Retail sales in New Zealand climbed a seasonally adjusted 1.1% on quarter in the second quarter of 2018, Statistics New Zealand said. That beat forecasts for an increase of 0.3%, which would have been unchanged from the three months prior following an upward revision from 0.1%. Food and beverage services rose 1.7%, rebounding from a 1.0% fall in the March 2018 quarter. Department stores (up 2.8%), and electrical and electronic goods (up 2.0%), were the next notable increases. Supermarket and grocery stores had the largest fall, down 1.1% after a 1.0% rise in the March 2018 quarter.Source: markets.businessinsider.com
China: Aeon Stores Hong Kong posts loss despite record sales
Aeon Stores Hong Kong has recorded record half-year revenue of HK$4.93bln ($US628mln) in sales. The figure represents a year-on-year increase of 6.7%. The group’s gross profit margin rose by 0.2 percentage points to 30.7% during the period. In its report for the June 30 half year, Aeon Stores Hong Kong said the development of new retail store types and O2O e-commerce has intensified competition in the retail market and presented challenges to the group. However, the diversification and personalisation of consumers’ lifestyles has afforded many opportunities.Source: insideretail.asia
UK: Co-op reports fastest growth for seven years
The Co-op reported its fastest rate of growth in nearly seven years, according to the latest grocery market share figures from Kantar Worldpanel. Sales increased by 7.8% for the 12 weeks to 12 August 2018, driven by consumers’ preference to shop locally during the good summer weather. During the period, Co-op attracted an additional 263,000 new shoppers through its doors, with the average customer visiting 22 times in the 12 weeks. As a result, Co-op’s market share increased 0.3 percentage points to 6.6%. Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
Lidl: Online store being tested in Spain
www.lidlonline.es has landed in Madrid. The online store sells non-grocery items including appliances, clothing and homeware, with an exclusive online-only range and weekly offers. For now, the online store is only available through the webpage, not an app. Customers must pay a fixed delivery cost of €3.99 per order, with delivery times of three to five working days. Lidl Spain hopes to expand the service nationwide after testing it in Madrid. Lidl already has a similar ecommerce offer in other European countries, including Germany and Belgium.Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
Russia: X5 Retail’s 13,500th outlet is a dark store
The X5 Retail Group has opened its 13,500th store, which functions as a ‘dark store’ for its Perekrestok banner. The Moscow-based outlet will be used to fulfil orders (from customers in Moscow and the Moscow region) made via the perekrestok.ru site. The 4,400 sq. m. outlet can stock up to 20,000 SKUs and at full capacity will employ nearly 600 people and operate a fleet of 70 vehicles. X5 Retail said the new dark store is set to boost Perekrestok Online’s capacity by 3.5 times.Source: kamcity.com
Saudi Arabia: Panda Retail Company’s challenging Q2
Panda Retail Company’s revenue declined 3.1% to SAR3,229mln (US$860mln) from SAR3,331mln (US$887mln) in Q1 2017. The retailer reported lower footfall as the main reason behind the loss. Another contributing factor was the reduction of selling space by 13,732 sq. m to 729,888 sq. m. This was due to the closure of seven supermarkets and two Pandati stores as part of its ongoing store optimisation strategy. The negative Q2 results are however an improvement on Q1. Q1 2018 sales declined by 11% to SAR2,377mln (US$622mln), compared to SAR2,674mln (US$712mln) in Q1 2017. This performance means the retailer's year-to-date performance has declined 6.6% to SAR5,606mln (US$1,494mln), from SAR6,006mln (US$1,600mln) in H1 2017. The improvement in Q2 was attributed to increased basket size due to the holy month of Ramadan.Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
US: Supervalu reveals 2018 Master Marketers
Supervalu has named the Grand Master Marketer winner and 30 category winners of its 2018 Master Marketer competition, which recognizes best-in-class marketing efforts by independent grocers served by Supervalu’s wholesale distribution business. Miner’s Super One Markets, a family-owned and -operated company with 30 independent grocery stores throughout Minnesota, Wisconsin and the upper peninsula of Michigan, is the 2018 Grand Master Marketer, recognized for its overall consistent performance over the years. The independent grocer has received a $25,000 grant, payable to a charity of its choice, from the Supervalu Foundation as a result.Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: Kohl's shares slide despite topping Wall Street earnings, sales expectations
Kohl's shares tumbled Tuesday morning despite releasing fiscal second-quarter earnings that beat analysts' profit and sales estimates. The retailer raised its profit outlook for the year, but it wasn't enough to please investors. Ahead of Tuesday's losses, Kohl's stock had climbed more than 110% from a year ago, bringing the retailer's market cap to roughly $13.2bln. Retail rival Macy's saw a similar sell-off in its shares last week on the heels of a strong earnings report. Its stock value had surged more than 90% over the previous 12 months, and analysts said investors were taking profit.Source: cnbc.com
US: H-E-B ranked top retailer in Texas
The San Antonio-based grocery store chain is now the top retailer in Texas, and one of the top 20 merchants in the nation, according to the National Retail Federation. The list recognizes companies according to its sales. In 2017, H-E-B's retail sales came in at $21.94bln with only 330 stores. That store number is lower than most of the companies ahead of H-E-B in the rankings, including Walmart with 5,328 stores and Kroger with 3,902 stores. This news comes five months after Business Insider named H-E-B as the "best grocery store in the U.S." back in March.Source: abc13.com
US: Boxed raises funding through Japan's largest retailer
Boxed, a bulk-shopping ecommerce retailer said to be “updating the Costco experience for Millennials,” has raised $111mln in a funding round led by Aeon Co. Ltd., the largest retailer in Japan by sales and one of its biggest grocers. With its new funding, the New York-based company plans to ramp up automation of its facilities through hardware developed in-house. Boxed claims to be one of the few ecommerce companies globally that writes its own software, runs its own fulfillment centers and builds its own automation robotics.Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: Target’s sales growth hits 13-year high
Target’s second quarter net revenue increased 6.9% to $17.8bln. Comparable sales growth increased 6.5%, its strongest performance in 13 years, with traffic up 6.4%. Comparable store sales were up 4.9%. Operating income increased 3.6% to $1.1bln. This was an outstanding performance from the retailer, with sales growth ahead of the excellent numbers posted by Walmart earlier this month. While the retailer is benefiting from the strong consumer environment, it is also seeing the rewards from the investments it has been making in its stores, pricing, private brands, ecommerce and supply chain. Commenting on the results, president and CEO, Brian Cornell, stated: "There is no doubt that like others, we're currently benefiting from a very strong consumer environment, perhaps the strongest I've seen in my career.”Source: retailanalysis.igd.com