Ocado delivery drivers could potentially become a thing of the past, after the company completed successful trial deliveries using driverless vehicles in London’s Greenwich. The online supermarket hopes the self-driving vans will improve safety and increase the speed at which orders can be met. It says the system could be ready for commercial launch nationwide by 2019. (gearsofbiz.com) US: Aldi enters grocery delivery in partnership with Instacart
German grocery chain Aldi said on Sunday it has partnered with Instacart Inc to deliver groceries in three U.S. cities, a move that comes amid intense competition and disruption in the industry. Aldi will launch a pilot starting the end of this month in Los Angeles, Atlanta and Dallas with the potential of expanding to more cities in the future. The German retailer does not offer customers an option to shop on its own website now and the partnership is a way to test online grocery demand, Aldi's Vice President of Corporate Buying Scott Patton told Reuters. (Reuters)US: Harris Teeter highlights local products
Harris Teeter has launched the chain-wide HT Home Town program, with the aim of raising consumer awareness of the many local products already on its shelves. The initiative spotlights brands that have local connections to various markets within the Matthews, N.C.-based grocer’s footprint, enabling shoppers to support their communities by purchasing these items. (progressivegrocer.com) US: Wal-Mart is quietly growing its online advertising business, analyst says
Wal-Mart has been quietly building up its online advertising business, opening up a new revenue channel for the retail giant. According to KeyBanc's Ed Yruma, Wal-Mart's website has started to show banner ads by third-party sellers more frequently, with links to product pages or vendor websites. Historically, Wal-Mart's online ads have highlighted its own products or discounts, Yruma said. On top of that, Wal-Mart has recently started linking its in-store and online shopping data, giving more in-depth data that advertisers could play with, he said. (cnbc.com) Carrefour Brasil sees competitive prices helping market share
Grupo Carrefour Brasil SA, the local unit of France's Carrefour SA, will aim to maintain some equilibrium between price competitiveness and healthy margins to gain market share amid a slow economic recovery, executives said on Friday. Carrefour Brasil continued to gain participation in the segments of cash and carry, hypermarkets and convenience stores over the first half, Chief Executive Officer Charles Desmartis said in a conference call to discuss second-quarter results. (Reuters)Russia: X5 to open more stores than planned in 2017
X5 Retail Group CEO, Igor Shekhterman, announced an increase in the 2017 forecast of new stores openings from 2,000 to 2,500. As of the end of June, 1,319 new stores were opened by X5 to reach 10,506 units. Pyaterochka made up almost all new store openings and will continue to do so in the revised 2017 forecast guidance. The revision in X5’s business plan for 2017 comes while Magnit revised its own guidance notes for the same year. Magnit will open more stores than expected earlier in 2017 after it reported slower year-on-year and declining like-for like performance in the first half of 2017. (igd.com)Croatia: Agrokor extraordinary administration says Group is 'stabilising'
The extraordinary administration of troubled Croatian retail and food conglomerate Agrokor has issued its latest monthly report on the group's progress, in which it states that the retail side of the business 'has started to stabilise, with the customer numbers recovering and nearing the levels recorded in previous years'. In addition, 'optimisation of cost and restructuring measures continue with the objective of further improving the results'. As a result of new financing arrangements, the group's Food and Agri businesses have also posted a more positive performance, the administrators said. (esmmagazine.com) Russia: Magnit launches a new wholesale format
Magnit launched three test stores of its new Cash and Carry format under the banner name Magnit-Opt. The concept of the format is designed to buy products in small wholesale, or even smaller shop mission. Magnit-Opt offers an assortment of 1,500 SKUs of basic groceries, which is typically half that of the range in the Magnit supermarket format. Magnit-Opts fulfils the needs of a household in bulk and offers cost savings, and services to the small B2B sector. (igd.com)Russia: Lenta takes over Sedmoi Continent hypermarkets
Russia’s largest hypermarket format operator, Lenta, signed a 15-year lease of 14 Nash hypermarkets from Sedmoi Continent. Lenta will invest in the renovation of approximately 78,400 sqm of retail space and to re-open under its brand name. The openings under the Lenta brand are planned to be completed by end of September 2017. This agreement will keep Lenta on target for its 2017 guidance to open around 30 new hypermarkets. (igd.com)UK: Sainsbury's pilots 30 minute click and collect service
Sainsbury's is trialing a 30 minute click and collect service.The launch means the retailer is the first supermarket to offer sub one-hour collection. The trial is taking place at Sainsbury’s Pimlico store in London, where the supermarket’s one-hour delivery service Chop Chop is available. Customers use the Chop Chop app to use the 30 minute service. (theretailbulletin.com)