Amazon brings Whole Foods voice shopping to Alexa
Amazon announced that Echo smart speakers can now use their voice to add Prime Now order items to a Whole Foods cart. Prime Now, available in 24 U.S. markets, ensures two-hour same-day delivery. Amazon began to provide Prime Now deliveries for Whole Foods groceries in Atlanta and San Francisco earlier this year. With the launch of Alexa orders, Prime Now Whole Foods deliveries will be available in all markets served by Prime Now.
Source: venturebeat.com
Amazon announced that Echo smart speakers can now use their voice to add Prime Now order items to a Whole Foods cart. Prime Now, available in 24 U.S. markets, ensures two-hour same-day delivery. Amazon began to provide Prime Now deliveries for Whole Foods groceries in Atlanta and San Francisco earlier this year. With the launch of Alexa orders, Prime Now Whole Foods deliveries will be available in all markets served by Prime Now.Source: venturebeat.com
US: Target and Shipt launch same-day delivery in Connecticut
Shipt, a leading online marketplace, and Target Corporation announced it will begin same-day delivery of more than 55,000 groceries, essentials, home, electronics, toys and other products in Connecticut. Delivery from Shipt and Target will begin in the following areas: August 14: Stamford, Connecticut; August 16: Hartford, Connecticut and August 23: New Haven and Bridgeport, Connecticut. This is the first time Shipt will be available to Connecticut residents, giving more than 2mln households across the state access to products delivered by Shipt in as little as one hour.
Source: nasdaq.com
Shipt, a leading online marketplace, and Target Corporation announced it will begin same-day delivery of more than 55,000 groceries, essentials, home, electronics, toys and other products in Connecticut. Delivery from Shipt and Target will begin in the following areas: August 14: Stamford, Connecticut; August 16: Hartford, Connecticut and August 23: New Haven and Bridgeport, Connecticut. This is the first time Shipt will be available to Connecticut residents, giving more than 2mln households across the state access to products delivered by Shipt in as little as one hour. Source: nasdaq.com
US: Discounter National Stores files for chapter 11
Discount retailer National Stores Inc., which operates under the Fallas and other brands, filed for chapter 11 protection Monday with plans to close 74 of its 344 stores. The retailer is working with its vendors, lenders and other creditors on a reorganization plan that it hopes will allow it to survive bankruptcy, according to a news release.Source: marketwatch.com
Walmart de México y Centroamérica reports July 2018 sales
Wal-Mart de México (Walmex) announces to its shareholders as well as to the public in general that during July 2018, sales amounted to $49,521mln pesos. This figure represents a 7.3% increase over sales reported in the same month of 2017. Comp stores, all those units in operation for over a year, posted a 5.9% increase compared to the same month of 2017. Considering the four-week period from June 30th to July 27th, 2018, as compared to the four-week period ending July 28th, 2017, total sales increased 9.4% and comp store sales increased 8.1%.Source: files.walmex.mx
Cyprus: Supermarket chains looking to expand as demand grows
Existing supermarket chains are looking for a bigger slice of the pie while foreign companies are also interested in investing in Cyprus. Annual turnover by supermarkets, mini-markets and fruit and vegetable stores is estimated at €1.5bln, with the supermarket chains generating 70% of that total, according to financial website Stockwatch. The first Spar supermarket is expected to open in central Larnaca after the summer. Spar International, in cooperation with Ermes, plans to open 20 supermarkets over a five-year period, said Stockwatch. Alpha-Mega is also on the move with plans to open two new supermarkets in Nicosia (Lakatamia) and Paphos while Papantoniou (Engomi) and Athienities (Nicosia Mall) are looking for a foothold in the capital. Lidl, a presence in Cyprus since 2010, also aims to expand its network of 17 outlets to 20 with three more stores by 2020. Supermarkets seemed to have survived the financial crisis and were one of the few employers who didn’t downsize.Source: financialmirror.com
UK: Iceland to launch 'store-in-store' outlets in The Range
Supermarket chain Iceland is all set to open outlets in UK’s home and garden store, The Range, according to a press release. The ‘strategic alliance’ between the companies will kick off with the launch of three Iceland ‘store-in-store’ outlets in The Range stores in The Midlands and Liverpool. The stores will be staffed and operated by The Range and Iceland’s entire range of food will be available.Source: esmmagazine.com
