Supermarket sales in Japan fell 7.1% in July
Japan's supermarket sales fell 7.1% in July from a year earlier on a same-store basis for the fourth consecutive month of decline, hit by a relatively longer rainy season, an industry body said. Sales at 10,504 supermarkets operated by 56 companies totaled 1.01tln yen ($9.5bln), while the rate of decrease on a same-store basis was the largest since March 2015, which was 8.6%, according to the Japan Chain Stores Association. Sales of food, which accounted for about 66% of the total, fell 5.3%, and those of clothes dropped 16.2%, dragged down by weak sales of summer items, according to the association.
Source: mainichi.jp
Polish supermarkets introduce 'hours of silence' for autistic people
A supermarket chain in Poland is set to introduce an initiative across its stores with designated shopping hours during which it will adapt conditions for people on the autism spectrum. Auchan hypermarket's "Hours of silence" will be rolled out in shops across the country after one store trialled the initiative in early April on World Autism Awareness Day. The scheme was a grassroots initiative of Auchan Częstochowa North, located in Silesia Province, in cooperation with local charity "Daj mi czas" (Give me time), according to a press release. Several other stores have since followed suit, including Wrocław, Gdańsk, Radom, Kielce and Rzeszów.
Source: euronews.com
India: Walmart marks 1-year anniversary with Flipkart
One year after Walmart made its initial investment into Flipkart, an Indian force in online sales of consumer goods, Judith McKenna, president and CEO of Walmart International, provided a glowing status report of the alliance. "When Flipkart joined the Walmart family, we said we would accomplish a lot together. And one year on, I’m proud to say we have", said McKenna in a blog post on the company's corporate website. "Before joining us, the Flipkart team had already built one of the most customer-centric businesses in India. Today, I continue to be inspired by the passion, entrepreneurial spirit and creativity they bring to solving everyday problems for our customers in one of the most diverse and dynamic countries in the world."
Source: winsightgrocerybusiness.com
Austria: Spar introduces free wooden cutlery
Spar Austria has announced that it has introduced free wooden cutlery for on-the-go food in Spar Gourmet outlets in Vienna and lower Austria as well as Interspar stores across the country. With the move, the retailer is replacing plastic cutlery offered in its stores with a sustainable alternative. Spar Austria chairman Gerhard Drexel, said: "As part of our plastics reduction initiative, [...] we now offer forks, knives and spoons made of European birch wood in a paper bag." Disposable plastic cutlery is set to be banned across the EU from 2021 onwards.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Estonia: Bolt launches food delivery service
Transportation platform Bolt (previously known as Taxify) has launched a food delivery service. The first city where this will be active is Tallinn, but according to the company more cities in Europe will follow soon. In March of this year, Taxify rebranded as Bolt as it wanted to expand its services beyond private cars. Now it has announced the launch of Bolt Food, its own food delivery service. The company, with its headquarters in Estonia, launches the service in Tallinn, but will expand to more cities in Europe over the next twelve weeks, including Latvia and Lithuania. “Next year will see a further burst of global launches across Europe and Africa”, the company explains.
Source: ecommercenews.eu
Discounts to drive cashless payments in Japan
Japan’s four leading convenience banners 7-Eleven, FamilyMart, Lawson and Ministop will offer a 2% discount for cashless payments starting October. The rebate program launched by the Japanese government coincides with the rise of consumption tax from 8% to 10% in October. The initiative will look to drive consumption and the use of cashless payments. It will run nine months through to June 2020. Shoppers will get an immediate discount rather than shopping points for convenience. A JPY600 (US$5.6) purchase, for example, will be offered a JPY12 discount so the customer will only be charged JPY588. The program will cover payments by credit cards, electronic money and quick response, or QR, codes on smartphones.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
Belgium: Delhaize to offer Marks & Spencer, Coop & Corte Inglés products
Belgian supermarket chain Delhaize is luring in more up-market customers to its expanded ‘Food of the World’ section, featuring exclusive Marks & Spencer products. Other retailers' private labels are also featured in major Delhaize stores, like those of Spanish El Corte Inglés and Coop Italia. Seventy new references were selected for the expanded ‘Food of the World’ isle, featuring international delicacies. An exclusive agreement with British retailer Marks & Spencer has resulted in a series of English and Scottish specialities in eighty of the chain's biggest stores - like shortbread, English Breakfast tea, jam, lemon curd and a Yorkshire pudding mix. The expansion of Delhaize's international food range goes beyond Marks & Spencer: a similar agreement with El Corte Inglés allows Delhaize to sell turron de Alicante, picos de Jerez (bread sticks) en pipon tostada (roasted sunflower seeds). Coop Italia introduces certain products of its Fior Fiore private label: pasta sauce with truffle, fettucine with eggs and taralli (dough rings from Apulia) with fennel.
