

Although the retailer isn’t at liberty to say what the Take That singer bought, Parker added: “We are incredibly proud to count him as a fan. Lots of people in the office have been fans of his for years and some of them are still a little bit giddy about the whole thing.”

Posted in Consumers, E-Commerce, Online retail, Retail Industry Tagged gary barlow, tweet, take that, a quarter of, aquarterof, x factor, twitter, social media, ecommerce, etail

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John Lewis sales up a ‘resilient’ 6% Monday, 14th November 2011

Lewis McGowan celebrates landing the role of lead for the John Lewis Christmas advert

Even in the midst of the mildest November on record, John Lewis has managed to kick-off the beginning of peak Christmas trading with a 6 per cent surge in sales.

Last week to Saturday 12 November saw a small 0.8 per cent dip on last year’s sales figures, but an increase of 6 per cent week-on-week, with the department store achieving a total of £76.3 million in sales.

Home furnishings and bedding were the strongest performers for the retail group, which also reported excellent sales of Christmas trees and gifts.

Andrew Murphy, Retail Director, John Lewis, said: 'With very strong figures from last year against us, milder weather than is seasonal and the turbulent economic climate, our results show that our customers are beginning to think seriously about Christmas and making John Lewis their destination for purchases. They give us continued confidence that John Lewis' strong and innovative products, customer service and price matching will ensure our position as market leader on the high street over the festive season.'

The news comes just two days after John Lewis launched its Christmas television advert in a prime-time slot during ITV’s X Factor.

Posted in Department Stores Tagged john lewis, department store, christmas, sales, profit, peak, season, gift, x factor

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M&S counts on the X Factor for Christmas ad campaign Monday, 3rd October 2011

Last year's Marks & Spencer Christmas advert featuring Twiggy and Dannii Minogue

The UK department store, which is already an official fashion partner to the reality talent show, has announced that the show’s 16 finalists will front its Christmas television advert this year.

The aspiring pop stars will feature in a 60 second advert designed to appeal to The X Factor’s target audience of 16 to 24 year olds. In what is being dubbed the ‘M&X Factor’, the ITV programme’s contestants will record a contemporary version of When You Wish Upon A Star.

As an extension of M&S’s contract announced last month as the show’s official fashion partner, the deal is worth several million pounds to The X Factor, which usually commands audiences of up to 12 million.

A Marks & Spencer source said: ‘The finalists have never had a commercial partnership outside of the show before and it’s certainly the first time M&S have done anything like this.

‘We always have a big stand-alone Christmas campaign that becomes a talking point for our customers.

‘But this year rather than using celebrities, the campaign will feature The X Factor contestants and their God-given talents.’

Posted in Department Stores, Advertising Campaigns Tagged marks & spencer, marks and spencer, department store, m&s, the x factor, x factor, show, advert, programme

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Mary Byrne not returning to Tesco Tuesday, 7th December 2010

Former checkout worker Mary Byrne has said that she has no plans to return to Tesco afterThe X Factor.  Byrne, who was voted off the show on Sunday's semi-final, joked that the only time she would be returning to her old workplace would be as a customer."No I won't be going back to Tesco," she told X Magazine. "Unless it's to buy my own album. I hope."  Read more on Digital Spy

Posted in Uncategorized Tagged food, mary byrne, News, Retail, Supermarkets, Tesco, x factor

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