Wal-Mart Stores Inc. has opened a new front in its battle with Amazon.com Inc. The world’s largest retailer has applied for a U.S. patent for a floating warehouse that could make deliveries via drones, which would bring products from the aircraft down to shoppers’ homes. The blimp-style machine would fly at heights between 500 feet and 1,000 feet (as much as 305 meters), contain multiple launching bays, and be operated autonomously or by a remote human pilot. Amazon was granted a patent for a similar vessel in April 2016. (Bloomberg)US: Walmart expands Uber grocery delivery
Walmart is expanding its Uber partnership to add Orlando, FL and Dallas to its grocery delivery pilot, the retail giant said Monday in a company blog post. Customers shop online or through a mobile browser at Walmart.com/grocery to build an online basket and place their order, selecting the most convenient time for delivery, according to the blog post, written by Walmart Vice President of E-commerce Operations Mike Turner. (retaildive.com) South Africa's Shoprite profit meets forecasts
South Africa-based Shoprite matched estimates with a 12 percent rise in annual profit on Tuesday, as consumers battling recession and job losses turned to its non-frills outlets. South African retailers have struggled to lift earnings as a weak economy and jobs losses squeeze consumer income, but Shoprite has fared better than others with its focus on budget-conscious consumers, including more than 11 million South Africans on welfare grants. Shoprite, which vies in South Africa with Pick n Pay and Wal-Mart's South African unit, Massmart, said sales increased 8.4 percent to 141 billion rand ($10.73 billion). (Reuters)German supermarket empties shelves of foreign goods
In one of supermarket chain Edeka’s shops in Hamburg at the weekend, shelves were emptied in an effort to celebrate the diversity of their products and show how empty their store would be without products from abroad, such as tomatoes from Spain. (thelocal.de)
Foto: Twitter
Big Turkish chain plans 2018 IPO
Turkish discount retailer Sok is planning an initial public offering in 2018, two sources familiar with the matter told Reuters, the latest sign that Turkey's IPO market may be coming back to life. Sok, with more than 4,700 stores and 21,000 employees, is one of Turkey's biggest discount retailers, selling groceries, fresh produce and household items. It is 39 percent owned by Gozde Girisim, the investment arm of food giant Yildiz Holding, and half owned by a Netherlands-based investor consortium. A private equity fund run by Templeton Asset Management also holds 10 percent. (Reuters)
Amazon: Everything you need to know about its plans for AustraliaPlease, click here to read the article.
UK: Lidl overtakes Waitrose
Discounter Lidl has increased its UK grocery market share to a record high of 5.2 percent, overtaking Waitrose to become the country's seventh largest supermarket, industry data showed on Tuesday. Market researcher Kantar Worldpanel said Lidl's sales rose 18.9 percent year-on-year in the 12 weeks to August 13, while rival discounter Aldi's sales rose 17.2 percent, giving it a market share of 7.0 percent. All of Britain's big four grocers - market leader Tesco, Sainsbury's, Asda and Morrisons - increased their sales in the period but they still lost market share to the discounters, who, unlike the big four, are continuing to open new stores. Grocery inflation was 3.3 percent for the 12 weeks versus 3.2 percent in last month's data set. (Reuters)
Source: Kantar Worldpanel