Amazon opening four new cashierless grocery stores
Amazon continues expanding the presence of its Amazon Fresh high-tech grocery banner. One week after introducing a new Amazon Fresh grocery location in Huntington Beach, California, Amazon is opening one Amazon Fresh store in North Riverside, Illinois, and three in the Northern Virginia area. All four sites will feature Amazon’s “Just Walk Out” frictionless, cashierless shopping technology, as well the option for traditional checkout.
Source: chainstoreage.com
US: Cardenas Markets to acquire Rio Ranch Market
Hispanic supermarket chain Cardenas Markets has entered an agreement to acquire fellow Latino grocer Rio Ranch Market. Financial terms of the transaction weren’t disclosed. Ontario, California-based Cardenas said that its purchase of Rio Ranch Market’s six stores will expand its Southern California footprint. With headquarters in Fontana, California, Rio Ranch operates supermarkets in San Bernardino, Riverside, Chino, Perris, Banning and Fontana as well as a warehouse in San Bernardino.
Source: supermarketnews.com
US: Blue Apron introduces seasonal meal kits
Blue Apron is now offering limited-time, seasonal meal kits that will be available throughout the year to help bring special occasions to life. The options will include recipe formats that feature ‘best of the season’ proteins, produce and ingredients for a premium and memorable experience.
Source: businesswire.com
US: Fetch Rewards report finds record-breaking grocery prices are changing how consumers shop
Fetch Rewards, America's No. 1 consumer-rewards app, announced the launch of the Fetch Price Index report. The first instalment of the Fetch Price Index report, which will be released on a monthly basis, offers a unique, data-rich view into how increasing pricing is affecting shopping behavior. By analyzing a set of 375,000 shoppers and tracking 195mln in-store and e-commerce purchases over the last 24 months, this item-level view of shopper behavior captures, in real time, the true state of inflation and what it means for consumers, brands, and retailers.
Source: prnewswire.com
Alimentation Couche-Tard hiring more than 25,000 team members across global network
With the start of summer, Alimentation Couche-Tard Inc. ("Couche-Tard"), a global leader in convenience and mobility, is hiring for more than 25,000 positions at its more than 14,100 Circle K and Couche-Tard convenience stores and support centers across North America, Europe and Asia. The company's openings include store-level positions for customer service representatives, assistant store managers and store managers, as well as a host of opportunities at its support centers.
Source: prnewswire.com
US: Giant Food hits the road in new electric vehicles for customer deliveries
Giant Food, the leading greater Washington, D.C. regional grocery chain, announced the deployment of two brand new, fully electric Giant Delivers vehicles. The electric step-van vehicles join Giant's fleet of 128 vehicles based in Hanover, Maryland making daily deliveries to customers throughout Giant's markets of Washington, D.C., Maryland, Virginia and Delaware.
Source: prnewswire.com
US: Big Y invests in its associates with pay boost
Big Y Foods Inc. is investing millions of dollars in its associates through a pay raise scheme that is set to go into effect June 26. Starting pay rates for all clerks, customer service, fresh food and center store specialists, and assistant department managers will go up, and almost 7,600 members of its workforce will receive a pay increase.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
Meet the company that built a global-first group buying product ‘Gobillion Shopping Rooms’
Group-buying B2C social commerce platform GoBillion, which launched its operations in 2021, is the entrepreneurial brainchild of two close friends of 15 years and IIM-NIT alumni, Roshan Farhan and Kulapradip Bharali. Gobillion enables large consumer groups beyond Tier 1 cities in India to buy together socially and unlock massive savings on everyday requirements such as groceries, daily staples, and fruits and vegetables. With its global headquarters in San Francisco, USA and its India head office at New Delhi, Gobillion is currently operational in Guwahati and Kolkata. Scaling up its operations to the next level, the company is set to launch its group buying model across 10 states over the next 18 to 24 months.
Source: yourstory.com
Is Walmart Marketplace coming to Britain?
Shoppers in Britain could soon have an alternative to Amazon. Reports suggest that Walmart Marketplace, the second-largest online store in the US, is asking UK sellers to sign up to the platform. David Jinks, Head of Consumer Research at delivery provider ParcelHero, commented: “It may only be a year since Walmart pulled out of Britain, selling its Asda chain to the Issa brothers, but the good news for shoppers is that the US giant is actively pursuing British sellers to join its Walmart Marketplace”. The world’s largest retailer is staging a global sellers summit in London on 17 June, billed as ‘an opportunity for UK-based e-commerce sellers to explore how to grow their business as part of Walmart Marketplace’.
Source: kamcity.com
CD&R's takeover of Britain's Morrisons gets final clearance
U.S. private equity firm Clayton, Dubilier & Rice's 7bln pound ($8.8bln) takeover of British supermarket group Morrisons cleared its last regulatory hurdle, more than eight months after shareholders backed the deal. Britain's competition regulator formally accepted CD&R's offer to sell 87 petrol stations to address concerns over higher fuel prices.
Source: reuters.com
Estonia: Supermarket chains closely guarding e-store turnover figures
The online stores of supermarket chains operating in Estonia are reporting successive increases in turnover, however none of them will reveal actual revenue figures. According to pollster Kantar Emor, Selver's online store has the biggest clientele, followed by Maxima's e-store Barbora. Selver, which is topping Kantar Emor's latest grocery e-commerce rankings, increased turnover by 55% and the number of orders by 64% in Estonia last year.
Source: news.err.ee
UK: SimplyFresh director leaves for “new opportunities”
Davinder Jheeta, the long-standing brand and creative director of SimplyFresh, is to leave the retailer. Jheeta, who has played a key role in the creation of the group’s identity in his eight years with the group, said that he was leaving to “seek out new opportunities”. Kash Kheera, managing director of the group, said that Jheeta had left by “mutual agreement”.
Source: talkingretail.com
Russian supermarket chain opens first store in Belgium
The first of ten stores of the Russian supermarket chain ‘Mere’ opened doors in Belgium, in Opwijk in the province of Flemish Brabant, nine months later than initially planned. The Mere chain offers products up to 20% cheaper than the cheapest supermarkets in Belgium such as Colruyt, Aldi and Lidl. To keep costs so low, Mere has a very simple set-up, displaying products on pallets and offering a limited range.
Source: brusselstimes.com
UK's GCA survey: Improvement across the board despite challenging year
The 13 retailers regulated by the Groceries Code Adjudicator have continued to improve their behaviour towards suppliers in the face of Covid-19 and Brexit, the annual GCA survey has found. Suppliers have reported the highest level of compliance with the Groceries Supply Code of Practice by UK supermarkets, surpassing even the record results of 2020.
Source: gov.uk
Germany: Aldi Nord expands cooperation with vegan food producer Lycka
German discounter Aldi Nord is expanding the range of lycka products it offers, with the addition of vegan pizzas and chocolate bars. The retailer has stocked the producer's vegan ice cream on a promotional basis since 2020.
Source: esmmagazine.com