Mega Image (Ahold Delhaize group) now led by a Romanian professional
Romanian Mircea Moga will take over as CEO of local supermarket chain Mega Image starting October 1, replacing Vassilis Stavrou, who will take the management of Greek retailer Alfa Beta. Both retailers are part of Dutch group Ahold Delhaize. Mircea Moga will thus become the first Romanian to manage Mega Image. He is currently senior vice president in charge of the commercial and logistics operations at Mega Image. He has been working for the company since it only had four stores in Romania. Mega Image now has over 620 stores in the country, focusing on the big cities, such as Bucharest, Constanta, Cluj-Napoca, Brasov and Timisoara. The retailer reached a turnover of EUR 1.05bln and a net profit of EUR 43mln. The company has over 9,300 employees.Source: agroberichtenbuitenland.nl
Germany: Metro wholesale driving growth in Q3
Metro has announced its Q3, 9M 2017/18 results, with most businesses performing positively, except for its Real hypermarkets and Russian operations. Its delivery and online businesses had the strongest growth. Total sales for 9M were down -1.4% to €22,556mln, and down -3.7% in Q3 to €8,996mln. Overall lfl sales increased by 0.7% in 9M until June 2018, despite Real hypermarkets declining. Q3 lfl sales were down by -0.5% in Q3, driven primarily by negative currency effects. Its wholesale operations account for 80% of Metro’s business activities by sales and increased 1.2% on a lfl basis in 9M and 1% in Q3.Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
Finland's first supermarket selling only "rescued food" to open in Helsinki
Finn Church Aid will open Finland's first-ever supermarket focused on selling surplus food next month in one of the city's newest shopping centres. For an increasing number of people in Finland the need for affordable food has been steadily rising for some time. Heikki Hursti of the Hursti Charitable Foundation in Helsinki, a group that hands out food aid to an ever-growing queue of people in the city, said in a July interview that the number of people in need of daily food assistance in the capital has increased by a factor of 10 during the past 10 years. Now, WeFood, a supermarket for "rescued food", will open next month in Helsinki's Kalasatama district, and sell out-of-date but perfectly edible foods at discounted prices.Source: yle.fi
Carrefour: A new grocery shopping experience unveiled in France
Carrefour will open an innovative testing lab in Paris in collaboration with Google Cloud where Carrefour engineers can work side-by-side with Google Cloud AI experts to co-create new consumer experiences online. Carrefour and Google have recently announced a strategic partnership focusing on three initiatives: availability of Carrefour on a new Google shopping website and Google Assistant in France, creation of a Carrefour-Google innovation lab and digitization acceleration of the Carrefour Group. This partnership will take Googles' technology and skills in AI, cloud, and new consumer shopping interfaces like the Google Assistant with Carrefours' product expertise and know-how in logistics and sales. The shared objective of this partnership is to combine the expertise of both companies to offer consumers new and innovative commerce experiences in France, whether that’s in a store, online, on smartphones, or with voice.Source: industryeurope.com
Russia: Magnit’s business transformation impacts like-for-like sales
Magnit reported year-on-year sales growth of 7.2% to RUB595,263mln (€8,109mln), an improvement from the 6.4% growth achieved during the same period in the previous year. However, like-for-like sales growth further declined to -4.5% in 2018 (compared to -3.1% in H1 2017). The retailer attributed the decline in year-on-year sales to food deflation that caused a lower basket spend, and the Easter holidays falling just before shoppers’ monthly salary payments. According to Magnit CEO, Olga Naumova, the slowdown in like-for-like sales was expected as the retailer continues to undergo a large-scale business transformation.Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
Holland: Ahold Delhaize Q2 2018 results
Ahold Delhaize continues to deliver strong earnings and free cash flow growth: net sales of €15.5bln, up 0.9% at constant exchange rates, impacted by the timing of Easter. Net income up 15.3% to €410mln, up 20.0% at constant exchange rates. Net consumer online sales up 23.3% at constant exchange rates. Underlying operating margin up 0.1% point to 4.0%, supported by synergies. Strong free cash flow of €693mln, up €293mln, mainly due to improved net working capital.Source: aholddelhaize.com