US: Tops expands same-day grocery delivery in 9 NY communities
Tops Markets has expanded same-day grocery delivery to nine more locations in New York State, bringing the total number of stores offering the ecommerce service to 125. Through its partnership with third-party delivery service Instacart, Tops is now offering delivery from its locations in Dunkirk, Mayville, Silver Creek, Westfield, Rhinebeck, New Paltz, Greenville, Cox Sackie and Tannersville. The expansion is Tops’ fifth and largest with Instacart since it began the partnership at the beginning of the year.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: Walmart's Sam's Club banner opens new facility in Memphis, TN
Walmart has opened a new Sam’s Club e-commerce fulfilment center (FC) this week, giving the retailer new legs in its strategies to bolster its club banner and e-commerce businesses. The new facility, the first in a series of planned conversions of former club locations that will take place across the country, has officially opened its doors in Memphis, Tennessee. “We moved fast to bring this FC online, and I’m proud of the team that made this happen,” shared Mohan Akella, Vice President of Online Supply Chain for the banner. “This FC is going to make sure our members get their orders even faster, and we’re excited about what this means for our business.”
Source: delimarketnews.com
US: Google to invest in Chinese e-commerce firm JD.com
Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com announced it has secured investment worth 550mln U.S. dollars from Google as part of a new strategic partnership between the two leading tech companies. Google will obtain around 27.1mln newly issued Class A ordinary shares of JD.com at an issue price of 20.29 U.S. dollars per share. The two companies will jointly explore retail business in regions around the world, including Southeast Asia, the United States, and Europe, according to the statement. The cooperation will combine the advantages of JD.com in supply chain and logistics and Google's technology strengths. JD.com also plans to make a selection of products available for sale through Google Shopping in multiple regions.
Source: xinhuanet.com
Wegmans wins best grocery store chain in America for third consecutive year
For the third consecutive year, 12,700 consumers voted for Wegmans as their favorite American grocery chain, according to Business Insider. While the retailer tied with Publix last year, Wegmans nabbed the top spot for itself this year, pulling ahead of all of the competition, including massive rivals like Walmart, Target, and Whole Foods Market. In a survey conducted by consumer insights firm Market Force Information, consumers were asked to rate their favorite U.S. grocery chains off of characteristics like best value, fastest service, cleanliness, customer satisfaction, and likelihood of recommending the store to others.
Source: delimarketnews.com
Tops Markets has expanded same-day grocery delivery to nine more locations in New York State, bringing the total number of stores offering the ecommerce service to 125. Through its partnership with third-party delivery service Instacart, Tops is now offering delivery from its locations in Dunkirk, Mayville, Silver Creek, Westfield, Rhinebeck, New Paltz, Greenville, Cox Sackie and Tannersville. The expansion is Tops’ fifth and largest with Instacart since it began the partnership at the beginning of the year.Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: Walmart's Sam's Club banner opens new facility in Memphis, TN
Walmart has opened a new Sam’s Club e-commerce fulfilment center (FC) this week, giving the retailer new legs in its strategies to bolster its club banner and e-commerce businesses. The new facility, the first in a series of planned conversions of former club locations that will take place across the country, has officially opened its doors in Memphis, Tennessee. “We moved fast to bring this FC online, and I’m proud of the team that made this happen,” shared Mohan Akella, Vice President of Online Supply Chain for the banner. “This FC is going to make sure our members get their orders even faster, and we’re excited about what this means for our business.”Source: delimarketnews.com
US: Google to invest in Chinese e-commerce firm JD.com
Chinese e-commerce giant JD.com announced it has secured investment worth 550mln U.S. dollars from Google as part of a new strategic partnership between the two leading tech companies. Google will obtain around 27.1mln newly issued Class A ordinary shares of JD.com at an issue price of 20.29 U.S. dollars per share. The two companies will jointly explore retail business in regions around the world, including Southeast Asia, the United States, and Europe, according to the statement. The cooperation will combine the advantages of JD.com in supply chain and logistics and Google's technology strengths. JD.com also plans to make a selection of products available for sale through Google Shopping in multiple regions.Source: xinhuanet.com
Wegmans wins best grocery store chain in America for third consecutive year
For the third consecutive year, 12,700 consumers voted for Wegmans as their favorite American grocery chain, according to Business Insider. While the retailer tied with Publix last year, Wegmans nabbed the top spot for itself this year, pulling ahead of all of the competition, including massive rivals like Walmart, Target, and Whole Foods Market. In a survey conducted by consumer insights firm Market Force Information, consumers were asked to rate their favorite U.S. grocery chains off of characteristics like best value, fastest service, cleanliness, customer satisfaction, and likelihood of recommending the store to others.Source: delimarketnews.com
Walmart debuts ‘smart’ grocery store concept in China
Walmart has opened its first small-format Walmart Supermarket, in Shenzhen, China, with five additional locations planned for the country by year-end. The new store is designed to deliver an integrated online and offline experience, with an emphasis on fresh foods, fast delivery, value and everyday convenience. The 10,000-sq.-st. space, on the first floor of a multi-story structure, carries more than 8,000 items, with a localized assortment strategy tailored to the community. Designed by Tampa-based api(+), the store features a layout that seeks to enhance shopper convenience, with chilled vegetables, fresh fruit and frozen foods given prominence, alongside popular pre-prepared dishes. Prices are kept up to date through the use of electronic price tags. 90% of the inventory is also available online (on the Walmart Supermarket site at JD Doajia.) A high-tech stocking system allows associates to precisely locate products on the shelf and fulfil orders by the fastest product-picking route. The system enables home delivery as fast as 29 minutes to homes within 2 kilometers of the supermarket.
