Britain’s consumers are taking a more cautious approach to shopping as higher inflation above the level of earnings eats into their spending power. Only higher spending on food in supermarkets kept retail sales growing last month, with declines in all other main sectors, according to figures published on Thursday by the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Strong food sales in stores at 1.5%, up from 1.1% a month earlier, helped offset a decline elsewhere, said Ole Black, an ONS senior statistician. (theguardian.com)Americans are buying more food at Walmart
The retailer on Thursday said food sales had grown to their highest level in five years, as Walmart expands its grocery business both in stores and online by adding more organic produce. “We’ve seen strong results from the rollout of online grocery, which is now in more than 900 U.S. locations,” Doug McMillon, president and chief executive of Walmart, said in a Thursday call with analysts. “We’re expanding this service in many of our markets around the world.” In all, the company said e-commerce sales increased by 60 percent in the most recent quarter. For Q2, Walmart reported total revenue of $123.4 billion, an increase of $2.5 billion, or 2.1 percent. Excluding currency, total revenue came to $124.4 billion, an increase of $3.5 billion, or 2.9 percent. Walmart U.S. comparable-store sales edged up 1.8 percent, with traffic growth of 1.3 percent, marking the division’s twelfth straight quarter of positive comps. (washingtonpost.com / progressivegrocer.com) French grocery trends changing as discount market grows: IGD
The French grocery market is changing as increased investment is going into new discount store concepts across the country, according to market research group IGD. The organisation says that France has not traditionally been known as a discount market for the grocery sector, but that the situation is rapidly evolving. IGD says that organic food and product reformulation represent significant opportunities in France as consumers are focusing more on health and well-being. One of the fastest-growing opportunities is the food-to-go market. (esmmagazine.com) Online food sales are eating into traditional supermarkets’ sales
New official retail figures showing online food sales up 13.9 per cent increase the pressure on Britain’s beleaguered traditional supermarkets, says e-commerce delivery expert Fastlane International. July’s Office of National Statistics (ONS) retail results, released today, reveal online food spending was up nearly 14 per cent YoY. This makes online food sales worth 5.3 per cent of all UK consumer spending. Responding to these figures the e-commerce home delivery experts Fastlane International say this shows UK High Street supermarkets are now under threat. (londonlovesbusiness.com) Chinese Alibaba’s profit doubles
Alibaba had another blockbuster quarter of business as its profits almost doubled. The Chinese e-commerce giant reported net profit of 14 billion RMB ($2.1 billion) for its recent quarter that finished June 30 — that’s up 96 percent year-on-year. Total revenue grew 56 percent to reach 50.2 billion CNY ($7.4 billion), easily exceeding estimates, with the firm reporting 466 million active buyers over the previous 12-month period. (techcrunch.com)Dutch online-only supermarket Picnic builds new DC
Picnic, the online-only supermarket from the Netherlands that raised 100 million euros in March this year, has started to build a big distribution center in the center of the country. In about seven months, a new distribution center that covers 35,000 square meters should arise. (ecommercenews.eu) UK: Asda posts best quarterly performance in three years
UK retailer Asda has reported that like-for-like sales were up by 1.8% in the second quarter of the year, following eleven consecutive quarters of sales declines. The company also recorded a 3.9% increase in revenue year-on-year, making this Asda's best quarterly performance in over three years. Ray Gaul, vice president of Kantar Retail, says that Asda's "much-improved" results will bring "a temporary sigh of relief to new boss Sean Clarke". (esmmagazine.com) AU: Woolworths signs up as supermarket and fresh food sponsor
Supermarket giant Woolworths has been named the official supermarket and fresh food sponsor of the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games. Andrew Hicks, director of marketing at Woolworths, said the supermarket had always supported Australian community events and the team is excited to be a part of the event. “Eating fresh and healthy food is also essential to the success of any athlete and we are thrilled that our partnership and involvement with the Australian team will help inspire the next generation of sporting champions,” Hicks said. (mumbrella.com.au)