Shopping

Online fashion retailer Asos has snapped up Arcadia's Topshop, Topman, Miss Selfridge, and HIIT brands and stock for £330 million - but its high street stores aren't included in the deal and will close for good. Here's what it means for shoppers, including your gift card and return rights.  The news comes after Sir Philip Green's Arcadia Group, which operated 444 stores across the UK under its Burton, Dorothy Perkins, Evans, Miss Selfridge, Outfit, Topman, Topshop and Wallis brands, announced it had collapsed into administration in December 2020 due to the pandemic "severely impacting" sales.  Stores had continued to trade in the meantime, despite Deloitte being appointed as administrator for the retail empire, though they later temporarily closed when stricter coronavirus lockdown measures were imposed across the UK.  In a similar move, online retailer Boohoo purchased Debenhams' brand and website just last week after the department store chain also fell into administration. The sale means all 118 of Debenhams' UK stores will close for good. For general info on what you can do to try to reclaim cash from a firm in administration if things go wrong, see our Administration Help guide.

Online grocery seller Ocado is to ditch its 'Low Price Promise' from 1 February. If you're an Ocado shopper, here's what it means for you.

Ikea shoppers now have longer to make use of £20 gift vouchers that were given out as part of its annual Christmas tree promotion, as the retailer has extended their validity until mid-April. It comes after concerns shoppers can't redeem vouchers as Ikea stores are closed due to coronavirus restrictions. 

Nectar cardholders can now exchange loyalty points for Avios points, and vice versa. It comes after a similar partnership between the frequent flyer points programme and Tesco's Clubcard scheme ended earlier this month. However, this is largely a worse deal for Avios collectors.

Debenhams is set to disappear from the high street with all 118 of its remaining UK branches to close for good as online fashion retailer Boohoo buys the brand and website for £55 million. Here's what the move means for shoppers, including those with gift cards. 

DPD Local has been ranked as the best parcel delivery firm in our annual poll of MoneySavingExpert.com users, while its sister company DPD – the previous winner of our poll – came second. At the other end of the scale, CitySprint and Yodel got the poorest ratings from MoneySavers. The results come after a hard year for parcel delivery firms in which they've been an essential supply line for many stuck at home.

MoneySavingExpert.com founder Martin Lewis has stepped into a customer's Twitter spat with online retailer Very after it gave out what he slammed as WRONG information. Very wrongly pushed the customer to a manufacturer when the firm itself is legally responsible for faults. The firm has now apologised and offered the customer a 'gesture of goodwill'.

Hundreds of BP customers have wrongly been given receipts showing they’d won reward points worth £2,000. BP initially said this was a glitch and refused to pay out, although it has since U-turned and will now honour prize wins. But you need to submit a claim to get the points – here's what you need to know.   

Furious Tesco shoppers have complained after card payments made at some of the retailer's petrol stations were taken months after they were made. Some said they didn't have the cash to cover payments, although Tesco promises to refund any bank charges incurred if you do go into the red.  

The Government is providing parents of some children in England who qualify for free school meals with £15 food vouchers, as it did earlier in the pandemic. The vouchers can be used at multiple supermarkets including Aldi, Asda and Tesco, however M&S is topping up the vouchers for its stores to £20, covering the cost of the extra £5 itself. Here, we crunch the numbers and Martin Lewis gives his views on whether the higher value M&S voucher is worth it given it's often a pricier store.