Booking.com is still giving customers a false impression of room availability, research revealed on Thursday. Which? Travel said that the hotel booking site continues to give a false impression of availability in order to pressure customers into quickly booking. Research shows that the “one room left on our site” prompts were false when entering the booking page. Booking.com, is among six websites – including Expedia, Agoda, Hotels.com, ebookers and Trivago – that were previously investigated for pressuring customers into purchasing, hidden costs, and other misleading tactics. Indeed, the websites were given until 01 September as a deadline to implement change. However, Which? Travel has found that Booking.com has not taken enough action. “Our snapshot research repeatedly found that ‘only 1 room left on our site’ prompts didn’t ring true when clicking through to the booking page,” said Which? Travel. “In one case, the site was offering another 34 rooms at the same London hotel – 10 of which were almost identical and cheaper in price than the ‘last room’ listed,” Which? Travel used as an example. CEO of the Competition and Marketing Authority (CMA), Andrea Coscelli, said that “the CMA will now be watching to make sure that these major brands, used by millions of people in the UK every year, stay true to their word.” “We will take action if we find evidence that firms are breaking consumer law.” Indeed, the Competition and Marketing Authority found that misleading room availability remarks, or not displaying the full cost up front, are potential breaches of consumer protection law. In a response, a spokesperson from Booking.com told Which? Travel that the site had worked hard to implement change. “We have worked hard to implement the commitments agreed with the CMA and maintain continuing collaboration and dialogue to inform ongoing enhancement of the consumer experience,” a Booking.com spokesperson told Sky News. The Competition and Marketing Authority added that 25 companies, which include TripAdvisor, Airbnb and Google, have each agreed to change the way they display information in order to abide by consumer protection law.

British retailer Next (LON:NXT) posted a rise in sales on Thursday in its half year results, though it warned that the warm September start has hindered sales more so than the prevailing political uncertainty. Shares in Next were down during trading on Thursday. Total group sales for the half year ending in July 2019 rose 3.7% to £2,058.8 million, compared to the £1,986.2 million figure reported a year earlier. Additionally, statutory profit before tax rose by 4% to £327.4 million. However, Next added in its half year results that the “the first few weeks of the Autumn season have been disappointing”. Indeed, Next said that the warm start to September has hindered sales to a greater extent than the political uncertainty which prevails as the nation approaches the extended Brexit deadline. “It is very hard to determine whether the uncertainty over Brexit is having any effect on consumer spending and we can find no evidence that it is affecting spending on small ticket price items,” Next added. “Some suggest that the fact of Brexit, of itself, might undermine consumer confidence. Certainly, the first few weeks of the Autumn season have been disappointing,” Next continued. “However, we believe that the warm start to September has done much more to hinder sales than the political temperature.” “Our experience is that political storms, of themselves, rarely affect sales and consumers only change their behaviour when those events directly impair their income or increase their non-discretionary expenditure. Our view is that Brexit will only materially affect consumer spending in the event that it triggers inflationary pressure on prices or logistical problems at our ports.” With the extended Halloween Brexit deadline fast approaching, the question remains – will the UK leave the European Union with a deal to prevent a spooky departure? Shares in Next plc (LON:NXT) were trading at -4.18% as of 12:33 BST Thursday.

New data revealed on Thursday that monthly retail sales dropped in August. The quantity of goods purchased in August dropped by 0.2%, according to latest data from the Office for National Statistics. The data shows that non-store retailing contributed the largest to this fall, “partially offsetting the strong growth reported last month for this sector,” said the Office for National Statistics. “Non-store retailing was the largest negative contributor on the month, with the amount spent and quantity bought both contributing negative 0.3 percentage points,” the report said. Year-on-year growth shows that the quantity purchased in August 2019 rose by 2.7% – though this is a slow down compared to the stronger growth witnessed earlier this year, peaking at 6.7% in March. The data from the Office for National statistics also shows that department stores have now experienced 12 consecutive months of no growth in the sector. As the extended Brexit deadline approaches, the only thing certain is additional uncertainty. Will the UK be able to secure a deal by the deadline and prevent a chaotic departure from the European Union? Brexit uncertainty is a factor cited by many that has weighed on consumer confidence in recent months. Moreover, several British retailers have struggled for survival amid the difficult trading conditions to hit the UK high street. Earlier this month, retailer John Lewis posted a loss in its half year results as trading conditions for the British retailer “continued to be difficult”. It also warned that a no-deal departure from the European Union would have a “significant” impact on its business. “Should the UK leave the EU without a deal, we expect the effect to be significant and it will not be possible to mitigate that impact,” John Lewis’ Sir Charlie Mayfield warned earlier this month in its half year results.

The British multination alcoholic beverages company Diageo (LON:DGE) issued an update on Thursday ahead of its 2019 AGM. Shares in the owner of Captain Morgan, Tanqueray, Gordon’s and Guinness were down during trading on Thursday morning. Chief Executive Ivan Menezes said that Diageo continues to expect organic net sales growth to be towards the mid-point of the 4% to 6% range, with organic operating profit growing roughly one percentage point ahead of organic net sales. “This is consistent with what we are targeting over the medium-term,” the Chief Executive continued. Diageo underlined that, due to a strong prior year comparable, for the first half it expects organic operating profit growth to be in-line with or slightly behind organic net sales growth. “Fiscal 20 has started well as we continue to build on the momentum and consistent progress we are making in the execution of our strategy. Our focus remains on delivering quality sustainable growth. This is supported by a culture of everyday efficiency that enables us to invest smartly in marketing and growth initiatives while expanding margins,” Ivan Menezes said. The Chief Executive added that the company was closely monitoring changes to global trade policy as Diageo is not immune from any impacts this might have. “We would not be immune from significant changes to global trade policy and continue to monitor this closely,” Ivan Menezes said in a company statement. Earlier in July, Diageo reported an operating profit of £4 billion in its preliminary results. For the year ended 30 June 2019, operating profit rose 9.5%. The multinational alcoholic drinks company is the owner of Gordon’s gin. Indeed, it said that a strong growth in gin continued with Tanqueray and Gordon’s growing to double digit in Europe and Turkey, and Western Europe continued to gain market share in gin. Shares in Diageo plc (LON:DGE) were trading at -0.43% as of 10:40 BST Thursday.