Business-to-business agri marketing platform Ninjacart is looking to diversify its offerings by adding a chain of business-to-customer outlets for fresh fruits and vegetables. The Accel Partners-backed company piloted this initiative earlier this year in Bengaluru by launching a mix of company-owned and franchise stores, four of which have already broken even, chief executive Thirukumaran Nagarajan said. “We want to standardise the stores that sell fresh fruits and vegetables which can come together under our single brand,” said Nagarajan. “In this format of stores, Ninjacart provides technological support like inventory prediction, cash management, customer management, etc.” The company expects to have 2,000-3,000 stores across Karnataka in two years. “Around 20% of this will be new stores and the remaining will be us equipping the existing stores with technology support and standardising it.” Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com
Italy retail sales fall for second month
Italy's retail sales decreased for the second straight month in April, preliminary data from the statistical office Istat showed. Retail sales value dropped 0.7% month-over-month in April, following a 0.2% fall in March. Food sales declined 1.9% over the month, while non-food sales increased slightly by 0.2%. On a yearly basis, retail sales value slipped 4.6% in April, reversing a 3.0% rise in the prior month. Data also showed that retail sales volume fell 5.4% annually and by 0.9% monthly in April.Source: markets.businessinsider.com
Ireland's Fresh, The Good Food Market, wins top global retailer award
Irish retailer Fresh The Good Food Market has won the 2018 National Association of Convenience Stores (NACS) International Convenience Retailer of the Year Award for its Camden Street store in Dublin, earning the title of 'Best Convenience Store in the World'. The award honours the most innovative and successful international convenience and/or fuel retailing store of the year, as chosen by a jury of leading international retailers and experts. Judges agreed that Fresh The Good Market ‘exemplifies excellence in convenience retailing’.Source: esmmagazine.com
Belgians spent €2.73bln online in first quarter
During the first three months of this year, 7.4mln Belgians made 23mln purchases online. While doing this, they spent 2.73bln euros, which is an increase of 12% compared to the same period last year. This is evident from Belgian ecommerce association BeCommerce, which publishes the Market Monitor regularly. This research shows that not only the amount of money that’s spent online has increased, but so did the number of online buyers (+3%) and the number of expenses (+7%).Source: ecommercenews.eu
India: Future Group to start hyperlocal grocery delivery this month
Kishore Biyani-led Future Group will start its hyperlocal grocery delivery by end of this month, reports The Economic Times. According to the publication, the group will be delivering groceries via its 1,000 outlets under its brands like Easyday, Nilgiris and Heritage. The service will initially be available in metro cities, and later will be expanded to other cities. Initially, it will deliver items milk, eggs and bread (apparently in the morning), and later users will be able to get fresh fruits and vegetables along with other grocery items.Source: medianama.com
Target to close dozens of stores in Australia
Target stores around Australia will be shut down in the next five years, announced the discount chain’s boss this week. Lagging behind the impressive growth of its stablemate and general merchandise retailer, Kmart, Wesfarmers’ CEO of department stores, Guy Russo, announced at the Wesfarmers investor day that it would close dozens of Target stores around the country in an effort to reduce its footprint by 20%. Target currently has 305 stores throughout Australia, outweighing the more profitable Kmart which has 227 stores.Source: canstarblue.com.au
US: Shopper survey points to building momentum at Lidl
Lidl, the German discounter that opened its first U.S. stores a year ago, is growing on consumers - particularly younger ones - and eating away at the advantages of its traditional competitors in surprising ways, a new study indicates. The study, based on surveys conducted by global consulting firm Oliver Wyman in June 2017 and again this April, found that 48% of 600 consumers who tried Lidl are now shopping there more than twice per month. Consumers also are spending more money per trip at Lidl today than a year ago, indicating they have found a wider range of Lidl products they prefer. Younger shoppers – ages 18 to 34 – had a particularly high awareness of Lidl and shopped there frequently, appreciating both Lidl’s private label product quality and attractive prices.Source: winsightgrocerybusiness.com
US: Russell Investments Group Ltd. raises stake in Supervalu Inc.
Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in Supervalu Inc. by 130.3% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 1,803,582 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 1,020,339 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned 4.70% of Supervalu worth $27,468,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.Source: weekherald.com
US: Nearly half of consumers wouldn't mind if their supermarket closed
A 2018 International Loyalty Study found 12% of Americans have switched their main grocery store during the past year. It also found nearly 40% of all consumers said it would not matter to them if their main grocery store closed — they would simply shop somewhere else. Overall, customers seem confused by the variety of choices they have. The average American lives close to more than 10 grocery retailers, and shops at nearly half of them. Store choice, the study says, is driven by functional factors such as proximity (48%,) product range (41%,) and low prices (32%,) rather than the emotional aspects of shopping that could create a sense of loyalty between retailer and shopper. About 68% of shoppers say they simply go where they believe they can find the cheapest prices. Despite their popularity with retailers, loyalty cards might not be best way to encourage customers to keep coming back. The study says just 5% of customers said they would switch stores if their favored grocer ended their loyalty program. These customers want more meaningful loyalty rewards.Source: fooddive.com
US: United Natural Foods beats on revenue, but margins slip
United Natural Foods posted net sales of $2.65bln for this year’s third financial quarter, according to a company release. Earnings per share was $1.04 - better than the Wall Street estimate of 93 cents. The specialty distributor plans to top $10bln in sales on the year. Gross margins for the quarter were 15.4%, a 5 basis point decrease from the same period a year ago. UNFI attributed this decline to higher freight rates and a shift in customer mix towards lower-margin shoppers. The company raised its annual guidance for net sales and earnings per share. “We are pleased with the continued momentum in our business and we continue to work to balance and improve upon the challenges associated with this higher-than-expected growth,” said Steve Spinner, UNFI’s chairman and CEO, in a statement.Source: fooddive.com