Rewe Group awards mindshare media budget in Austria
Following the completion of a long-term cooperation with media agency OMD, Rewe Group has completed a multistage tender process for its bundled media budget in Austria, which includes the media spend for Billa, Merkur, Penny, Bipa, Adeg, Rewe Austria Touristic, as well as several other divisions. Following careful consideration of qualitative and quantitative criteria, Mindshare has emerged as the victor of this process. The account comprises the total strategical media planning for Rewe Group in both classical and digital advertisement formats across Austria.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Tencent sees great potential in China's smart transportation market
China's internet giant Tencent is betting on the country's smart transportation market, expanding its presence in fields ranging from subway QR code payment to bus hailing. "Transportation is a very important area for Tencent's exploration in the industrial internet," said Zheng Haojian, Tencent vice president in charge of smart transportation, mobile payment and internet finance innovations. "We hope we can utilize our technological achievements over the past two decades to become a digital assistant to the public transportation industry," he told a forum on smart transportation.
Source: xinhuanet.com
France: Carrefour Group and U Enseigne bolster their purchasing partnership with “Envergure” for a 5-year period
The Carrefour Group’s and Enseigne U’s joint purchasing centre is called “Envergure”. It is tasked with negotiating purchase terms and conditions for major national and international brands with 70 suppliers in the grocery sector, as well as a few non-food suppliers. “Envergure” puts forward and negotiates business plans for Carrefour, U Enseigne and Provera, the aim being to simplify purchasing and share information, speeding up the decision-making process and supporting implementation.
Source: carrefour.com
UK: Debenhams makes record annual loss and plans up to 50 store closures
Debenhams has posted record annual losses and said it will close up to 50 stores, putting 4,000 jobs at risk. In the year to September the department store group lost £491.5mln, against profits of £59mln the year before. Debenhams, which has 166 branches, previously said it planned to close 10 stores. Boss Sergio Bucher said the company was "taking tough decisions" on stores where financial performance was likely to deteriorate over time. The retailer is not releasing a list of the stores at risk of closure.
Source: bbc.com
Taiwan retail sales growth rebounds in September
Taiwan’s retail sales annual growth gained momentum in September after slowing sharply in the previous month, preliminary data from the Ministry of Economic Affairs showed. Retail sales rose 2.80% year-on-year following a revised 0.60% growth in August. On a month-on-month basis, retail sales climbed 1.87% in September. Wholesale trade sales increased 2.15% year-on-year after a 4.05% gain. Sales of food and beverage services registered 7.70% growth following a 5.17% rise in the previous month.
Source: forextv.com
German supermarket chain tests eActros
Leading German supermarket operator Edeka is testing a Mercedes-Benz fully electric eActros around Berlin for a year as the vehicle’s testing regime continues to gather pace. The vehicle tested is a 25-tonne rigid, with a Schmitz Cargobull refrigerated body and a range of about 200km on a single charge. It will call at Edeka supermarket branches in the city centre and surrounding areas on daily routes of 150-300km, transporting up to up to 10 tonnes of fresh and temperature-sensitive goods. During loading and unloading, the vehicle is to be plugged in to ensure its range is "optimally utilised".
Source: fullyloaded.com.au
US: RangeMe platform shows suppliers what grocers want
RangeMe has rolled out a platform that it said streamlines new product discovery between suppliers and retailers by providing exclusive retail buying trends before the products come to market. Industry Insights helps match up suppliers with retail buyers by filling in the data gap as most product trend insight is based on point-of-sale data from consumers, while RangeMe provides information into what retailers are looking for months before product innovations appear on shelves. The platform will help suppliers make the most of the opportunities available to them by providing the insight needed to better position their products to buyers and make the correct decisions when it comes to aspects such as product size or pricing. Nicky Jackson, founder and CEO of RangeMe, said the "real-time view" Industry Insights gives suppliers an "inside track into what buyers are showing interest in" on the platform.
Source: winsightgrocerybusiness.com
US: Boston independent grocers heat up ecommerce competition with new delivery platform
A number of independent grocers in Boston now have the ability to deliver their goods to local patrons via a grocery ecommerce platform that allows specialty purveyors to compete with larger operators. New York-based grocery technology company Mercato connects smaller grocers with Bostonians that prefer to eat locally, boasting a "robust offering of local butchers, seafood and produce markets, bakers and small grocers" within Beantown. One of the more prominent partners with Mercato in the region, Boston Public Market, offers more than two-dozen popular options ranging from Beantown Pastrami and Levend Bagelry to Noodle Lab and Red Apple Farm. Mercato will pick up orders from a variety of retailers within the market and deliver them to customers for a single fee.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: Target's two-day holiday shipping option beats Amazon & Walmart
Target Corp, aiming to one-up retail rivals during the upcoming U.S. holiday shopping season, said it was adding more delivery and pickup options for online shoppers to have items shipped to their homes or ready for quick pick-up at local stores. The Minneapolis-based retailer will offer free two-day shipping on hundreds of thousands of items from November 1 to December 22 with no order minimum or membership required. Target had announced the shipping service in March.
Source: reuters.com
US: Northgate Gonzalez Market installs new coin-conversion kiosks in all stores
Southern California grocer Northgate Gonzalez Markets has replaced the coin-counting machines in all of its stores with kiosks from Bellevue, Washington-based Coinstar LLC. The new kiosks include options to convert coins to cash, egift cards (with no fee) and charity. The kiosk locations can be found on Coinstar's website. According to Lee Pantalone, Coinstar's head of sales, the turnkey service allows Northgate Gonzalez Market to reduce labor costs and focus store personnel on customer service and store operations.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: Walmart strikes renewable energy deal with SunPower
Grocery giant Walmart has entered into an agreement with SunPower that will see the renewable energy firm install solar power at two distribution centers and 19 stores in Illinois. A combination of rooftop and ground-mount systems will be installed, and are set to account for 23 megawatts of power. Walmart's vice president for energy, Mark Vanderhelm, said in a statement that solar was a vital component of the firm's expanding renewable energy portfolio. "These planned projects with SunPower are moving us in the right direction toward our renewable energy goals," Vanderhelm added. Construction of the Illinois systems is slated to start in the first half of 2019, Walmart said.
Source: cnbc.com
US: Associated Retail Operations shuts down Honey Bee Produce Co & rebanners store as Macey’s
Associated Retail Operations (ARO), a division of Associated Wholesale Grocers, is transitioning its Honey Bee Produce Co. location in Draper, Utah, to the Macey’s brand, another banner in the ARO arsenal. All staff will be retained and Macey’s signature products, including Kong Kones, doughnuts fried fresh in store, and Macey’s chips, will be introduced. While the Honey Bee Produce Co., experiment didn't work out for ARO, it provided a learning experience for what small-format grocery stores need compared with larger stores and was instrumental in the company's understanding how to operate a store focused according to ONSHELF: Organic, Natural, Specialty, Healthy, Ethnic and Local Foods.
Source: progressivegrocer.com