Retailers cut UK advertising instead of lowering prices -
British retailers, food producers and consumer goods makers are cutting back on advertising to direct their firepower instead at lowering prices in the face of rising inflation, hitting the income of media groups. ITV, said on Wednesday that ad revenue for the first four months of 2017 would be down 6% after it reported its first annual fall in a key revenue stream since 2009. "A lot of the marketing support out there at the moment is going into supporting price cuts, given the levels of inflation that are coming through in that market," ITV's CEO said. (Reuters)
UK: Waitrose's new digital shelf tells more about product
British retailers, food producers and consumer goods makers are cutting back on advertising to direct their firepower instead at lowering prices in the face of rising inflation, hitting the income of media groups. ITV, said on Wednesday that ad revenue for the first four months of 2017 would be down 6% after it reported its first annual fall in a key revenue stream since 2009. "A lot of the marketing support out there at the moment is going into supporting price cuts, given the levels of inflation that are coming through in that market," ITV's CEO said. (Reuters)UK: Waitrose's new digital shelf tells more about product
Waitrose is trialling the use of next generation digital shelf edge ticketing to explore how the technology might be used to engage with customers in the future. Over the course of the 12-week trial the technology will be used to support seasonal campaigns and give customers access to the expertise available in its buying team through tasting notes and recommendations, the retailer says in a press release. Ahold Delhaize to achieve close to half of synergy savings by end 2017
The CFO at Ahold Delhaize, Jeff Carr, has told ESM that the Netherlands-based retailer should achieve approximately €220m of net synergies by the end of 2017, as part of the integration of the former Ahold and Delhaize businesses. This is close to half (44%) of the anticipated €500m worth of net synergies that the group hopes to achieve by financial year 2019. Please, click here to read the article at esmmagazine.com. UK: Lidl pilots fun-size vegetable range for kids
Lidl is piloting a new fun-size vegetable range to encourage children to eat their greens. The supermarket announced that stores will launch five new products, following a 20% increase in sales of their existing fun-size fruit and vegetable range. Not only that, but the new fun-sized products have been given names and packaging designs to engage a younger audience. These include: Mini broccoli trees, cauliflower clouds, sweet potato piggies, romanesaurus rex and unicorn carrots. (huffingtonpost.co.uk)US: Publix turns in solid quarter
Publix Supermarkets’ sales and profit rose in the fourth quarter amid continued expansion. Publix’s net earnings for the fourth quarter rose 4.5% to $544.5m, from $521.1m in the year-ago period. Sales rose 11.1% to $9.1bn. (The additional week in the fourth quarter of 2016 increased sales by 7.4%.) Same-store sales increased 2.2%. Publix has been expanding, opening stores in the Carolinas. It will open its first stores in Virginia this year. (chainstoreage.com) El Corte Inglés creates organic store in store, La Biosfera
Spanish retailer El Corte Inglés has reinforced its commitment to organic products by creating La Biosfera, a new business unit focused on ecological, bio and organic products, as well as a new private-label brand. The concept will start in Valencia and is planned to be launched in 19 outlets in total by next autumn. After this phase, the company will open the concept in its supermarket and Hipercor formats. El Corte Inglés also said that it will be reinforcing its position in the organic market by launching new private-label brand El Corte Inglés Bio in La Biosfera. These products will focus on sourcing from local producers. (esmmagazine.com)UK: Aldi opens 700th store
Aldi has opened its 700th store in the UK, just weeks after it officially became the country's fifth-largest grocer. The German discount supermarket chain also confirmed it will have 1000 UK stores by 2022. The 700th store opened in Whitstable, Kent, and is one of the 70 stores the supermarket retailer plans to open this year. (retailgazette.co.uk) Tesco completes sale of its Kipa business in Turkey
Tesco has completed the sale of its stake in Turkish supermarket chain Kipa, which it bought in 2003. The sale was first announced in June last year, as part of Tesco's efforts to offload its underperforming assets and focus on its core supermarket business. (cityam.com) Delhaize’s home territory, Belgium, had the worst performance out of any separate market: its fourth quarter turnover dropped 1 % and its full-year performance was a mere 1.7 % turnover increase to 4.94bn euro. Delhaize’s market share remained stable, at 24.1 %. “In Belgium, sales performance reflected a softer holiday season compared to 2015. However, underlying operating margins slightly improved due to capturing synergies”, CEO Dick Boer said. (retaildetail.eu) Coop Norge sees grocery market share rise 1.5 percentage points
Norwegian grocer Coop Norge has seen its market share rise by 1.52 percentage points in the past year, despite operating 28 fewer stores than a year earlier. At the same time, competitor Rema saw its market share rise by 0.16 percentage points, despite operating 17 more stores, according to a Coop statement. “It's been a fantastic year for Coop,” said Geir Inge Stokke, the company’s CEO. “The result is unambiguous: Coop is the winner in the Norwegian grocery market in 2016.” (esmmagazine.com)European grocery market grows fastest in a year: Nielsen
Grocery retailers surveyed in 21 European countries reported a 1.8% year-on-year boost in sales of fast-moving consumer goods. “One of the factors is because consumers are swapping to more premium and fresh foods,” explains Olivier Deschamps, senior VP of retailer services for Europe. Turkey saw the largest rise, tripling its numbers over the decade and increasing 8.8% on the final quarter of 2015. Poland (+4.7%) and Hungary (+4.5%) filled out the top three leaders of 2016. (esmmagazine.com)X5 Retail Group asks suppliers to reduce prices by 10%
X5 Retail Group, which owns "Pyaterochka", "Crossroads" and "Carousel" has asked its suppliers to reduce the purchase price by 10%. The company said that the letter with the proposal was sent to its suppliers in mid-February. "Some of X5 Retail Group's suppliers have already responded positively to reduce purchase prices," the company said. The X5 Retail Group pointed out that the request is caused by the strengthening of the rouble. (polit.ru)US: Target shares details of $7bn capital investment plan
Target Corp announced that it wants to open 30 small format stores in 2017, doubling its presence in urban markets and on college campuses. By 2019, Target aims to operate more than 130 smaller stores. (chainstoreage.com)
US: SpartanNash prepares Click-and-Collect Pilot
SpartanNash, the Grands Rapids, Michigan based wholesaler and retailer, plans to unveil a new e-commerce service that will allow customers to order products online and pick them up in store. To develop the platform, SpartanNash is working with Unata, which provides end-to-end e-commerce, digital marketing and related solutions for grocers. Please, click here to read the article at groceryheadquarters.com. Retailers urged to tackle food waste via labelling
Retailers could reduce an estimated 350,000 tonnes of avoidable household food waste per year via changes to packaging and ‘Use By’ dates, a survey by WRAP has claimed today (27 February). The Retailer Survey – which is used to inform WRAP’s work on meeting the Courtauld Commitment 2025 – is based on data collected across 9,000 individual food items as well as 78 retail stores across England, Wales and Scotland. (letsrecycle.com) 
