CAN: Retail group ‘underwhelmed’ by trimmed credit card fees
Major credit card companies have struck an agreement with the federal government to trim the fees they charge to merchants in a move Ottawa hopes will provide a boost to small businesses. Ottawa announced Thursday it had reached voluntary, five-year deals with Visa, MasterCard and American Express to cut fees by about 10 basis points. Finance Minister Bill Morneau, who unveiled the deal at an Ottawa grocery store, said he expected the agreements to help small and medium-sized businesses save a total of $250mln per year. “That’s a big difference for companies,” said Morneau, who billed the change as part of his department’s effort to listen to the concerns of Canadian business owners about staying competitive.
Source: canadiangrocer.com
US: Target and Shipt launch same-day delivery in Maine
Shipt, a leading online marketplace, and Target Corporation announced they will begin same-day delivery of more than 55,000 groceries, essentials, home, electronics, toys and other products from Target to Portland, Maine residents beginning August 21. This launch marks the first time Shipt will be available to Maine residents, giving more than 130,000 households across the state access to products delivered by Shipt in as little as one hour.
Source: nasdaq.com
US: Kroger going global with Alibaba partnership
The Kroger Co. is readying an online sales portal that will bring its products to consumers in China for the first time. The Cincinnati-based grocer is set to open a shop this week on Alibaba.com’s Tmall Global site, which features foreign products. The launch confirms speculation first raised earlier this year of discussions between Kroger and the Chinese e-commerce giant about a developing “commercial partnership” between the retailers. The deal will allow Kroger to get a foothold in global sales for the first time in its 135-year history and keep pace with rivals such as Walmart, which has also announced various partnerships to expand into Asia this year including a strategic investment in the Indian e-commerce operator Flipkart.
Source: winsightgrocerybusiness.com
Major credit card companies have struck an agreement with the federal government to trim the fees they charge to merchants in a move Ottawa hopes will provide a boost to small businesses. Ottawa announced Thursday it had reached voluntary, five-year deals with Visa, MasterCard and American Express to cut fees by about 10 basis points. Finance Minister Bill Morneau, who unveiled the deal at an Ottawa grocery store, said he expected the agreements to help small and medium-sized businesses save a total of $250mln per year. “That’s a big difference for companies,” said Morneau, who billed the change as part of his department’s effort to listen to the concerns of Canadian business owners about staying competitive.Source: canadiangrocer.com
US: Target and Shipt launch same-day delivery in Maine
Shipt, a leading online marketplace, and Target Corporation announced they will begin same-day delivery of more than 55,000 groceries, essentials, home, electronics, toys and other products from Target to Portland, Maine residents beginning August 21. This launch marks the first time Shipt will be available to Maine residents, giving more than 130,000 households across the state access to products delivered by Shipt in as little as one hour. Source: nasdaq.com
US: Kroger going global with Alibaba partnership
The Kroger Co. is readying an online sales portal that will bring its products to consumers in China for the first time. The Cincinnati-based grocer is set to open a shop this week on Alibaba.com’s Tmall Global site, which features foreign products. The launch confirms speculation first raised earlier this year of discussions between Kroger and the Chinese e-commerce giant about a developing “commercial partnership” between the retailers. The deal will allow Kroger to get a foothold in global sales for the first time in its 135-year history and keep pace with rivals such as Walmart, which has also announced various partnerships to expand into Asia this year including a strategic investment in the Indian e-commerce operator Flipkart.Source: winsightgrocerybusiness.com
Belgium: Colruyt extends till-free shopping to OKay
Belgian retailer Colruyt Group has extended its 'till-free' test to three supermarkets of the OKay chain and one of OKay Compact, after having trialled it in Spar shops earlier. The pilot project of till-free shopping at a number of Spar stores, announced in February and adopted in June, is now extended to two more labels of the Colruyt Group: OKay (three stores) and OKay Compact (one store in Brussels). Starting at the end of this month, customers can scan and pay their groceries with their smartphone. "This fits neatly in our brand promise at OKay: fast, cheap and easy shopping", says marketing manager Michon van Doorn. Source: retaildetail.eu
Japan: Rakuten reorganises despite huge turnover growth
Japanese Rakuten, the world’s fifth largest e-commerce company, has posted a 16.4% turnover growth in the first six months of 2018, while its profit grew even faster (+60%). Still, the company sees the need for an internal reorganisation to better deal with demanding circumstances. Despite the growth of Amazon in Japan, e-commerce remains the most important factor in Rakuten's growth (the company is also active in telecom and finance): the branch saw its turnover rise 16.1% and its profit 28.8%. Source: retaildetail.eu