Source: retaildetail.eu
Saudi Arabia: Fawaz Alhokair's M&S deal in Saudi ends, still partners elsewhere
Saudi Arabia’s Fawaz Abdulaziz Alhokair said its franchise agreement in the kingdom with British retailer Marks & Spencer had ended, along with similar deals with a number of “non-performing” brands. Marks & Spencer (M&S) said in an email that its franchised stores in Saudi Arabia were transferred to Al-Futtaim Group in 2018. M&S has 15 franchised stores in Saudi Arabia. “We are focused on continuing to work with Al-Futtaim Group to develop and grow our business in Saudi Arabia”, M&S told Reuters.
Source: reuters.com
UK shoppers left £228mln worth of products at click-and-collect sites in last year
British shoppers have left roughly £228mln (€250mln) worth of uncollected products at click-and-collect sites in the last year due to long queues and understaffed collection points, claims a new report. Research conducted by Barclaycard found that more than 70% of Britons shop via a click and collect system, whereby they order products online and collect them at a local branch or pre-agreed site. But 15% of shoppers are neglecting to collect their products, the report found, with a third claiming that collecting their items was a “hassle” and that they’d rather wait for a refund and reorder their items to be delivered at home.
Source: independent.co.uk
Saudi online grocery platform NANA raises $6.6mln investment from Impact46
The UAE-based Middle East Venture Partners and Impact46 have co-led an investment worth $6.6mln in Saudi-based Nana Direct, an online grocery platform serving 13 cities across the Kingdom. The deal marks the debut investment for the partnership between MEVP and Impact46. Other investors include Watar Partners, Saudi Venture Capital Company, Wamda Capital and the Alzamil family, according to NANA’s recent statement. The online platform has built a technology suite that seamlessly coalesces grocery customers, in-store pickers, Supermarkets and a last-mile delivery fleet.
Source: zawya.com
US: Walmart sues Tesla over solar panels it says caused multiple fires
Walmart has sued Tesla, saying solar panels supplied by the electric carmaker were responsible for fires at about seven of its stores. The fires destroyed significant amounts of store merchandise and required substantial repairs, totaling hundreds of thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket losses, according to a lawsuit filed in a New York court. As of November 2018, no fewer than seven Walmart stores, including those in Denton, Maryland, and Beavercreek, Ohio, had experienced fires due to Tesla’s solar systems, according to the lawsuit. “This is a breach of contract action arising from years of gross negligence and failure to live up to industry standards by Tesla with respect to solar panels that Tesla designed, installed and promised to operate and maintain safely on the roofs of hundreds of Walmart stores”, Walmart said in the court filing.
Source: theguardian.com
US: Target reports second quarter 2019 earnings
Target Corporation announced its second quarter 2019 performance, including comparable sales growth of 3.4% driven by a 2.4% increase in comparable traffic. For both the third quarter and second half of 2019, Target expects comparable sales growth in line with the 3.4% comparable sales growth the company delivered in the second quarter of 2019. For the third quarter, the Company expects both GAAP EPS from continuing operations and Adjusted EPS of $1.04 to $1.24. For full-year 2019, Target now expects GAAP EPS from continuing operations and Adjusted EPS of $5.90 to $6.20 compared with the prior range of $5.75 to $6.05. Third quarter and full-year 2019 GAAP EPS from continuing operations may include the impact of certain discrete items which will be excluded in calculating Adjusted EPS. The Company is not currently aware of any such discrete items. Total revenue of $18.4bln increased 3.6% from $17.8bln last year, reflecting sales growth combined with a 6.3% increase in other revenue. Second quarter sales growth of 3.6% reflected comparable sales growth of 3.4% combined with the contribution from non-mature stores. Comparable digital sales grew 34%, contributing 1.8 percentage points to comparable sales growth. Operating income was $1,324mln in second quarter 2019, up 16.9% from $1,133mln in 2018.
Source: prnewswire.com
Associated Wholesale Grocers chooses shrink loss solution
Associated Wholesale Grocers (AWG) and ProfitTrax have teamed up to help AWG member retailers reduce operational shrink loss and out-of-stocks, while improving their gross margins, through the use of the ProfitTrax Augmented Intelligence solution and training in best practices. “We are excited to partner with ProfitTrax to help our member retailers grow store profits by reducing the expense of shrink loss”, said Jeff Pedersen, EVP, chief sales and support officer for Kansas City, Kansas-based AWG. “ProfitTrax is more than just another data capture and reporting tool. It’s a true profit improvement solution for operations, merchandising and loss prevention. This solution is another great example of AWG fulfilling our mission statement of providing our member retailers all the tools, products and services they need to compete favorably in all markets served. We are committed to making independent retail grocers successful.”
Source: progressivegrocer.com