US: Piggly Wiggly introduces speedy grocery delivery service
Piggly Wiggly Midwest is partnering with online grocery service Instacart to bring grocery delivery to nearly all Midwest stores. The service allows shoppers to get their groceries within an hour of ordering online or through the Instacart mobile app. An Instacart shopper will "pick, pack and deliver" the order within the selected time frame.
Source: tmj4.com
Amazon to close all of its 87 pop-up stores in the U.S. beginning in April
Amazon will close all of its 87 pop-up locations in the U.S. in April, the company said. Amazon has pop-ups inside Whole Foods locations, Kohl's stores and malls around the U.S. The shops let customers try Amazon products - such as Fire tablets, Kindle e-readers, Echo smart speakers - and Amazon services, like Prime Video, Audible and Kindle Unlimited. "Across our Amazon network, we regularly evaluate our businesses to ensure we're making thoughtful decisions around how we can best serve our customers", an Amazon spokesperson told CNBC. "After much review, we came to the decision to discontinue our pop-up kiosk program, and are instead expanding Amazon Books and Amazon 4-star, where we provide a more comprehensive customer experience and broader selection."
Source: cnbc.com
US: Online grocer Farmstead expands popular refill & save program that makes ordering online cheaper than going to the grocery store
Farmstead, the first online grocer to offer fresh, high-quality groceries, delivered for free, at better prices than local supermarkets, announced that is it expanding its popular Refill & Save program that makes ordering groceries online cheaper than going to the store. Initially, Farmstead offered 25 top grocery staples through Refill & Save - now that number is over 300, including products from national brands such as Kraft Heinz, La Croix, Newman's Own and Kerrygold; legendary local Bay Area brands like Acme Bread and DOSA; and fresh fruits and vegetables.
Source: globenewswire.com
US: UNFI reports Q2 net sales of $6.15bln
UNFI (United Natural Foods Inc.) reported that net sales hit $6.15bln, which includes $3.47bln from Supervalu, for its fiscal second quarter, which ended January 26. Other Q1 results include a 5.5% legacy UNFI sales increase and a $370.9mln non-cash, good will impairment charge. “I’m pleased by the tremendous work and meaningful progress our team accomplished this quarter on the integration of Supervalu and the positioning of UNFI as the premier food distribution company in North America”, said Steven L. Spinner, UNFI's chairman and CEO. “We know realizing all the benefits of this combination will take time, and we’re focused on executing against our plan for the long term. We experienced higher than anticipated costs, largely associated with our network realignment projects resulting primarily from Supervalu’s previous acquisitions, which we believe will be short-term in nature. I’m confident we have the people and resources focused on this integration and remain optimistic about our drive towards operating as one company with the broadest product selection, services offering and scaled supply chain.”
Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: Dollar Tree to close up to 390 stores
In a bid to optimize its store base, Dollar Tree Inc. has revealed that for its fiscal year 2019, it could close as many as 390 underperforming stores. The Chesapeake, Virginia-based retailer explained that it would need to shutter that many locations, rather than its “normal” number of about 75, if it was unable “to obtain material rent concessions from landlords” of the properties. In its fourth quarter of 2018, Dollar Tree closed 84 underperforming stores - 37 more than originally planned for the year. It also closed 10 Dollar Tree locations. The company also said that it would convert about 200 Family Dollar stores to the Dollar Tree banner this year, in addition to placing adult beverages in about 1,000 stores and installing freezers and coolers in around 400 stores. Among new initiatives the company plans to test in certain stores is offering multiple price points, which it observed has been done on previous occasions. The test stores will feature “high-value multi-price merchandise,” according to Dollar Tree.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
Mexican central bank in talks with Amazon about new mobile paymentsMexico’s central bank is in talks with Amazon.com Inc to launch a new government-backed mobile payment system that would allow consumers to pay for online purchases using QR codes, the bank’s head of payments said. It would be the first time the world’s largest online retailer offers such scanning technology in Mexico and could eventually open a new customer base in a nation where more than half of the population has no bank account. The payment system, known as CoDi, is being built by central bank Banco de México, known as Banxico. CoDi will allow customers to make payments online and in person through smartphones free of charge using QR codes. It aims to bring more people into the formal financial sector. A pilot rollout of CoDi is expected this month, Banxico has said.
