US: Walmart to make first direct pitch to big corporate ad buyers at New York event
Walmart Inc will meet large consumer goods companies and advertising firms for the first time in New York next week to pitch its advertising business, as the world’s largest retailer aims to rev up its website and stores as a platform for other companies to reach customers. The event marks Walmart’s first effort to grow its nascent advertising business and heralds the retailer’s rising challenge to online ad leaders Alphabet Inc’s Google, Facebook Inc and Amazon.com Inc. The event, called “5260,” is named after a Walmart store near the retailer’s hometown of Bentonville, Arkansas, which is known for being a test lab for retail innovation, Walmart told Reuters.
Source: reuters.com
US: Purple Carrot to be acquired by largest Japanese organic food delivery service, Oisix ra daichi Inc.
Purple Carrot, the plant-based meal kit company with operations in the U.S., announced that it will be acquired by Tokyo-based Oisix ra daichi Inc. (Oisix), Japan's largest meal kit and organic food delivery service. With Oisix’s platform and access to fresh produce through thousands of farmers, and Purple Carrot’s U.S. market penetration, the company is poised for explosive global growth in what experts predict will be a $9bln global market by 2025. Purple Carrot’s corporate headquarters will remain in Massachusetts, and the entire executive leadership team will maintain their roles in the organization. Terms of the deal include an upfront payment of $12.8mln, with an earn-out potential of an additional $17.2mln through 2021, creating a total deal value of up to $30mln.
Source: businesswire.com
US: Target's Q1 sales growth enhanced by digital capabilities
Target’s first quarter sales increased 5.1% to $17.4bln, with comp store sales up 4.8%. Comparable digital sales increased 42%, contributing 2.1 percentage points to the overall comp sales growth. Operating income increased 9.0% to $1.1bln. These results represent another strong quarter from the business, reflecting its multi-year investments in store remodels, new formats, range development and digital fulfillment. Food and beverage comps were up around 3%.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
US: Albertsons reinvents its Signature Select store brands
Albertsons Cos. is updating its Signature Select brand and adding more than 300 items to the program this year. Signature Select's new branding, for its more than 2,400 items, will include an upgrade to its trademark tag logo that will remain consistent on products throughout the store but allow flexibility with the different packaging. Additional items will also be added throughout the year to the entire Signature family of brands, which, beside Signature Select, consists of Signature Cafe prepared meals and sides, Signature Farms meats and produce, Signature Reserve unique products, and Signature Care personal items.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
Germany: Kaufland ceases sale of disposable plastic bags
German retailer Kaufland has ceased offering disposable plastic bags in its stores in order to further contribute to the reduction of plastic waste. Since March, the company has gradually reduced the sale of these bags in 50 branches in Baden-Württemberg and sold off its remaining stock. Now the discounter is implementing this measure nationwide. Kaufland offers its customers several alternatives, for example FSC-certified paper bags, cardboard boxes, sturdy long-life carrier bags and folding boxes.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Spar International to expand Chinese footprint
Grocery retail franchise Spar International will open more than 150,000sqm of retail sales space in China this year. The firm’s store-development plans include compact hypermarkets and a “new generation” of supermarkets in Northern and Southern China. The Spar brand is present in seven Asia Pacific territories, with €1.96bln ($2.2bln) in sales achieved from 573 stores last year. Spar China’s footprint accounted for 830,043sqm and sales of €1.5bln ($1.67bln) during the financial year, with particularly strong growth in the Shandong and Guangdong provinces. The firm’s Thailand operations expanded to 45 stores and recorded a sales growth of 96.2%.
Source: insideretail.asia
Australia: Coles launches new private label
Coles has launched a new healthy living private label brand called 'Wellness Road'. The new Wellness Road range includes 28 products such as organic flaxseed oil, organic buckwheat kernels, tiger nut flour, organic red rice noodles with Chia and textured vegetable protein. Coles has launched the range, which has premium black and gold packaging, to give health conscious shoppers a more affordable range of nutritionally conscious products. As well as affordability, the products include specialist ingredients that are not part of the Coles range currently and will appeal to a new set of shoppers.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
Flipkart planning to open offline grocery stores in India
India's largest e-commerce platform Flipkart is planning to open brick-and-mortar grocery stores in India. The Walmart-controlled company is trying to tap the food retail industry in the country where 100% FDI is allowed. This move to open grocery stores across the country comes after the company opened its 5th online grocery store in Mumbai. It may be noted that foreign investors are not allowed to open retail stores in the country. However, in the food retail business, a foreign investor is allowed to open physical stores. A ToI report cited sources privy to the matter saying: "Globally around 50-60% of Walmart's sales come from food. The strategy of opening offline stores falls into Walmart's overall scheme of things."
Source: timesnownews.com
EU antitrust inspectors investigate France's Casino & Intermarche
French supermarket groups Casino and Intermarche are being investigated by EU antitrust inspectors, the companies said, after EU regulators said they were looking into a potential breach of rules that prohibit cartels. The European Commission said its antitrust inspectors raided the premises of two French grocery retailers earlier this week as part of a preliminary investigation. It did not identify the companies and said the move did not mean they were guilty. Casino said separately that Commission agents visited its Paris headquarters this week, but did not provide further details. Le Figaro newspaper reported Intermarche’s headquarters were also raided. The company told Reuters it “confirms the European Commission’s ongoing probe”, but declined to give details.
Source: reuters.com
Food delivery startup Dahmakan eats up $5mln for expansion in Southeast Asia
Malaysia-based Dahmakan announced a $5mln financing round of its own. The money takes the startup to $10mln raised to date - its last round as $2.6mln last year - and it comes via new investors U.S-based Partech Partners and China’s UpHonest Capital and existing backers Y-Combinator, Atami Capital and the former CEO of Nestlé who was an angel investor. The round was closed earlier this year but is now being announced alongside this expansion play.
Source: techcrunch.com
UK: Marks & Spencer to close another 20 stores as profits plunge
Marks & Spencer is accelerating its retreat from the high street by closing a further 20 of its full-line stores, which sell clothing and food under one roof. The retailer said it planned to close 85 of its big high street stores, on top of the 35 it has already shut. The company is battling the transfer of clothing sales online and it had already told the City to expect about 100 closures. The news of the extra branches being axed came as the group pointed to “green shoots” of recovery, despite annual profits being pulled down by a £440mln bill for a modernisation programme. The overhaul of the struggling chain will also involve the closure of 25 of its Simply Food convenience stores.
Source: theguardian.com