South Africa: Pick n Pay H1 profit jumps 19% as price cuts lure buyers
South African supermarket chain Pick n Pay Stores has said half-year profit before tax jumped 19.1% as price cuts attracted more shoppers to its stores. The country's second-biggest grocery store chain reported profit before tax of 670.2mln rand (€40.4mln) for the six months ended August, compared with 562.8mln rand same period last year on a normalised basis. South African shoppers are feeling the impact of low growth in disposable income, little to no job creation and tight credit conditions. To keep attracting struggling consumers, Pick n Pay reduced prices across 2,500 every day grocery lines.
Source: esmmagazine.com
UK: Co-op putting supply chain collaboration tool to use
Convenience retailer Co-op Food and its suppliers are using new software that aims to provide a shared view on supplier service level, stock availability, and lost sales. Use of SKUtrak Collaborator provides key metrics around collaborative planning, forecasting and replenishment (CPFR), and is the result of Co-op looking to take a more collaborative approach to analysing trading performance with suppliers. The tool is the first of a series of upcoming product announcements that are expected to further help improve collaboration, forecasting and replenishment between Co-op and its suppliers. It is born out of the retailer’s partnership with Atheon Analytics, which was announced earlier this year following the start of a Grocery Code Adjudicator investigation into claims the retailer’s broke the industry code of practice.
Source: essentialretail.com
Carrefour registers sales of over EUR 1.5bln in Romania in first nine months
French retailer Carrefour registered sales of EUR 1.52bln in Romania in the first nine months of this year, up 8.3% at constant exchange rates, according to the group’s financial report. The like-for-like sales, which reflect the sales generated by stores opened for at least twelve months, excluding temporary store closures, at constant exchange rates, excluding petrol and calendar effects, increased by 4.8% in this period, the same report shows. Romania thus managed to surpass Poland for the first time, the market where Carrefour registered sales of EUR 1.49bln in the same period.
Source: romania-insider.com
Holland: Jumbo to open 600th store
Dutch retailer Jumbo is to open its 600th outlet, with the unveiling of a converted EMTÉ store in Vught, in the south of the country. The 1,300 square metre store, located on Moleneindplein, will open on Wednesday 24 October, having closed on 6 October to undergo renovation. The store will mark the occasion by presenting a bunch of flowers to the first 600 customers that pass through the doors, while those that spend more than €25 in-store will receive a complimentary apple pie.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Kaufland Romania CEO will also manage the business in Czech Republic
German executive Marco Hossl, the CEO of Kaufland Romania and Moldova, will also manage the retailer’s business in the Czech Republic, local Ziarul Financiar reported. Kaufland is the market leader both in Romania and the Czech Republic and the group’s revenues on the two markets are similar, at about EUR 2.2bln. However, the business in Romania has been growing in recent years while the one in Czech Republic slightly declined last year. Moreover, the sales per store are higher in Romania, where the German group runs a network of 120 stores, compared to Czech Republic, where it has 130 stores.
Source: romania-insider.com
Amazon plans to open another UK office and add 1,000 high-skilled 'Silicon Valley' jobs
Amazon is set to open a new office in Manchester and will hire more than 1,000 new staffers to work on research and development in the U.K. The U.S. tech giant said it would hire additional roles in Manchester, Edinburgh and Cambridge as part of its boosted investment in Britain. Its new Manchester base alone will lead to the creation of 600 jobs, the firm said, indicating a serious investment in England's North. It will also take on more than 250 high-skilled staffers in its Edinburgh development center and 180 in its Cambridge facility.
Source: cnbc.com
Auchan Russia to modernise stores in 2019
Auchan Russia has a new store concept at four stores. The new concept comprises a new store design, colour scheme, equipment and a modified range. There is also a greater focus on fresh products. The retailer hopes to roll out the store concept to all stores in Russia from 2019.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
Japan: JR East tests unmanned store in Tokyo
A Japanese railway network operator is testing an unmanned store in a Tokyo railway station. The store will use artificial intelligence in place of cashiers to transact with customers in a trial expected to last about two months. The venture was opened by East Japan Railway, otherwise known as JR East, this week at the Akabane Station in Tokyo’s north. It has some 80 cameras mounted in the ceiling and on shelves recording customer behaviour before the AI software detects which items customers select. Customers pay using stored value cards issue by railway companies for transit. If the concept proves a success, JR East says it will begin rolling the technology out in stations across the city. The store is loosely modelled on unmanned stores opened in Mainland China, along with the Amazon Go concept in the US.
Source: insideretail.asia
France's Groupe Casino: Third quarter 2018 sales
In France, sales rose +2.0% on an organic basis and +1.9% on a same-store basis. Monoprix: growth of +1.8% on an organic basis and +1.4% on a same-store basis; strong growth in traffic and food; excellent performance by Parisian stores. Franprix: organic growth of +4.1% and same-store growth of +2.7%; very robust traffic during the quarter reflecting the banner's positioning. Casino Supermarkets: growth of +2.0% on an organic basis and +1.5% on a same-store basis; development of the franchise network. Géant hypermarkets: organic growth of +3.2% and same-store growth of +2.8%; excellent momentum in food and continued market share gains; success of Cdiscount corners. Convenience: organic growth of +4.3% and same-store growth of +3.2%; ongoing strong momentum among franchisees and sharp recovery at integrated stores. Leader Price: stable organic performance and same-store growth of +1.9%; sequential improvement in traffic and increase in the average basket. Cdiscount: gross merchandise volume (GMV) up +9.3% on an organic basis; accelerated growth in the marketplace, representing 36.0% of GMV; increase in data monetisation revenues. In Latin America, sales were up +10.4% organically and +5.5% on a same-store basis. GPA Food: organic growth of +12.6% led by Multivarejo's ongoing recovery and Assaí's very good performance. Éxito Group (excluding GPA Food): sequential improvement in organic and same-store sales.
Source: globenewswire.com
Coop Sverige re-launches organic range
Sweden-based Coop Sverige is re-launching its Änglamark organic private label range, with new products being sold later this month across all 650 stores and online. The initiative will see ‘a vastly expanded range, product innovations and improved labelling’. Commenting on the development, Marketing Director Björn Larsson said: ‘With new Änglamark, we want to make it even easier and better for our customers to live a sustainable life’.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
Mexico's Walmex third-quarter profit driven by solid sales
Mexico’s biggest retailer, Wal-Mart de Mexico reported a 7.9% rise in third-quarter revenue, capitalizing on sales traffic in Mexico that compensated for slow growth in Central America and a tough comparison base. The company, known as Walmex, said its net profit of 8.7bln pesos ($464mln) posted little growth compared with the year-earlier period, when Walmex still registered profits from its sale of clothing chain Suburbia.
Source: reuters.com
US: Lucky Supermarkets launches plant-based foods promo
Lucky Supermarkets, a subsidiary of The Save Mart Cos., has joined forces with the Plant Based Foods Association (PBFA) to introduce a marketing campaign providing information to consumers about plant-based foods available in the grocer’s 70 Northern California stores. “We are thrilled to partner with Lucky Supermarkets to promote a wide array of delicious plant-based foods to Lucky and Lucky California shoppers,” said Michele Simon, executive director of San Francisco-based PBFA.
Source: progressivegrocer.com