Increased delivery, pickup use hoists U.S. online grocery sales
Fueled by a surge in delivery and pickup purchases, U.S. online grocery sales shot back up in January after declining from an early summer peak, according to the Brick Meets Click/Mercatus Grocery Shopping Survey. Online grocery sales totaled $9.3bln in January, up 15% from $8.1bln in the previous survey in November, Brick Meets Click said. Delivery and pickup orders accounted for $7.1bln, or 77%, of online grocery spending in January, up 16% from $5.9blnn, or 73%, in November. Ship-to-home sales held at $2.2bln from November to January.
Source: supermarketnews.com
US: Heinen’s helps show the way on pricing
Pricing and pricing transparency is getting more sophisticated for smaller food retailers, and the latest example of that comes from Heinen’s, an upscale Midwestern grocery chain with stores in Ohio and Illinois. The grocer has struck a deal with technology provider Engage3 to expand the merchant’s omnichannel competitive visibility and analytics with Engage3’s Competitive Intelligence Management (CIM) product. The move comes months after Heinen’s rolled out a new online grocery retail site, a project built and operated by Instacart Enterprise.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: Discount retailer Dollar General takes steps to find possible CEO successor - sources
Discount chain Dollar General Corp, one of the few U.S. retailers thriving during the COVID-19 pandemic, is taking steps to find a potential successor to Chief Executive Todd Vasos, people familiar with the matter said. While no decision has been made about Vasos stepping down, Dollar General has started conversations with headhunting firms and is considering candidates, the sources said.
Source: reuters.com
US: Will Instacart turn to robots?
As Instacart continues to become a bigger part of consumers’ lives, the grocery delivery service could turn to robots to help with its warehouse load, according to the Financial Times. The newspaper reports that “For almost a year, the company has been researching ways to automate the picking process. Last spring, Instacart sent out proposal requests to at least 5 companies that offer robotic systems that would pick goods from purpose-built ‘dark’ warehouses instead of store shelves”.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
Amazon SVP Jeff Blackburn is departing the company
Amazon.com Inc Senior Vice President Jeff Blackburn is leaving the company after 22 years, he said in an internal note that the online retailer shared with Reuters. Blackburn, who had overseen mergers and acquisitions, Amazon’s growing advertising business and its television studio, had been on sabbatical in 2020. His departure further paves the way for incoming Amazon CEO Andy Jassy to reshape the company’s executive ranks when he succeeds founder and current chief Jeff Bezos this summer.
Source: reuters.com
US: Japanese retailer PPIH to acquire Gelson's Markets
Japanese retailer Pan Pacific International Holdings (PPIH) has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Gelson’s Markets, signaling a possible period of accelerating growth for the upscale California grocery chain. The deal is expected to close in the second quarter of 2021. Gelson’s, which operates 27 stores and was founded in El Monte, California, in 1951, was acquired by private equity firm TPG Capital in 2014.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
Retail and wholesale vital to Europe's recovery: EuroCommerce
EuroCommerce director-general Christian Verschueren has emphasised that retail and wholesale play a pivotal role in driving Europe's economic recovery and global competitiveness. Speaking at the EU Industry Days event, he also stressed that retail and wholesale are under immense pressure and in urgent need of help. Verschueren said: "As recognised by the European Commission, retail and wholesale is one of the essential ecosystems and one the worst affected by the COVID-19 pandemic".
Source: esmmagazine.com
UK retailers see sharp fall in sales and mounting job losses, CBI says
British retail sales fell in the year to February as stores cut jobs at a rapid rate, with only supermarkets reporting any growth during the latest COVID-19 lockdown, a survey showed. The Confederation of British Industry’s gauge of retail sales stood at -45, up only slightly from January’s eight-month low of -50. The measure points to falling sales and is below the consensus forecast of -38 in a Reuters poll of economists.
Source: reuters.com
Malaysia: Supermarket chain Village Grocer stopping use of plastic bags
Local supermarket chain Village Grocer announced that it will no longer be providing plastic bags at all its stores in the Klang Valley and Johor with immediate effect. It said it hopes to contribute to reducing single-use plastics and encourage its customers towards recycling and other sustainable measures. Its operator, The Food Purveyor (TFP) said the initiative is in line with its campaign to go plastic free by 2023.
Source: malaymail.com
Online shopping boosts demand for 'dark stores' in Portugal
Pandemic-driven growth in e-commerce has accelerated the demand for 'dark stores' in Portugal as more companies seek places to stock their products for online sales. A report in the Portuguese daily Jornal de Negocios describes the concept, which ranges from retail to restaurants, as another 'imported phenomenon.' Dark stores transform supermarkets or grocery shops into large warehouses, where orders are processed and clients cannot enter.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Holland: Just Eat Takeaway’s founder and Nutreco put money into cultivated meat
Animal feed maker Nutreco and Just Eat Takeway founder Jitse Groen are among the investors who have pumped a further $10mln into Mosa Meat, the Dutch food technology company which is working to produce cultivated hamburgers. The third funding round means investors have now put $85mln into the company, which, it says: ‘will help Mosa Meat scale up real beef production in a sustainable and safe way’.
Source: dutchnews.nl