Bloomberg Mothercare Plc reported a sharp drop in UK sales over the holiday season, underlining the depths of the country’s retail crisis as store owners wrestle with higher costs and a shift to online shopping. Like-for-like sales in the UK declined 7.2 percent in the past 12 weeks, the childrenswear retailer said on Monday. Gross margins are also set to …

Bloomberg The company with the biggest grip on Thailand’s brick-and-mortar retail market is expecting a partnership with China’s JD.com Inc. to help it do the same in online sales. Central Group, which controls Thailand’s biggest operator of shopping malls and department stores, expects online sales to account for as much as 15 percent of its revenue in five years, from …

Reuters A package of handouts to Saudi Arabian citizens to compensate them for cost of living increases will cost the government about 50 billion riyals ($13.3 billion) this year, the information minister was quoted as saying on Sunday. “The allocation of 50 billion riyals for this decree indicates the leadership’s concern for the people’s comfort and quality of living,” Minister …