Germany: HelloFresh won't break even until 2019
HelloFresh will no longer break even by the end of this year because of investments in growth opportunities, the company said in its latest quarterly report. The meal kit company now expects to break even by 2019. Shares dropped 4% on Monday following the news. Overall, the company reported earnings growth. Active customers worldwide increased by more than 40% to 1.84mln and year-over-year percentage of growth on revenue was 40%. The company’s second-quarter revenue grew globally by 48% over last year to $387.21mln. Almost half of that growth (43%) was in the U.S., and 55% was international. "The strong first half of this year has proven that we can exceed our own expectations," Dominik Richter, CEO and co-founder of HelloFresh, said in the earnings report. "Our strong margins provide the necessary tailwind for systematically capitalizing on additional opportunities in the market." Source: fooddive.com
Heatwave boosts second-quarter retail sales in Ireland
The long spell of warm weather this summer has boosted second-quarter sales in the Irish retail sector by 3.4%, according to Retail Ireland's latest Retail Monitor report. The report also mentions that categories like grocery, DIY, hardware, and fuel benefited 'strongly' from the heatwave in June. Supermarkets and convenience stores have shown strong results in June, establishing a sustained pattern of growth. An increased demand for seasonal products and 'little and often' shopping, contributed to a growth in sales in volume and value for supermarkets.Source: esmmagazine.com
Polish competition authority to examine Eurocash takeover of Partner
Poland's UOKiK competition authority has said that it is proceeding to the second stage of its examination regarding Eurocash's planned takeover of Partner, a business that operates 26 Lewiatan stores. Eurocash operates stores under its own banner, as well as under the banners Delikatesy Centrum and Eco, the online platform frisco.pl, and its mobile ABC on wheels chain, as well as a comprehensive wholesale operation. In its assessment, UOKiK said that it plans to examine whether the activities of both Eurocash and Lewiatan overlap in any local markets, as well as the transaction's possible effect on retailer-supplier relationships.Source: esmmagazine.com
Lidl to install Ireland's largest network of supermarket-based EV chargers
Budget supermarket chain Lidl has announced that it will install electric vehicle (EV) chargers at 20 of its stores across Ireland over the next six months, in a bid to host the nation's largest supermarket-based network of chargepoints. The company is investing more than £133mln (€150mln) in the infrastructure project, which will see at least 40 EV chargepoints installed by February 2019, following successful trials of the technology at its stores in Rathfarnham, Drogheda and Swords. The chargers will be retrofitted at 10 Lidl stores and incorporated into the design of seven new stores currently in development. The chargepoints will be free for customer use and will provide an average 100km of driving range per charge, Lidl said in a statement. “Electric vehicles are indispensable in addressing the major challenges of improving air quality and curbing the use of fossil fuels,” Lidl Ireland’s director of property and central services, Alan Barry, said.Source: edie.net
UK: New vegan supermarket opens in London
A new vegan supermarket has opened its doors in east London. Called the Plant-Based Supermarket, the outlet sells a range of vegan food products, including ice-cream, frozen pizza, and grab-and-go sandwiches and wraps. In addition, the shop offers coffee which can be enjoyed in-store, in the outdoor or indoor seating areas. The retailer, based in Homerton, has been keeping customers updated on its progress via Instagram.Source: plantbasednews.org
Holland: Hema decapitates franchise organisation
The Dutch Hema chain has ended the franchising agreement for 24 stores after a long lasting dispute about how much franchisers have to pay for online sales. In a letter, Hema puts an end to the agreements with 24 franchisers who spearhead the organisation VAB and wants to make sure they are not allowed any more to manage Hema stores. Some 40 % of Dutch Hema stores are managed through franchising, but only those leading the VAB are targeted in the letter, newspaper FD writes.
Source: retaildetail.eu
The Dutch Hema chain has ended the franchising agreement for 24 stores after a long lasting dispute about how much franchisers have to pay for online sales. In a letter, Hema puts an end to the agreements with 24 franchisers who spearhead the organisation VAB and wants to make sure they are not allowed any more to manage Hema stores. Some 40 % of Dutch Hema stores are managed through franchising, but only those leading the VAB are targeted in the letter, newspaper FD writes. Source: retaildetail.eu
Russia’s biggest food retailer X5 Retail Group reported second-quarter net profit fell 16% year on year, hit by rising overall costs and low food price inflation. Second-quarter net profit stood at 8.7bln roubles ($129.87mln), down 16% year on year, the company said in an unaudited financial report. Adjusted core earnings (EBITDA) were up 1% at 29.5bln roubles. Second quarter adjusted EBITDA margin was at 7.7% vs 9.1% in the second quarter of 2017.Source: reuters.com