Source: chainstoreage.com
Walmart has opened its first small-format Walmart Supermarket, in Shenzhen, China, with five additional locations planned for the country by year-end. The new store is designed to deliver an integrated online and offline experience, with an emphasis on fresh foods, fast delivery, value and everyday convenience. The 10,000-sq.-st. space, on the first floor of a multi-story structure, carries more than 8,000 items, with a localized assortment strategy tailored to the community. Designed by Tampa-based api(+), the store features a layout that seeks to enhance shopper convenience, with chilled vegetables, fresh fruit and frozen foods given prominence, alongside popular pre-prepared dishes. Prices are kept up to date through the use of electronic price tags. 90% of the inventory is also available online (on the Walmart Supermarket site at JD Doajia.) A high-tech stocking system allows associates to precisely locate products on the shelf and fulfil orders by the fastest product-picking route. The system enables home delivery as fast as 29 minutes to homes within 2 kilometers of the supermarket.Source: chainstoreage.com
Costco Wholesale Japan Ltd. plans to launch an e-commerce service in 2019, officials said, with the company aiming to take advantage of the growing popularity of online shopping services here. Costco has yet to iron out all of the details of the new service, such as product lineups and the launch schedule, the officials said. But an annual membership fee of ¥4,752 is likely to apply, in line with the fee to shop at Costco warehouses. The retail giant’s Japanese unit, based in Kawasaki, has distribution bases in Hyogo Prefecture and Chiba Prefecture. It plans to expand its distribution network to prepare for the online operation. The company also plans to increase the number of its brick and mortar outlets in Japan to 50 from the current 26 by 2030.Source: japantimes.co.jp
Croatia: Agrokor monthly operating profit almost 10% higher than expected
Croatian conglomerate Agrokor has seen a jump of nearly 10% in operating profit during the period from May 11 to June 10, 2018, according to its 14th Monthly Report of the Extraordinary Administration. The report reveals that the firm's EBITDA amounted to HRK 274.6mln (€37.2mln) during the period, 9.6% higher than expected, thanks to the retail and food business group. The retailer announced that the Konzum retail chain, its largest banner in the retail segment, saw its revenues increase by almost 20% when compared to the same period last year, due to increased footfall and basket growth.Source: esmmagazine.com
Holland: Albert Heijn trials cashless large stores
Having introduced its cashless tap to go payment system at smaller Albert Heijn to go stores, the Dutch retailer will trial a solution at larger stores in Utrecht and Haarlem from June 20th. Loyal shoppers will be able to use the retailer’s Appie app to scan and shop at Albert Heijn Ella Fitzgeraldplein in Utrecht and Soendaplein in Haarlem for the next three months. For even more added convenience, the app offers functionality that sorts users’ shopping lists according to their location in-store. When customers have scanned their shopping via mobile and finished shopping, payment is taken through Andoid, credit card or iDeal. An app-generated barcode will allow them to leave the store. Albert Heijn plans to broaden the trial to a total of six stores in July and add iOS functionality.Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
UK: Supermarket chain Iceland sees first-half earnings slowdown this year
Supermarket chain Iceland said earnings for the first half of this year would be lower than the prior year as legislation to increase staff wages kicks in just as the grocery market slows. Privately-owned Iceland said an increase in staffing costs due to a rise in Britain’s National Living Wage and the impact of higher oil prices on consumers and its own distribution costs would combine with a less impressive sales performance to reduce core earnings (EBITDA) in the first two quarters of the year. Iceland, which trades from 905 UK stores specialising in frozen food, said that like-for-like sales in the year ended March 24 were up 2.3% compared to the previous year.Source: uk.reuters.com
Dutch retail sales growth at 7-month high
Dutch retail sales growth accelerated in April to the highest level in seven months, figures from the Central Bureau of Statistics showed Friday. Retail trade turnover climbed 5.7% year-over-year in April, well above March's 1.5% gain, which was the weakest growth in eighteen months. The measure has been rising since May 2016. Moreover, the latest rate of increase strongest since September last year, when sales had grown 5.8%. In the food sector, turnover grew by 4.9% and those in the non-food sector advanced by 4.7%. Source: markets.businessinsider.com
UK: Tesco posts highest growth in seven years
Tesco has recorded its strongest growth in seven years, boosted by its acquisition of the Booker cash and carry group. The supermarket said UK and Irish sales rose 3.5% in the most recent three months, its 10th consecutive quarter of growth. Group sales - which include Asia eastern Europe - climbed 1.8%. Sales at Booker, which were included in the group for the first time this quarter, jumped 14.3% as it won new clients but growth at the main Tesco chain slipped back to 2.1% from 2.4% in the previous quarter. Source: theguardian.com