Ireland: Aldi on-demand Deliveroo service reaching 1.5mln shoppers 
Supermarket retailer Aldi is expanding its on-demand home delivery partnership with Deliveroo to more than 1.5mln shoppers in the Republic. The supermarket chain said given the success of the service it has been expanded to shoppers from across the whole of Dublin, Cork, Galway and Limerick cities with the number of items that can be ordered for delivery in as little as 30 minutes increasing again to over 350. Trends show the top 5 items purchased from Aldi through the Deliveroo app are orange juice, fresh milk, mushrooms, peppers and chicken breasts.
Source: irishtimes.com
Portugal: Sonae ekes out Q3 profit as sales rise on easing lockdown
Portugal’s largest retailer Sonae eked out a 1.6% rise in third-quarter net profit on robust sales as the economy emerged out of a lockdown, helping it rebound from a loss in the preceding 3 months due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The group, which runs around 300 Continente hypermarkets and large supermarkets, Worten consumer electronics stores, Sportzone stores and other retail chains, said its net profit reached 51mln euros ($60mln) in July-September. Consolidated sales rose 5.9% to 1.77bln euros in the third quarter, with sales from the food retail unit Sonae MC increasing 7.4% to 1.34bln euros, the company said.
Source: reuters.com
UK discounter B&M thrives in pandemic as earnings double
B&M, the British discount retailer that entered the FTSE 100 index in September, reported a 95% rise in first-half core earnings as its low prices and out-of-town stores chimed with consumers during the COVID-19 pandemic. The group, which sells everything from homewares and toys to electricals and food, said like-for-like sales in its main B&M UK business soared 23% in the 26 weeks to September 26.
Source: reuters.com
Spain: On-demand delivery app Glovo is spinning up a B2B logistics unit for super speedy urban delivery
Spain’s on-demand delivery app, Glovo, is gearing up to be able to deliver a much wider range of products within a 30-minute time frame by rolling out a B2B logistics play - drawing on a network of city centre warehouses that it plans to massively expand over the next 12 months. It’s just announced the launch of a new business unit, called Q-Commerce - the “Q” standing for quick - to accelerate development of a B2B service that will see it offer to stock third parties’ products in its warehouses and have the couriers that operate on its on-demand platform make deliveries for other businesses too - offering what it bills as a “turn-key” logistics solution for businesses of all sizes to underpin their own online stories.
Source: techcrunch.com
Holland: Albert Heijn pulls plug from voice assistant
The end of voice commerce at Albert Heijn: the supermarket chain has discontinued its app for Google Assistant. The test was unsuccessful and will not be continued. However, Belgian competitor Colruyt will continue with the speech technology.
Source: retaildetail.eu
UK: Sainsbury’s opens the doors to new format Neighbourhood Hub stores
Sainsbury’s has opened the doors of two new stores with a fresh new Neighbourhood Hub format, less than a week after announcing plans to roll out around 18 hub stores over the next three years as part of its plan to put food back at the heart of the business. The new stores in Bishop’s Waltham and Midhurst are two of only three of their kind across the retailer’s estate following the success of the 2019 pilot in Woodhall Spa.
Source: about.sainsburys.co.uk
UK: Tesco fast tracks emissions target with solar push
Britain’s biggest retailer Tesco will set up solar farms, fit more solar panels in its stores and roll out electric vehicles, bringing forward a target for its UK business to be net zero carbon emissions by 15 years to 2035, it said. To support the wider adoption of electric vehicles across Britain, Tesco is also rolling out 2,400 charging points for customers across 600 stores.
Source: uk.reuters.com
Canada: Loblaw posts 6.9% rise in quarterly revenue
Canadian retailer Loblaw Cos Ltd reported a 6.9% rise in quarterly revenue, boosted by online sales as stuck-at home consumers spend more on groceries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Net earnings attributable to shareholders rose to C$345mln ($264mln), or 96 Canadian cents per share, in the third quarter ended October 3, from C$334mln, or 90 Canadian cents per share, a year earlier. Revenue rose to C$15.67bln from C$14.66bln.
Source: reuters.com
US: Grocery Outlet fuels expansion as third-quarter sales climb
Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. saw net sales climb by double digits and earnings per share more than triple in its fiscal 2020 third quarter. In reporting the quarterly results, CEO Eric Lindberg also announced that veteran retail grocery technology executive Harrison Lewis has joined the company as chief information officer. For the quarter ended September 26, Grocery Outlet tallied net sales of $764.1mln, up 17.1% from $652.5mln a year earlier. Comparable-store sales rose 9.1% year over year.
Source: supermarketnews.com
US: Aldi promises a Thanksgiving meal for under $30Aldi is selling Thanksgiving meal ingredients for under $30 and providing all of its workers with two $30 gift cards each, the discount grocer announced. The Thanksgiving dinner, which can feed up to 10 people, includes a Butterball turkey, bagged stuffing, sweet potatoes, Hawaiian sweet rolls, frozen peas, fresh cranberries, carrots, celery, canned pumpkin pie mix, pie crust, whipping cream and a gallon of whole milk. The discount grocer said the meal price is lower than what it offered customers last year. The announcement bolsters Aldi’s reputation for low prices and joins a string of recent news from grocers looking to make meals affordable for shoppers and support their workers this holiday season.
Source: grocerydive.com
US: SpartanNash reports 3.1% Q3 revenue gain
SpartanNash posted a 3.1% year-over-year revenue gain for the third quarter of 2020, with net sales reaching $2.06bln. Retail comparable-store sales of 10.6% were positive for the fifth consecutive quarter, the Grand Rapids, Michigan-based food retailer said. The company also reported an adjusted EBITDA increase of 37.2% to $57.0mln, from $41.6mln in the prior-year quarter. During the third quarter of 2020, the company experienced more than 175% growth in its e-commerce business.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
Amazon expands garage delivery service
Amazon is expanding its In-Garage Delivery service - a move that involves groceries. The e-commerce operator said that tens of millions of Amazon Prime members will now have access to Key by Amazon’s In-Garage Delivery service in more than 4,000 cities across the United States. Key In-Garage Delivery lets eligible Prime members enjoy contactless package delivery securely inside their garage, and offers convenient delivery confirmation for customers using the Key by Amazon app.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
Walmart to operate holiday pop-ups for online fulfillment
Walmart’s holiday preparation includes creating “pop-up e-commerce distribution centers” to fulfill home delivery orders. The discount behemoth is taking space in 42 of its existing regional distribution centers (RDCs) across the U.S. and creating pop-up e-commerce distribution centers, or eDCs, to meet its growing demand for delivery of online orders directly to customers. Walmart expects to ship up to 30% of its holiday volume from these pop-up eDCs.
Source: chainstoreage.com