Australia: Drakes Supermarkets deploys Dematic’s robotic picking system
Australia-based independent grocery retailer Drakes Supermarkets has selected integrated automated technology supplier Dematic to deploy robotic piece picking system at its distribution centre (DC) in South Australia. The supermarket chain selected Dematic’s RapidPICK 1-to1 Good-To-Person (GTP) solution for high productivity and efficiency within the facility. The solution features Dematic Multishuttle buffering and sequencing system along with robotic piece picking. It will handle GTP compatible grocery products. Drakes Supermarkets logistics manager Glenn Sutcliffe said: "Our new facility will be the most advanced independent distribution and logistics centre in South Australia and is a key part of our group’s vertical integration strategy within the supermarket sector. We are excited that the centre will incorporate robotics as part of a wider high-tech warehouse picking system."
Source: retail-insight-network.com
Swiss retail sales recover in August
Switzerland's retail sales expanded in August after contracting a month ago, the Federal Statistical Office reported. Retail turnover advanced 0.4% on year in August, in contrast to a 0.9% fall in July. Sales of food, beverages and tobacco climbed 0.9%, whereas non-food sales excluding fuel declined 0.6%.
Source: markets.businessinsider.com
UK: Waitrose & Partners to deliver and put away your shopping while you’re out
Waitrose & Partners is to become the UK’s first supermarket to deliver groceries to customers inside the home and put them away while they are out. The retailer will initially test demand for the new service, which is called ‘While You’re Away’, with 100 customers located within the delivery area of its dotcom fulfilment centre in Coulsdon, south London. Using Yale smart lock technology, the customer grants access to a Waitrose delivery driver by setting a temporary access code for the lock which is then sent to Waitrose via a secure app. The code is then sent to the driver’s device at the time the customer has booked for the delivery and is deleted once the delivery is complete. The driver will put refrigerated and frozen goods away and leave other groceries on the kitchen counter, or as instructed by the customer. The whole delivery is captured on a chest-cam worn by the driver, with the video available for request for the customer the next working day. There is a minimum order of £25 and given the small number of customers involved at this stage, there is a minimum number of six orders, however this will be reviewed after the trial. If the trial is successful, Waitrose & Partners anticipates being able to make the service available to more than 1,000 customers in spring 2019.
Source: waitrose.pressarea.com
Spar Netherlands opens 75th Spar Express outlet
Spar Netherlands has announced the opening of its 75th Spar Express outlet in the country, at Broerdijk, Noord Holland. The store, located at a motorway forecourt, follows a conversion process that has gone 'according to plan', the retailer said, announcing plans for a further 55 new Spar Express outlets in the coming months. Since the start of the year, the Spar Express format has been rolled out to Texaco and Esso petrol stations, offering both food-to-go and daily groceries, with many stores also open 24 hours a day.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Thailand: JD Central investigates unmanned store in Bangkok
JD Central - the new joint venture between Chinese online specialist JD and Thailand’s Central Group - has revealed plans to open automated stores, starting next year in Bangkok. Vincent Yang, JD Central’s CEO, said the company is evaluating a location where it could test an unmanned store format. Customers would enter the store and transact using facial recognition software. The move would be one of several initiatives the company is evaluating using new-generation technology. Another is the use of autonomous warehouse robots to replace humans in warehouses to reduce overheads.
Source: insideretail.asia
Goldman Sachs raises stake in Spain's DIA to more than 15%
Goldman Sachs has raised its stake in Spanish supermarket chain DIA to 15.8% from 14.5%, a regulatory filing showed shortly after the discounter's main shareholder disclosed it had raised its own holding close to the legal threshold for a full takeover bid. The U.S. investment bank now holds 1.5% of DIA directly and 14.3% through derivatives, a filing with Spain's market regulator CNMV showed. A long economic crisis helped boost DIA's market share but it has struggled since an economic rebound put more cash in Spaniards' pockets. It has lost more than two thirds of its market value since its 2015 peak. Shareholder LetterOne, controlled by Russian tycoon Mikhail Fridman, had stoked speculation it might launch a takeover bid after it informed the regulator it had raised its stake to 29%. Under Spanish law, an investor must launch a full takeover bid once its stake reaches 30% stake.
Source: euronews.com
Largest Finnish retailer to reveal shopping habits to customers
Finnish shoppers are about to find out what they spend their money on at the supermarket after S Group, the country’s largest retailer, gave customers access to their shopping history. S Group has been collecting detailed shopping data for years through its popular loyalty bonus card, which is held by 3.7mln consumers in Finland, whose population is 5.5mln. “Especially for our younger customers the opportunity to track their own consumption can be a crucially important reason to use our green (bonus) card, even more important than the bonus itself,” spokesman Veli-Pekka Aari said.
