Amazon to deliver 3.5bln packages through own network in 2019
Amazon.com Inc said it was on track to deliver 3.5bln customer packages globally this year through its in-house delivery network. Amazon, with its growing network of delivery planes, trucks and vans, is regarded as a potential long-term threat to FedEx Corp and United Parcel Service Inc. FedEx this summer ended its relationship with the world’s biggest online retailer. UPS continues to deliver millions of packages for Amazon, which said it now handles the delivery of about half of its own packages around the world.
Source: reuters.com
US: Earth Fare sees sales lift from digital signage strategy
Natural and organic food retailer Earth Fare is banking on increased sales with the rollout of a digital signage program to nearly half of its 50-plus stores. Earlier this year, Asheville, North Carolina-based Earth Fare piloted custom-designed digital displays from Mood Media in the café area of a store in Charlotte, North Carolina. Serving up a variety of information, marketing and entertainment content, the displays generated a 10% gain for the café’s eat-in food sales during th 60-day test.
Source: supermarketnews.com
US: How Walmart plans to optimise its Supercenters
Press reports have outlined several ways in how Walmart plans to re-position its network of Supercentres to drive sales growth and invest in new income streams. Walmart’s network of over 3,500 Supercenters, most of which are in excess of 15,000 SQ M, is often considered to be a future-challenge for the business. The on-going shift of its general merchandise business online, the strong growth of grocery ecommerce and the broader industry move towards smaller format stores could leave the business with a fleet of assets that are less relevant in a more digitally-powered retailing environment. However, the retailer is looking at several ways to optimise its network, including generating new income and profit streams and enabling faster ecommerce deliveries. Over the last 4 years, Walmart’s Supercenters have been significantly improved.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
Italy: Conad sees turnover up 5.9% in full-year 2019
Italian retailer Conad has posted a 5.9% increase in turnover in full-year 2019, to €14.3bln. This equates to €800mln of additional turnover generated this year, it said. As of year-end 2019, Conad holds a market share of 13.3%, up 40 basis points on the previous year, or 22.8% in the supermarket channel, in which it is the market leader. On top of its significant presence in Umbria, Lazio, Abruzzo, Molise, Calabria and Sardinia, where it is a leader, as well as Emilia-Romagna, Marche, Campania, Sicily and Tuscany, Conad also holds a strong share in municipalities with less than 5,000 inhabitants, in which it plays a 'neighbourhood and service role', it said.
Source: esmmagazine.com
China: Suning to spend US$5.7bln to open online stores
Carrefour China’s new parent company, Suning Holdings Group, plans to open 10,000 online stores in 2020. Focusing on technology and logistics, the company will continue to build on its smart retail infrastructure. Its 2020 roadmap has an aggressive expansion plan. Online stores: Invest no less than CNY40bln (US$5.7bln) by adding 10,000 online stores and hiring 8,000 employees; Carrefour China: sold 80% controlling stake to Suning this year, will open 300 new stores, including locations in lower tier cities, over the next five years. It will also team up with Suning’s convenience store chain, Suning Xiaodian, to launch delivery services. The expansion is part of the company’s “open from 1 to N and integration from N to 1" strategy. “Opening from 1 to N refers to how Suning is opening up its core business of retail through multi-channel, full-scenario categories to empower the industry and society at large. Integrating from N to 1 refers to the integration of Suning’s scenarios and supply chain, converging online and physical retail to focus on consumer experience and providing diversified services of a consistent quality for every consumer,” the company explains.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
Ireland: Tesco collaborates with ESB to rollout electric vehicle chargers
Tesco Ireland, in partnership with ESB, has announced the rollout of dual outlet electric vehicle (EV) chargers which will be installed at 52 of its store carparks spanning 18 counties nationwide. Under this partnership ESB will supply, install and operate the charge points which will commence in early 2020 with completion expected by the Autumn. Since 2017, Tesco Ireland has sourced all its electricity needs from renewable sources. This move will assist the drive to reduce Ireland’s carbon emissions and will complement the existing ESB network of EV charge points across the country.
Source: checkout.ie
Mercator plans to open 28 new stores in 2020
Mercator Group has budgeted €44mln for investments in 2020, of which 57% will be allocated to investments in Slovenia. The retail group plans to open 28 new stores and refurbish 65 stores in Slovenia, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro. It also plans to boost its cooperation with local and regional suppliers, develop new commercial platforms and new and innovative store concepts, mainly convenience store formats. For full-year 2019/20, Mercator Group is expecting revenue of €2.3bln and normalized EBITDA of €110mln. While the net debt to normalized EBITDA ratio in 2016 was at 14.1, the plan is to slash this ratio to 4.5 by the end of 2020.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Revealed: Jumbo's Belgium locations in Ghent and Antwerp
Dutch supermarket chain Jumbo is continuing its expansion in Belgium: RetailDetail has found out its locations in Ghent and Antwerp - and two more openings also planned in the Antwerp region. According to real estate broker JLL, Jumbo has signed a lease for a 3,100 sqm building in the Ghent harbour area (Vliegtuiglaan). There are no competitors in the immediate vicinity (the nearest is AD Delhaize, which is about two kilometres away), the only neighbours large non-food retailers such as Decathlon and furniture store Weba. It was already known that Jumbo would open in the Ghent region, but the company had not announced an exact location yet.
Source: retaildetail.eu
Russia: VTB says considering buying more Magnit shares - Ifax
Russia’s second-largest lender VTB Bank said it is seriously considering buying more shares in food retailer Magnit, the Interfax news agency cited VTB’s First Deputy CEO Yuri Soloviev as saying. “Regarding Magnit, we remain confident in our investment, and we believe that the company is highly undervalued”, Soloviev told Interfax.
Source: in.reuters.com
France: Casino adds Casino #Bio
France-based trade publication Lineaires has reported that Casino has updated a Casino Shop to a new banner, Casino #Bio. The 216 sq. m store in Issy-les-Moulineaux carries 4,000 SKUs, of which 20% are private labels. Within the private label range, 700 SKUs are Casino branded, while 100 carry the Leader Price name. Elsewhere in the range, 70 SKUs are bulk products and 100 are fruits and vegetables. There is also an organic salad bar, fresh juice machine, hot soup and a strong bakery offer.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
UK: Co-op goes back to its roots with move into academy schools
Young people in Co-op-branded uniforms are chatting among themselves as they walk along brightly painted corridors to work - but this is not a grocery shop or warehouse. It is the Co-Op academy Manchester, a secondary school that forms part of the mutual’s latest effort to put itself at the heart of local communities. When a bunch of young weavers in the Rochdale Pioneers Society opened their first grocery store on 21 December 1844, their hope was to promote ethical trade and share profits with their members and community. It was their response to a divided country rocked by economic problems with the poor suffering. 175 years on and the Co-op says it is taking inspiration from those founder members, not only through selling Fairtrade goods and funding local charities through its membership scheme but also by putting itself at the heart of communities through the sponsorship of 24 academy schools. Steve Murrells, the chief executive of the Co-operative Group, says that by 2022 as many as 40,000 students at 40 schools will be wearing a uniform sporting the company logo.
Source: theguardian.com