India: Reliance says retail venture completes fundraising, rakes in $6.4bln
India’s Reliance Industries Ltd said its retail arm had completed its fundraising exercise as more than half a dozen investors poured 472.65bln rupees ($6.37bln) into a 10.09% stake in the company in two months.
Source: reuters.com
UK: Central England Co-op cuts the ribbon on its new flagship £3mln site in Lichfield 
Central England Co-op has officially opened its flagship store in Lichfield following a £3mln investment. Chief Executive Debbie Robinson was on hand to cut the ribbon and reveal to customers and members a range of exciting new features being debuted by the retailer for the first time ever in its business. This includes a special zero waste refill station that will allow shoppers to only buy what they need and cut down on food packaging and waste, a hot soup station for people needing to eat on the go and a free hot and cold water refill station.
Source: businessleader.co.uk
Belgium: Albert Heijn expands home delivery service in Flanders region
Albert Heijn has announced that it has extended its grocery home delivery service to eight new municipalities in the Flanders region in Belgium. These include Mechelen, Boom, Rumst, Schelle, Niel, Merksem, Hoboken and Antwerp-South.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Alibaba CEO says China's draft anti-monopoly rules 'timely and necessary'
China’s move to draft rules aimed at preventing monopolistic behaviour by internet platforms is “timely and necessary”, Alibaba Group CEO Daniel Zhang said. Speaking at the World Internet Conference, Zhang said Chinese internet companies have moved to the forefront of the global industry with the help of government policies, but regulations need to evolve. The industry’s “development and government supervision is a relationship that promotes and relies on each other, so that platform enterprises cannot only develop well themselves, but also serve the sustainable and healthy development of the whole society,” he said.
Source: uk.reuters.com
Carrefour supports small and local producers in France
Carrefour has launched a new initiative to support local producers in France, as part of its ‘Zero kilometer’ commitment. Carrefour is aiming to support local producers and meet shoppers’ growing demand for goods produced as close as possible to their homes. The ‘zero kilometer’ commitment will see the retailer form ultra-local alliances by enabling each of its stores to source products from small producers who operate as close to them as possible. For producers, particularly in fresh fruits and vegetables, this will enable them to sell directly in the nearest Carrefour store without having to deal with third parties.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
South Africa: Shoprite's Q1 sales growth slows, shares fall
South African grocery retailer Shoprite Holdings reported slower first-quarter revenue growth, weighed down by COVID-19 lockdown restrictions on alcohol sales, which impacted its core domestic market. Shoprite shares were down 6.69% to a one week low as of 1003 GMT. Total group sales for the three months to September 30 rose by 3% compared to the same quarter in 2019, when sales grew by 7.3%.
Source: reuters.com
India going past the US as the world's second-biggest e-commerce market is no daydream
India emerging the second biggest ecommerce market in the world by edging past the US and taking its spot behind China – does that require a leap of imagination to even think it can happen? It's definitely not happening overnight. But by 2034, it sure has a chance to be reality. If that happens, this will be because consumers in India’s villages will have finally made it to the ecommerce marketplaces. “India’s smartphone base is estimated to reach 820mln in the next two years”, said Vinaya Varma, Managing Director and CEO at mjunction, the B2B platform part-owned by India’s Tata Steel.
Source: gulfnews.com
US: Online grocery retailers have more opportunity than ever before to win and retain customers
The global pandemic has accelerated digital shopping and e-commerce among nearly every retail category. Grocery shopping is no exception, and appears to be preferred for the long run, according to a survey on consumers online grocery shopping preferences by Clinch, the Personalization Everywhere company that provides cross-channel dynamic creative optimization (DCO) and consumer intelligence technology to the world's leading advertisers. The survey found that 75.4% of consumers purchase groceries online, with 80% of those consumers citing that they shop for groceries online more than ever before, since the COVID-19 pandemic. This trend will continue to stick, as 75.8% of consumers plan to continue to shop online for groceries after the pandemic subsides.
Source: prnewswire.com
Canada: Walmart to deploy shelf cameras to improve product availability
Walmart Canada is expanding its partnership with San-Francisco based Focal Systems for the deployment of shelf-edge cameras. Building on a pilot programme, Walmart Canada will expand Focal Systems’ out-of-stock solution to additional stores next year. This forms part of a $3.5bln investment programme announced earlier this year. Focal’s cameras automatically detect out-of-stocks, low inventory and planogram compliance. The technology will help Walmart Canada to improve on-shelf availability, which should help support sales growth, and drive operational efficiencies.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
US: Amidst the pandemic, one business rises to the rescue for ethnic grocers and restaurants
Quicklly is slowly and successfully transforming access to an authentic South Asian culinary experience. In a world grappling with the unforeseen challenges of the pandemic, businesses in and around Chicago have not left unscathed. Quicklly has proved to be a glowing exception to this rule. Over the last few years, it has been steadily growing its presence with South Asian grocery stores and restaurants in and around Chicago. However, it was the pandemic that catapulted this online startup to the front row of digital transformation in an industry that is fully brick-and-mortar and completely offline.
Source: prnewswire.com
US: Walmart enhances last-mile capabilities with JoyRun deal
Walmart plans to acquire the talent, technology platform and IP of JoyRun, a technology start-up based out of Silicon Valley, which operates a peer-to-peer delivery platform. JoyRun essentially enables users to pickup and deliver items for friends and neighbours. It is used as a last-mile delivery platform by more than 500 companies, with over 30,000 people serving as drivers or “Runners” since the launch of the service in 2015.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com