Over 50 K-Exquisit products were re-introduced to Kaufland’s assortment in Bulgaria in mid-March. The range is not part of the constant assortment and was added for a period of two weeks. Kaufland looks to keep its assortment fresh with the introduction of temporary ranges amongst its smaller country operations, such as Bulgaria, to build brand equity and shopper awareness of its private label offer.Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
France: Auchan launches AI driven promotion
Auchan, in conjunction with UntieNots, is set to launch a personalised promotion that will use AI technology to continually improve the offers provided to shoppers. The roll out of the programme follows a successful trial by Auchan in 2017, which saw 150,000 of its Woah cardholders targeted with the innovation.Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
Indonesia: Ramayana plans to close several supermarket outlets
Retail chain Ramayana Lestari Sentosa, popularly known as Ramayana, is currently studying the plans to close a number of its outlets in 2018. Ramayana Company Secretary Setyadi Surya said that the company had suppressed its sales cost last year by closing 16 of its outlets that have gone through sales losses. The strategy turned out to be effective in affecting the retailer’s performance. Throughout 2015 and 2016, the loss experienced by the Ramayana Supermarket division reached Rp80bln and Rp71bln, respectively. Meanwhile, after the gradual closure, the company’s loss dropped to Rp25.8bln.Source: en.tempo.co
Spar Slovenija reports the highest growth in sales for a decade
Last year the retailer Spar Slovenija recorded the biggest growth in gross sales revenue in the last ten years, topping at EUR 776mln or slightly less than 4% more than in 2016. Owned by the Salzburg-based SES Spar European Shopping Centers, Spar Slovenija also increased its market share last year to an estimated 22%, which makes it the second largest grocer in Slovenia.Source: total-slovenia-news.com
India: BigBasket wholesale generates Rs1,176cr turnover in FY'17
The wholesale arm of online grocer BigBasket more than doubled its turnover to Rs1,176crore in FY17 from Rs563crore in the last fiscal, as per documents with the Ministry of Corporate Affairs sourced through datatracking platform Tofler. BigBasket has two registered operating entities. Supermarket Grocery Supplies is the B2B entity which sources products and sells it to Innovative Retail, which runs the online grocery portal. This is probably why Innovative Retail’s revenues almost align with the other entity’s. Innovative Retail also reported doubling of revenues from Rs527crore in FY16 to Rs1,090crore in FY17. BigBasket did not respond to queries sent by ET.Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com
India: Grofers goes electric
Having announced fresh fundings of Rs400crores recently, online grocery startup Grofers has reportedly commenced delivery operations in the national capital region via e-rickshaws. The move is expected to reduce delivery cost by about 25% and the company is aiming to get about 50 e-rickshaws on Delhi-NCR roads in the next few months. In addition to reducing the cost of deliveries by about 25%, upsizing of the environment-friendly fleet of electric vehicles will help Grofers help cater to their increasing orders.Source: mybigplunge.com
Japan’s retail sales rebound to modest gain in February
Japan’s retail sales rebounded in February following a sharp decline a month earlier, with the increase was driven mostly by higher prices, particularly for energy and vegetables. Retail sales rose 0.4% in February (forecast +0.6%) from January, when they declined a revised 1.6%. Sales increased 1.6% from a year ago (forecast +1.7%). Sales at department stores and supermarkets advanced 0.6% from a year earlier (forecast +0.9%).Source: bloomberg.com
South Africa: FNB customers can now use their eWallet to pay at Spar
FNB has announced that consumers can now use their FNB eWallet to purchase goods and withdraw cash at participating owner-managed Spar stores in South Africa. Called ‘eWallet@till’, the cardless functionality uses a cellphone to enable eWallet recipients to make over the counter purchases and withdrawals at over 1,300 participating Spar outlets, the bank said.Source: businesstech.co.za
South Korea: Shinsegae to open grocery stores in US
Shinsegae Vice Chairman Chung Yong-jin said the retailer will enter the U.S. market with its supermarket brand in May next year, as well as revealing a plan to build a massive facility to control the group's online shopping business. "We are seeking to open a PK Market store in the U.S. in May of next year," Chung told reporters during the group's job fair at COEX convention center in Samseong-dong, Seoul. "We are about to sell Asian groceries that can attract U.S. citizens." Source: koreatimes.co.kr
US: Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. amends and expands credit facility
Sprouts Farmers Market, Inc. announced the closing of an amended and restated credit agreement that increased the company’s total commitments to $700mln, extended its maturity through March 2023 and added financial flexibility. At closing, Sprouts had outstanding total borrowings of $368mln and letters of credits of $27mln, with a remaining availability of $305mln under this credit facility. The rate on approximately 70% of outstanding debt under this credit facility is fixed, due to certain floating to fixed swaps implemented in December 2017. “While we plan to continue to fund operations and unit growth through our strong cash flow generation, this expanded facility provides Sprouts with greater financial flexibility to execute on our capital allocation strategy,” said Brad Lukow, chief financial officer of Sprouts Farmers Market.Source: globenewswire.com
US: Walmart commits to reducing emissions in China
Walmart committed to cutting 50mln metric tonnes of carbon emissions from its Chinese operations - attempting to play the good corporate citizen in a country where it’s making increasingly ambitious business investments. China is now the only nation where the retailer has made a specific emission plan public. Walmart says the planned reductions are equivalent to emissions from the annual electricity consumption of 40mln Chinese households.Source: esmmagazine.com