For the first time, one of the largest supermarket chains in the country opened a branch in the Hevron Hills Regional Council. The "Machsanei Hashuk" branch is the first to open in the Hevron Hills Regional Council, which includes 18 communities and about 10,000 residents. The council has been in existence for 35 years and over the years small stores have been opened in the area. The residents were previously forced to make their large purchases outside the community in places like Be'er Sheva, Jerusalem, Gush Etzion and Kiryat Gat - a long drive away.Source: israelnationalnews.com
Sainsbury’s to expand Habitat portfolio with two new stores in UK
British supermarket chain Sainsbury’s is planning to expand the portfolio of its household furnishings retail brand, Habitat, by opening two standalone stores late this year. This expansion is part of the supermarket chain’s efforts to meet different customer shopping missions. The company is investing £1.5mln in the two stores. One will be opened in Westfield London this September, followed by the second in Brighton in October. Habitat managing director Clare Askem said: "It’s a really exciting time for Habitat as we launch our first major standalone stores in ten years."Source: retail-insight-network.com
India: BigBasket in talks to acquire a majority stake in Kwik24
In a bid to establish and expand its offline presence, egrocery platform BigBasket is in talks to acquire a majority stake in smart vending machines startup Kwik24, according to two people familiar with the matter. This development comes after the Alibaba-backed company launched a pilot with Kwik24 to deploy smart vending machines in five apartment buildings in Bengaluru. “The strategy is to have them (Kwik24) work full-time on customised vending machines for BigBasket as they look to scale up this model,” said one of the persons cited above. “The response to these pilots was positive with over 90% of repeat customers.” The vending machines are installed as part of BigBasket’s BB Instant service. Customers can order fresh produce like fruits and vegetables, and other FMCG products via the BB Instant app, and then pick it up from the vending machine. BigBasket did not respond to queries sent by ET. Kwik24 declined to comment. Source: economictimes.indiatimes.com
E-commerce tipped to take one third of Asia-Pacific retail spending
E-commerce will account for 31.4% of total Asia-Pacific retail spending by 2020 according to fresh projections by research house Mintel. That’s nearly 10 times the proportion of 2010, when it accounted for a mere 3.6% of sales. Those figures are based on countries with high populations – Australia, China, India, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea and Vietnam – and exclude markets like Singapore and Hong Kong, where e-commerce accounts for less than 5% of total retail sales. “The future of Asia-Pacific’s retail landscape will force a fundamental change in the way Asian companies are structured, managed and do business,” the report, New Retail: The Futurenomics of Asia-Pacific, concluded.Source: insideretail.asia
Germany: Lidl increases commitment to sustainability
Lidl in Germany has released a new sustainability report, highlighting the ongoing integration of sustainable practices into its operations. It is focusing on the five following fields of action: Assortment, Society, Employees, Partners and the Environment. One of its goals is to reduce the usage of packaging by 20% by 2025 and it aims to achieve this primarily through packaging measures for its private label ranges. By 2025 it also wants to make all plastic packaging for private label products 100% recyclable. In 2017, it took a major step towards reducing plastic consumption by discontinuing the standard plastic carrier bag, saving around 3,500 tonnes of plastic each year. Lidl is also looking to build trusting and long-term partnership with suppliers, which will help it to ensure suppliers are working towards similar sustainability practises and standards.Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
Alibaba's first country office outside China
Alibaba has opened an office in Malaysia, its first country office in Southeast Asia. The new office will serve as a one-stop solution centre for local businesses, helping them identify global trade opportunities and take advantage of digital innovations. It will offer training courses to assist young entrepreneurs to export their products globally. Besides the eWTP, Alibaba has also established a cloud computing data centre and brought its mobile payment service Alipay to Malaysia. Its investment in Malaysia has reached over US$100mln.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
Alibaba has opened an office in Malaysia, its first country office in Southeast Asia. The new office will serve as a one-stop solution centre for local businesses, helping them identify global trade opportunities and take advantage of digital innovations. It will offer training courses to assist young entrepreneurs to export their products globally. Besides the eWTP, Alibaba has also established a cloud computing data centre and brought its mobile payment service Alipay to Malaysia. Its investment in Malaysia has reached over US$100mln.Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
Taiwan’s largest supermarket chain PX Mart is set to acquire White Wood House bakery, saving the business from closure. PX Mart will pay NT$790mln (US$26.5mln) to take over White Wood House, an upscale bakery in Taiwan. This follows mounting losses reported by its current owner King Yue Biological Technology Co. Ltd, which forced the business the shut down last month. PX Mart will takeover 25 White Wood House locations, including 19 retail stores (directly managed sites) and six shop-in-shop outlets. Should PX Mart proceed with the deal, it could consider selling White Wood House products at some of its supermarkets.Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
Discount Investment may sell stake in Israeli supermarket Shufersal
Discount Investment Corp said it was considering selling shares in Israel’s largest supermarket chain, Shufersal, in an auction to institutional investors. Discount Investment, which controls Shufersal with a 50.1% stake, said its board of directors instructed the company to examine a possible sale of shares in order to improve its financial flexibility. Neither the timing of a possible sale nor the amount of shares to be sold has been set, Discount Investment said in a statement to the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange. Discount Investment said there was no certainty it would decide to sell its shares, in an auction or otherwise.Source: reuters.com
US: A Kmart store opens inside a Sears store in Brooklyn, and more may be on the way
Despite tumbling sales, mounting debts and looming maturities, Sears Holdings is still testing new initiatives to see if something sparks a turnaround. The latest one brings its Sears and Kmart brands together under one roof. A pint-sized Kmart convenience shop was opened inside a larger Sears store in New York's Brooklyn borough this weekend. The 10,000-square-foot Kmart sells everyday items including groceries, health and beauty supplies, cleaning supplies and pet gear. Sears will also soon roll out appliance shops selling higher-end merchandise inside some Kmarts, a spokesman told CNBC. Kmart sells some appliances, but only at opening price points.Source: cnbc.com
US: Dollar General pilots mobile checkout app
Goodlettsville, Tennessee-based Dollar General is the latest food retailer and first dollar-store chain to move into mobile checkout with a new app. DG Go, according to its description on the Google Play store, is a shopping app that lets users scan and pay for products they select directly from their phone, allowing them to skip the checkout line altogether. It's available for both Android and iOS devices.Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: Walmart wins three blockchain-related patents
Walmart has been awarded three patents for blockchain-backed technology, according to a report on June 18 in Cryptovest. One of the patents covers a system that would let households manage their electricity bills through cryptocurrency, and would be operated with a public blockchain. Another patent involves storing patient data on a distributed ledger. The Cryptovest report said, “The medical records can then be accessed in emergency situations when a patient is unresponsive. Due to privacy issues, only medical data that is emergency-specific should be put on blockchain.” Walmart’s other blockchain patent “refers to a system that can help users securely control or limit the access to a real or virtual space,” the report said. “The system uses cryptographic keys stored on a blockchain.”Source: pymnts.com