Source: reuters.com
UAE: Wadi.com completely shuts down the marketplace to focus on groceries in Saudi
Wadi.com, the Dubai-based ecommerce platform that had pivoted to groceries last year, has now completely shut down its online marketplace. The startup had been clearing its stock since last few months, focusing entirely on groceries for the Saudi market. Wadi, few months after the pivot, had raised $30mln as a strategic investment from Majid Al Futtaim, one of the biggest regional conglomerate that owns and operates French hypermarket Carrefour in the region, along with shopping malls, hotels, and many other businesses. Carrefour after the investment had become Wadi’s long-term strategic partner for both food and non-food groceries. The startup is currently delivering groceries in Riyadh, Jeddah, Dammam, and Khobar only but has plans to expand to more cities in Saudi and eventually to other GCC countries.
Source: menabytes.com
Poland: Dino Polska listed among Poland’s top 20 companies
Polish retailer Dino Polska has announced that it has been promoted to the WIG20 Index, which features the top 20 companies listed on the Warsaw Stock Exchange. The retailer will be listed on the WIG20 Index as a result of the annual index adjustment, which will be implemented after the 15 March session. Its inclusion in the index comes two years after the launch of its IPO on the Warsaw Stock Exchange.
Source: esmmagazine.com
SPAR Austria reports strong growth
The SPAR Austria Group, which includes operations across its home market, Croatia, Hungary, Italy and Slovenia, said its total sales rose 4.7% to €15.05bln. The performance, which includes non-grocery format Hervis and its shopping centre business, was driven by its strong growth in Austria, where it said it outperformed the market, and in its international operations. Announcing the results, SPAR Austria said it grew twice as fast as the market, expanding sales by 4% during 2018. Positively for the company, the growth was driven by a rise in like-for-like sales, given that the number of stores under the SPAR brand dropped to 1,560, from 1,616. The change in store numbers came despite the company opening 30 new stores and was affected by the ending of its partnership with Shell and the closure of stores on its petrol forecourts. In its markets outside Austria, SPAR said sales rose 7.2% to €5.7bln. By country it said sales grew by 4.2% in Italy, to €2.25bln, by 9.8% in Hungary, to €1.94bln, by 4.1% in Slovenia, to €816mln, and by 14.6% to €688mln in Croatia.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
Portugal: Jerónimo Martins to invest up to €750mln in network in 2019
Portuguese retail group Jerónimo Martins plans to invest between €700mln and €750mln this year in three main areas. According to the company, capex will be allocated for the expansion of the Biedronka, Hebe, Pingo Doce and Ara banners, as well as the ongoing upgrade of existing stores and improvements to the operational and logistics infrastructure in the three markets where the group operates: Portugal, Poland and Colombia. As well as organic growth, Jerónimo Martins says it will seek growth opportunities through acquisitions.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Italy: Carrefour supports 'Cooperativa Sociale Pausa Café'
Carrefour Italia, in collaboration with the startup Emerge, has announced its support for 'Cooperativa Sociale Pausa Café', an Italian cooperative which offers social re-integration paths to prisoners. The Grugliasco (Turin) Carrefour store has allocated a dedicated corner to the sale of coffee and handcrafted beers produced by rehabilitated prisoners working at the Cooperative. The assortment includes 15 references, and a number of tastings are to be organised in the store. The initiative is in line with Carrefour's commitment to social inclusion issues, it said. According to Salvatore Cavoli, Carrefour Italia's manager for regional products, the retailer is "very excited" to support Cooperativa Sociale Pausa Café, as it produces positive and added value in the local community. Carrefour Italia is also collaborating with Emerge to plan other similar initiatives throughout Italy.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Australia: Coles now selling food on eBay
Coles started selling a range of ‘everyday essentials’ on eBay, in a bid to reach some of the marketplace’s 11mln unique monthly visitors. The offering includes perishable and non-perishable items in Coles’ everyday essentials range across several categories, including select pre-packaged fresh food, pantry, personal care and household items. The items at launch are available to eBay shoppers in metro Sydney, Melbourne and Brisbane. Shoppers will initially have just one delivery option, though more will be added throughout the year, according to a statement from eBay and Coles. Alister Jordan, chief executive of Coles Online, described the partnership as being all about convenience. “By partnering with eBay, we are providing our customers another convenient way to access our products and have them delivered straight to their door”, he said in a statement.
Source: insideretail.com.au
UK retail sales slow in climate of uncertainty
The latest release from the British Retail Consortium Retail Sales Monitor (BRC-RSM) for the month of February shows that UK sales grew by just 0.5%, and were marginally down on a like-for-like basis. With the UK still no clearer on the terms of its exit from the EU, shoppers appear reluctant to spend on non-food products above all. Food and grocery sales remained relatively buoyant and on a three-month basis sector growth was +2.4% for December to February (+1.3% like-for-like). In contrast non-food sales fell on a total basis by 0.4% in the same period, with the only areas of positive momentum found in computing and household appliances and, to a lesser degree, footwear.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com