Portuguese retail group Sonae MC has reported that sales increased by 5.4% to €3.8bln in 2017, fuelled by like-for-like growth of 1.2%. In its preliminary sales results, the retailer said that this growth was also boosted by the continued expansion of its Continente Bom Dia proximity store concept, having opened 19 new outlets last year. Additionally, online retail sales surpassed €100mln for the first time ever during this period.Source: esmmagazine.com
UK: Top 250 global retailers see 4% revenue growth last year
The world’s leading 250 retailers generated total retail revenues of US$4.41tln in FY 2016, representing growth of 4.1% year-on-year, with a net profit margin of 3.2%. This is according to Deloitte’s Global Powers of Retailing 2018 report, based on publicly available data for the fiscal year ending June 2017. Return on assets amounted to 3.3%, with retail revenue CAGR of 4.8% in the period 2011-2016. Retail revenue increased for 181 out of the top 250 companies. The world’s top ten retailers accounted for 30.7%, or $1.35tln, of the top 250’s retail revenue in FY2016, marking a slight increase from 30.4% the previous year.Source: esmmagazine.com
Russia's Magnit posts 6% sales increase in 2017
Russian retailer Magnit recorded a strong performance in 2017, with sales increasing 6.37% to RUB 1,143.29bln. Gross profit increased to RUB 304.71bln, while EBITDA rose to RUB 91.78bln. The retail group opened 2,291 new stores in 2017, bringing its total network to 16,350, including 12,125 convenience stores, 243 hypermarkets, 208 Magnit Family stores, and 3,774 drug stores across the country.Source: esmmagazine.com
South Korean firms to ramp up e-grocery business with $940mln
South Korea’s retailers Shinsegae and E-Mart said they were set to gain $940mln from private equity firms, hoping to capitalise on a surge in online grocery shopping and other e-commerce in one of the world’s most wired countries. With the funding from Affinity Equity Partners and BRV Capital Management, both Asia-based private equity funds, department store operator Shinsegae and supermarket affiliate E-Mart laid out ambitions to topple eBay as the country’s leading e-commerce retailer.Source: reuters.com
Spar International to open 40 stores in Saudi Arabia by 2020
Food retail chain Spar International has unveiled plans to open 40 stores in Saudi Arabia by 2020, as part of a partnership with Riyadh-based Al Sadhan Group to bring the brand to the kingdom. The firm opened three Spar stores in Riyadh over the weekend, with five more scheduled this year, bringing the total number of stores in the country to eight. Managing director of Spar International, Tobias Wasmuhtm said a growing young population and rising GDP has resulted in steady growth in Saudi Arabia’s retail market.Source: arabianbusiness.com
Russia’s O’Key Group sees revenues decline in Q4
Russian retailer O’Key Group has said that its group net retail revenue declined 1.2% in the fourth quarter of its financial year, to RUB 48.9bln (around €700mln). The group said that this decline in revenue was largely influenced by both growing competition in the Russian retail market, as well as the commencement of the sale process of its supermarket business.Source: esmmagazine.com
Denmark: Danfoss JV targets supermarket control
Danfoss is planning a joint venture with German photovoltaic firm SMA, aimed at integrating cooling and refrigeration, photovoltaics, energy storage and e-mobility in supermarkets. They intend to combine SMA Solar Technology’s energy management platform EnnexOS and the Danfoss System Manager SM800 to integrate supermarkets into the energy system. The companies say that supermarket operators can use the integrated solution developed by the planned joint venture to sustainably reduce their operating expenditure and optimise their carbon footprint.Source: coolingpost.com
CA: Nothin' but food at Vancouver's first no-package grocery store
The founders of a new Vancouver zero-waste food business want to change the way you shop. “There’s a bit of a learning curve, for sure,” said Brianne Miller, who has been working on developing the idea for two years. “For people that are new to this, it takes a little bit of time to prepare yourself.” Miller and her team — all young women under 30 — are getting close to opening Nada, Vancouver’s first no-packaging grocery store. It’s a concept that has caught on in other places, such as Ottawa and Montreal: food is offered in bulk bins or in jars customers can pay a deposit for.Source: metronews.ca
US: With new app, 7-Eleven joins the delivery game
Convenience-store franchise 7‑Eleven is testing delivery and in-store pickup ordering at select Dallas stores with its new 7‑ElevenNOW smartphone app. Currently being tested in 10 downtown and uptown 7‑Eleven stores, 7‑ElevenNOW is expected to roll out to other U.S. locations in 2018 as part of a “significant digital transformation,” according to the company. Customers can opt for direct delivery to their location or pick up their prepared order at the participating store of their choice within the 7‑ElevenNOW footprint.Source: franchisetimes.com
US: 70% of consumers will buy groceries online by 2024
In as few as five to seven years, 70 percent of consumers will be grocery shopping online. That’s according to the second-year findings of the “Digitally Engaged Food Shopper” study by the Food Marketing Institute and Nielsen, unveiled this past weekend at the FMI Midwinter Executive Conference at the National Doral near Miami. According to the latest findings, the estimated $100blnn spend, which is equivalent to every U.S. household spending $850 online for food and beverage annually, will occur by 2022 or 2024.Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: Walmart job cuts rise to 1,000 in company's latest shake-up
Walmart Stores Inc. is cutting as many as 1,000 jobs at its headquarters this year and next, the latest effort to streamline a retail empire under threat from Amazon.com Inc. The first wave of layoffs totaled between 400 and 500 jobs and hit the company’s marketing, human resources, merchandising, real estate and other divisions this week, the Bentonville, Arkansas-based chain said. Those affected will have 60 days to find a new role. A second phase of cutbacks will come in 2019, when some buildings are consolidated to make way for the company’s new corporate headquarters. Under 500 positions will be part of that wave, Walmart said.Source: bloomberg.com