Amazon UK to add "a lot more" grocery products
Christopher North, the company’s UK boss, said it planned rapid development of its groceries service. Amazon Pantry, which launched in November, allows customers to buy from a range of 4,000 grocery and household products. The service means households can quickly stock up on items, with a £2.99 delivery charge for a large box. “We are really happy with the early numbers,” North said. “In the new year we are going to be adding a lot more products.” (theguardian.com)Norway: Kiwi announces 7.5% discount on fresh produce
KIWI continues to make it cheaper to live healthier. With the new loyalty program, KIWI Plus customers will get a 7.5% discount on fresh fruit and vegetables. "With the launch of KIWI Plus, we will make it easier and cheaper for our customers to choose healthier options in life. With KIWI Plus, they get the full 7.5% bonus on all fresh fruits and vegetables. This comes on top of the already low prices we have on fruit and vegetables," says KIWI manager Jan Paul Bjørkøy. "At most stores, we have moved the fruit and vegetable department to the front. This has contributed to KIWI selling 20% more fruits and vegetables in 2015 compared with 2014," says Bjørkøy, who believes the positive trend will continue in 2016.Ahold will thrive if Amazon stays clear of the Netherlands
Major online pure players cannot sustain themselves in the highly digitized Dutch market, which is why Aholdthrives in this particular market: both online and offline, it is miles ahead of the competition, something that its merger with Delhaize will only strengthen. Jumbo is Ahold's only real competitor, but it has to catch up, which it may do if it strikes a deal with British Ocado. That is Rabobank's opinion in its newest Ahold-focused report. The analysis is titled "The Dutch omnichannel Amazon", creating high expectations for the Dutch retail multinational's online growth potential. The report ignores Ahold's American online division, Peapod, and focuses entirely on Ahold's Dutch online and offline activities. According to the Rabobank analysts, that was done because "the market does not entirely understand these activities". Please, click here to read more at retaildetail.eu.UK: Shoppers enjoyed cheapest grocery shop for a year in December
Grocery prices in December were the cheapest in more than a year as supermarkets competed for shoppers with savings during the Christmas period, figures show. December sees cheapest grocery prices in more than a year. The cost of a basket of 35 popular products cost £85.91 last month, a full 1% less than the previous month, according to comparison website mySupermarket.co.uk. The products that dropped the most from November to December were mushrooms, down 18%, onions, down 7%, and pasta, down 5%. (expressandstar.com)Sainsbury’s bid for home retail group rejected
Sainsbury’s attempt to further expand into non-food retailing has suffered a setback after its £1bn bid to buy the Home Retail Group, which controls Homebase and Argos, was rejected, theguardian.com reports. The supermarket chain, which may be considering a bigger offer, says bringing together groceries with homeware, electricals, and furniture would “create a food and non-food retailer of choice”. Its connections to Argos and Homebase are longstanding – it owned the latter until it sold it to what is now the Home Retail Group in 2000, and there are Argos stores in certain Sainsbury’s supermarkets across the UK. (esmmagazine.com)
Dunnes Stores has executed a streamlining of its Byzantine corporate structure by centralising the previously disparate ownership of many of its Irish stores through a single company. The simplification of its structure could potentially make it easier for Dunnes to separate its business along geographic lines in future, if the family behind Ireland’s largest indigenous retailer was ever to sell part of the business. (irishtimes.com)Meikles sees HY loss increase, but retail division outperforms
Zimbabwe-based Meikles said it generated a net loss of US$10.8m in the first six months of its financial year, up from US$2.8m in the previous year, but noted that total group revenue rose 15%, to US$225m, with its retail division enjoying revenue growth of 17%. Within the retail division, Meikles said it opened two new stores, while others were renovated. Looking ahead, in a separate announcement, Meikles said that it would invest US$1.5m on the addition of 15 Mega Market stores in 2016, as it aims to target lower income shoppers, a pace of growth that would see it reach 50 Mega Market stores by the end of 2018. (igd.com)Edeka unveils major private label campaign
German retailer Edeka has unveiled a major campaign for its private label range, under the tagline 'Soooo viel, soooo günstig' (Soooo much, soooo cheap'). The campaign will focus on the 'attractive price-performance ratio of private labels' in Edeka stores, the retailer said, as well as highlight the sustainability credentials of its portfolio of store brands. (esmmagazine.com)Ukwala Supermarket petitions court to review Sh1b security order
Ukwala Supermarket has asked the High Court to review its earlier orders requiring it to deposit hefty security to cover for tax row with the Kenyan Revenue Authority (KRA) before it could sell its outlets to a Botswana company, Choppies Ltd. Ukwala Supermarket argued the orders by the court requiring it to issue a Sh1 bln security to sell its outlets will cause damages to its operations. (standardmedia.co.ke)
Kroger is going to become Amazon and Walmart's biggest threatPlease, click here to read the article.