Source: reuters.com
India: Metro opening smaller better stores
Metro Cash and Carry India is turning to smaller better stores, one of the five key trends we outlined earlier this year in IGD's Asia Outlook. Metro Cash and Carry is due to open its 27th store in India. It will operate approx. 3,716 sq m / 40,000 sq ft retail space, around half the size of most of Metro's existing stores in the country. The new compact store in Ghaziabad will be a similar size to the one in Nasik. As the wholesaler continues to accelerate network expansion, it is scaling-down the size of its stores with an eye on profitability. Arvind Mediratta, CEO and MD of Metro Cash and Carry India, said, "We are doing away with bigger stores in the range of 75,000 - 100,000 sq ft [...] a lot of people think more space means more sales. Customers don’t come to you more often because you have a bigger store.”
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
Kroger and Alibaba pair up to deliver China’s groceries
Kroger Co and Alibaba Group Holdings ally to offer China high quality organic food on an e-commerce platform. The giant grocer Kroger attempts a step outside the US for the first time to China with its Simple Truth Brand which gathered no lesser than $2bln in sales in 2017. Teaming up with Alibaba the biggest ecommerce retailer, in the world’s second biggest economy, Kroger wants to expand to reach the Chinese market with the healthy options that are carried by the supermarket. Partnering with Alibaba would augment share of online business double to 6.6% by 2020.
Source: internationalsupermarketnews.com
US: Shipt and Target expand same-day delivery to the Inland Empire
Shipt, a leading same-day delivery marketplace, and Target Corporation announced it will begin same-day delivery of more than 55,000 groceries, essentials, home, electronics, toys and other products in eight inland Southern California markets. Same-day delivery will also include beer and wine from participating Target stores. Shipt will become available in each metro on the following dates: October 16: Murrieta, Temecula, Palmdale, Lancaster, Palm Springs and Victorville, California. October 18: Riverside and San Bernardino, California.
Source: nasdaq.com
US: Alliance Retail Group, Retail Software Solutions Group bring DealW!se to independent grocers
Alliance Retail Group (ARG) and Retail Software Solutions Group (RSSG) have formed a strategic partnership to bring financial and operational benefits to TPR (temporary price reduction) processing for independent grocers. RSSG’s DealW!se solution combines the TPRs from ARG with pricing directly from the store to boost gross sales and fully automate the TPR process. By applying pricing formulas and rules, a store using DealW!se sees a significant improvement in its gross TPR sales and reduces its processing to as little as five to 10 minutes weekly, according to the software provider, adding that DealW!se’s detailed financial reporting gives the store a daily glimpse of the performance of these deals.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: Walmart taps Nielsen Brandbank for connected content partner program
Walmart has selected digital product content provider Nielsen Brandbank to join its new Connected Content Partner Program, an extension of its Content Service Provider Program designed to help suppliers scale content to Walmart's catalog and other retailers, the company said in a LinkedIn post. Through Walmart’s Connected Content Partner Program, which is slated to go live in January 2019, Nielsen Brandbank will be an official enrichment provider for Walmart, responsible for creating and managing content for the retailer’s grocery categories as well as investing in on-site presence. In this role, the company will also gain access to Walmart’s processes and content ecosystem to assist with content strategy and quality control.
Source: winsightgrocerybusiness.com
US: Publix opens first GreenWise Market store
Publix Super Markets Inc. opened the first of five planned locations for its GreenWise Market store format. Located in Tallahassee, Florida, near Florida State and Florida A&M universities, the 29,000-square-foot GreenWise store focuses on convenience and healthy lifestyles, serving up an array of natural, organic and specialty foods, including fresh prepared items. On the grocery side, customers will find local and organic fruit and vegetables, body care, natural vitamins and supplements, bulk items and local and unique products, Publix said. The store also offers an expanded line of GreenWise seafood, certified by the Marine Stewardship Council as coming from sustainable fisheries.
Source: supermarketnews.com
US: Instacart set to double grocery orders to over $3bln - The Information
Grocery delivery startup Instacart is on track to surpass $3bln in grocery orders this year, more than double its business from last year, news website The Information reported. Instacart, which was founded in 2012 by a former Amazon employee, has been growing steadily in the last few years as it partnered with a number of major grocery retailers like Walmart Inc and discount chain Aldi Inc to provide same-day delivery services.
Source: reuters.com