eGrocery customers expect more than digital shelves; they expect personal relationships
Alex Weinstein, chief digital officer at online grocer Hungryroot, which uses artificial intelligence (AI) to speed up the shopping process with predictive technology, and former Senior Vice President of Growth at food delivery platform Grubhub, spoke with PYMNTS about how eCommerce expectations are evolving. “[There’s now] the expectation that your online grocer understands you, the expectation that they save you time, the expectation that the next time you come there, they’re able to really offer you a better reflection of what you need, as opposed to the same patterns that you would see in a physical grocery store”, said Weinstein. “If in 2020 the typical purchasing pattern was going to your online grocery destination and pressing the reorder button, today consumers want more. They want variety. They want recommendations”.
Source: pymnts.com
Ahold Dehaize USA now partnering with 200+ CPG suppliers
After just a year in existence, ADvantage, ADUSA Supply Chain’s supplier collaboration program, now features more than 200 consumer packaged goods suppliers partnering with Ahold Delhaize USA companies to innovate supply chain management practices and ensure that customers of Ahold Delhaize USA’s grocery store banners can get the products they need, when they need them, through their channel of choice.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: Sam’s Club brings inventory scanning to floor-scrubbing robots
Sam’s Club is adding aisle scanning functionality to robotic floor scrubbers already deployed at all of its 600 stores. Plans call for Sam’s to begin installing Brain Corp’s Inventory Scan towers onto the fleet of Tennant Co. autonomous scrubbers powered by Brain’s software, the companies said.
Source: supermarketnews.com
US: Kroger fulfillment network expands to Louisville, Kentucky
The Kroger Co., America's largest grocery retailer, announced it will offer more Americans delivery through the addition of a spoke facility in Louisville, Kentucky powered by the Ocado Group and combining vertical integration, machine learning, and robotics to provide an affordable, friendly, and fast fresh food delivery service as part of the company's seamless ecosystem.
Source: prnewswire.com
Amsterdam puts freeze on opening 'dark store' distribution centres
The city of Amsterdam has announced a 1-year freeze on the opening of new dark stores in residential areas or nearby shopping streets used by burgeoning fast grocery services such as Gorillas, Getir, and Flink. "In Amsterdam as in all other major cities around Europe, there's enormous growth in all these different companies that deliver your groceries within 10 minutes", said a spokesperson for city councillor Marieke van Doornick, who proposed the ban. However, "with those companies there are also coming a growing number of complaints from the direct neighbourhood."
Source: esmmagazine.com
Romanian e-commerce: 10% of overall retail last year
The Romanian online commerce market will reach RON18.4bln (EUR3.7bln) in 2021, rising by 15% compared to 2020 - when revenues exceeded RON16bln, according to a study published by Termene.ro, a platform that provides real-time updated information on the financial and legal data of Romanian companies, quoted by Economica.net.
Source: agroberichtenbuitenland.nl
UK retailers report disappointing January sales - CBI
British retailers reported a better January for sales than this time last year, when COVID-19 lockdowns kept shoppers at home, but they still judged it as a disappointing rebound, a survey showed. A net balance of +28% of retailers reported an increase in sales this month compared with January 2021, the Confederation of British Industry said, up from +8% in December.
Source: reuters.com
China: Missfresh enables livestream shopping with a superior, instant delivery, experience
Missfresh Limited ("Missfresh" or the "Company"), a pioneer in China's neighborhood retail industry, announced it has entered a strategic partnership with Ocean Engine, a digital marketing platform owned by Bytedance, and expanded its presence on one of China's most popular social networking platforms, Douyin, by launching a unique livestream grocery shopping service with less than 1-hour delivery in Beijing and Shanghai.
Source: prnewswire.com
UK: Sainsbury's brings new convenience stores to Liverpool and London
Sainsbury’s welcomed customers to 2 new stores in local communities with the opening of Berrylands Raeburn Avenue Local in southwest London and Allerton Road Local in Liverpool. Bread and pastries will be baked in store every day and customers will be able to choose from an inviting selection of fresh fruit and veg, food to go and ready meals, as well as specialist ranges and seasonal favourites designed to cater for the diverse local communities they serve.
Source: about.sainsburys.co.uk
Russia: Lenta reports sales growth of 8.6% in FY 2021
Retailer Lenta has reported an 8.6% year-on-year growth in sales to RUB483.6bln (€5.51bln) in its financial year 2021. Retail sales amounted to RUB475.8bln (€5.42bln), up 8.8% compared to the same period last year. Like-for-like sales increased by 2.4%, while the LFL average ticket grew by 4.7%. The company saw a 208% growth in online sales during the year, to RUB19.3bln (€220mln), with online orders up 221% to 10.4mln.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Lidl to recruit 750 new roles this year
Supermarket chain Lidl has said it is to recruit more than 750 new employees to its Irish operations this year. The jobs will be in a variety of operational and office-based roles across its store network of 214 store locations, 4 regional distribution centres and its Dublin head office, adding to the team of 6,100 in the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.
Source: rte.ie
Japanese digital food marketplace Bokksu raises $22mln
Bokksu, a Japanese digital marketplace for snacks and groceries, has raised $22mln in a Series A funding round, the company announced. The investment raised its valuation to $100mln. The round, which was led by Valor Siren Ventures, will assist with hiring, expanding Bokksu's product assortment and producing more original content, the startup said in the announcement. Bokksu, which recently expanded into grocery, is looking to build momentum amid increasing access online in the U.S. to Asian groceries and snacks.
Source: grocerydive.com
UK: Formula One star Lewis Hamilton invests in rapid grocery delivery start-up Zapp
Rapid grocery delivery start-up Zapp has raised $200mln in a funding round led by Lightspeed, 468 Capital and BroadLight Capital. The round saw British Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton join as an investor. Zapp is one of several apps offering Europeans delivery of essential items in a matter of minutes.
Source: cnbc.com
Sweden: Coop announces new store format
Coop Sweden has launched a new store format, X:-tra - En del av Coop, that will focus on the pricing of every day goods, as well as its entire range. The retailer aims to open 70 X:-tra - En del av Coop stores by the end of 2022.
Source: esmmagazine.com
UK: Beelivery acquires London-based sustainable delivery service Pinga
Beelivery has acquired the Pinga business with their 600 London-based low-emission drivers and riders in the latest in a series of major expansions that the company has made over the last 2 years. Incorporated in 2015 as the 1st rapid grocery service in the UK, Beelivery has been providing rapid delivery of essential and emergency groceries to doorsteps, achieving an average delivery time of 46mins, with 21% of orders delivered in under 25mins.
Source: issuewire.com