Dutch Jumbo posts sales growth after new store openings
After investing in new store openings in 2015, Dutch retailer Jumbo has reported consumer sales growth of €1.427bn to €6.250bn, a 30% increase compared to 2014. Adjusting for the extra sales week in 2015 (when the fiscal year was 53 weeks), this is still an increase of 27% on the previous year’s figures. The retailer said this growth has been driven by new store openings across the Netherlands, where its number of outlets rose from 499 to 580, as well as by sales in existing stores. (esmmagazine.com)Woolworths expands to China via Tmall
Supermarket giant, Woolworths, has launched its online store on Tmall Global, the overseas platform of Alibaba Group’s B2C Tmall business in China, enabling Chinese consumers to order a range of products directly from the company. (insideretail.com.au)Cote d'Ivoire: CFAO opens first Carrefour branded store
Following the signing of a joint venture agreement in May 2013, CFAO has opened its first Carrefour branded hypermarket in Cote d'Ivoire. The store marks the first opening of the joint venture agreement, which provides CFAO with the opportunity to open Carrefour stores in eight countries. CFAO has previously said that it plans to open 80 shopping centres, which will invariably contain a Carrefour hypermarket, over the next 10 years. (igd.com)Now you can order groceries straight from your refrigerator
Refrigerator technology is about to get way cooler — and New Yorkers will be among the first to get a peek. Samsung unveiled its new Family Hub refrigerator at the CES gadget show on Tuesday, touting its ability to order groceries through an app that’s displayed on a 21.5-inch computer screen on its right-hand door. The fridge’s newfangled app, which has been developed in a partnership with MasterCard, will initially work with two New York-area grocers, FreshDirect and ShopRite. (nypost.com)Uchumi posts loss, seeks investor for turnaround plan
Kenya-based Uchumi generated a loss of US$30.8m in its year ending June, a result that it blamed on impairment charges generated by the closure of outlets and exiting Tanzania and Uganda as part of its turnaround strategy. The retailer said that revenue fell to US$124.1m, driven by store closures and sales lost during a period when suppliers withheld products after the retailer did not pay its bills. Following the results announcement, Uchumi said it was seeking investors to inject up to US$48.1m into the business to help fund its turnaround strategy. (igd.com)Choppies files application for acquisition in South Africa
Botswana-based Choppies has filed an application with the South African Competition Commission setting out its intention to purchase 21 Jwayelani-branded stores in KwaZulu-Natal and the Eastern Cape. (igd.com)US: Marsh Supermarkets makes it personal
Indianapolis-based Marsh is partnering with targeted marketing software vendor inStream to provide personalized, targeted offers on the front of consumer receipts. InStream drives customer engagement and sales via personalized targeting based on customer-specific purchase data. Marsh’s goals are to extend and build loyalty with frequent shoppers at its Marsh and O’Malia’s banners, as well as generate trial and repeat purchases via timely offers tied to in-store merchandising programs. (chainstoreage.com)Auchan to invest €195m in Russia
Auchan announced that it would invest around €195m in Russia during 2016 to enhance its presence in the country. The major chunk of the money will be spent to create and maintain a distribution network for the company in Russia. Using the investment the company would create 10 Auchan City stores and 40 different Atak outlets. (internationalsupermarketnews.com)