US: Food Lion wraps up Norfolk, Virginia-area store makeovers
This week, Food Lion will hold grand-reopening ceremonies for 105 Norfolk, Virginia-area stores following a $168mln capital investment, which included hiring 4,000 additional associates and donations to local communities. "Food Lion has nourished the greater Norfolk community for nearly 40 years, and we're excited to bring these improvements to our 105 local stores," noted Meg Ham, president of Salisbury, North Carolina-based Food Lion, an Ahold Delhaize USA banner.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: New Seasons Market adopts platform to better understand its shoppers
One of the West Coast's more well-known independent grocers is creating a solution to better understand its shoppers. New Seasons Market is working with Clutch, an Ambler, Pennsylvania-based customer data and loyalty provider, to develop a business-to-consumer customer relationship management (CRM) solution, which will help the grocer centralize all transaction, SKU and loyalty data in a single place to help the grocery better understand shopper behavior. From there, Clutch will design and institute new campaigns that employ ongoing customer insights, empowering New Seasons to provide more relevant and personalized communications across channels.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
This week, Food Lion will hold grand-reopening ceremonies for 105 Norfolk, Virginia-area stores following a $168mln capital investment, which included hiring 4,000 additional associates and donations to local communities. "Food Lion has nourished the greater Norfolk community for nearly 40 years, and we're excited to bring these improvements to our 105 local stores," noted Meg Ham, president of Salisbury, North Carolina-based Food Lion, an Ahold Delhaize USA banner.Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: New Seasons Market adopts platform to better understand its shoppers
One of the West Coast's more well-known independent grocers is creating a solution to better understand its shoppers. New Seasons Market is working with Clutch, an Ambler, Pennsylvania-based customer data and loyalty provider, to develop a business-to-consumer customer relationship management (CRM) solution, which will help the grocer centralize all transaction, SKU and loyalty data in a single place to help the grocery better understand shopper behavior. From there, Clutch will design and institute new campaigns that employ ongoing customer insights, empowering New Seasons to provide more relevant and personalized communications across channels.Source: progressivegrocer.com
Lidl: Agreement with the Tasty food network in Italy
Lidl has announced a partnership with the most followed social food network: Tasty. Through the partnership Lidl and Tasty will co-create and publish video recipes online, featuring Lidl Italia’s products. Tasty is a cross-media platform, part of BuzzFeed digital media, known for its simple and innovative cooking videos. According to Lidl, more than 190mln users a month follow Tasty’s content through their social media channels. The first video aired on 6 August 2018 on BuzzFeed and across Tasty’s channels (Facebook, Instagram and Snapchat). More content is being produced and is expected soon. The campaign will expose Lidl to wide audience of potential customers and allow it to gain relevance online. "With this partnership we want to take another step forward in consolidating the role of Lidl in the web universe. Today, cooking enthusiasts look for recipes mainly online and platforms such as Tasty are a source of inspiration for them like the most famous television chefs" said Alessia Bonifazi, Lidl Italia's communications manager.Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
South Korea: 7-Eleven testing vending machine-style convenience stores
7-Eleven convenience stores in South Korea are going completely high-tech. The retailer started rolling out convenience stores with rows of vending machines, marking the first time a c-store operator has adopted a full self-service concept. "We're testing out 7-Eleven Express, a high-tech vending machine-style convenience store that is fully prepared to service customers' convenience," 7-Eleven announced.Source: csnews.com
Holland: Plus Retail names Duncan Hoy as its new CEO
Dutch retailer Plus has appointed Duncan Hoy as its new CEO, according to a press release. He will succeed Jan Brouwer, who had been the company CEO since 2014. Hoy previously held the position of managing director of Large Stores for Tesco UK, which he held since June 2016. In July 2013, he took charge as director of shop operations with Dutch retailer Jumbo.Source: esmmagazine.com
UK: Iceland commits to vegan labeling after launching major plant-based range
UK retailer Iceland has announced it is currently in the process of introducing a 'suitable for vegans' label for its own-brand vegan products, joining Tesco, Asda, Morrisons, Aldi, Sainsbury's and the Co-op. The move follows a campaign by animal protection organization Animal Aid, which launched its #MarkItVegan initiative in 2016. It calls for 'all major supermarkets to clearly label their own-brand vegan products in some way, whether by the use of the words 'suitable for vegans', a logo or otherwise'. According to Animal Aid, Iceland says it is at the beginning of this 'long and complex process', so the label will not be seen for some time.Source: plantbasednews.org
India: Online grocery firm Grofers expects over Rs 2,500-cr revenue in FY19
Online grocery firm Grofers expects its revenue to cross Rs 2,500 crore this fiscal on the back of strong addition of new customers along with increasing cart sizes of existing users. The SoftBank-backed company, which competes with the likes of Alibaba-funded BigBasket as well as e-commerce majors like Flipkart and Amazon, currently has a monthly revenue run rate of about Rs 150 crore (translating into Rs 1,800 crore for the year). “We had launched a loyalty programme - Smart Bachat Club (SBC) - earlier this year and that has given a strong fillip to out business. It’s a subscription offering, where the customer is paying in advance for special pricing on items and we have seen huge uptake for it, we have crossed half a million subscribers already. By December, we expect to reach one million,” Grofers co-founder and CEO Albinder Dhindsa told PTI. He added that the frequency of shopping for SBC members is 2.5 times that of non-members, while their carts are 30% larger.Source: financialexpress.com
Taiwan’s July retail sales break all-time record
Taiwan's domestic retail trade for the month of July reached a new high of NT$350bln (US$11.41bln) this year, off the back of strong sales relating to the Ghost Festival, the Ministry of Economic Affairs (MOEA) said on Aug. 23. Cumulative retail sales from January-July were also higher this year, when compared to last, MOEA said. Strong growth in retail sales last month are largely attributed to increases to the price of petroleum, as well as continued e-commerce growth. A recent report by FedEx found that e-commerce revenue for Taiwan's small and medium sized businesses increased by 50% over the past two years.Source: taiwannews.com.tw
O'Key Group opens first compact hypermarket in southern Russia
Russian food retailer O'Key Group has announced the opening of a compact hypermarket in Novocherkassk. The O'Key hypermarket, located in Baton Mall at Yashchenko Street, is one of the new format compact hypermarkets that the retailer has introduced recently. Following openings in Moscow, St. Petersburg and Yekaterinburg, this will be the first such outlet in Southern Russia.Source: esmmagazine.com
UAE: Union Coop spends $31mln on 2018 promotions
Dubai retailer Union Coop has revealed that it has spent more than AED114mln ($31mln) since the start of 2018 on over 40 promotion campaigns to bring cheaper products to customers. The company said that the total included AED75mln which was allocated towards the price reduction of more than 15,000 basic food and consumer products during the holy month of Ramadan. Union Coop also said it also reserved a specific budget towards the support and service of the community to serve the country’s socio-economic goals.Source: arabianbusiness.com
Spain: DIA shares jump as CEO change heralds new strategy push
Shares in Spanish discount supermarket chain DIA jumped on Friday after the company said a new CEO will lead a shift in its strategy as it looks to reverse disappointing results and tackle fierce competition in its local market. Antonio Coto, a veteran of the company who launched its Argentinian business 20 years ago, will replace Ricardo Curras at the head of the company in Iberia, one month after it cut earnings guidance for 2018.Source: reuters.com