Lidl and Intermarché only chains to increase market share in Portugal
Lidl and Intermarché are the only food retail brands in Portugal to gain market share in the period from January to August 2020, a new study has found. According to the Kantar study, Lidl's market share increased by 0.6 percentage points year-on-year to stand on 11.3%, while Intermarché increased its market share by one percentage point to hold 8.8%.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Slovenia: Mercator Group sees 4.4% growth in sales revenue in H1 2020
Mercator Group has posted a 4.4% year-on-year growth in sales revenue to €1.06bln in the first half of its financial year. The company’s sales revenue in the retail trade sector grew by 7.4%, while it generated normalised EBITDA of €83.4mln, up 1.7% compared to the same period last year. Its largest subsidiary, Poslovni sistem Mercator, dd, reported an 8.2% growth in revenue from its core business and a 4.8% growth in sales revenue. Comparable net profit for the period amounted to €86,000, despite an increase in costs due to increased minimum wages and labour costs, as well as additional costs related to ensuring the safety of customers and employees.
Source: esmmagazine.com
UK: Sainsbury’s on track to double delivery capacity
Sainsbury’s will be able to deliver 700,000 online grocery orders a week by the end of October after doubling its capacity in just over six months. As with its main rivals, the supermarket group has invested heavily to meet the increased demand for deliveries during the pandemic. Further capacity is now being added by Sainsbury’s starting morning orders half an hour earlier from 6:30 am while late-night deliveries will be dropped off up until 11:30 pm, half an hour later than previously available. The retailer has also added 200 new Click & Collect locations and there will be nearly 1,000 more of its grocery delivery vans on the road in the coming months in comparison with last year.
Source: kamcity.com
Rakuten Germany closes its doors
Rakuten.de will no longer accept any new orders. The online marketplace announced it will close its doors on 15 October. The decision was made due to challenges with “leading the ecommerce business to a relevant market presence”. And it’s not like Rakuten hasn’t tried. The Japanese company had its online platform Rakuten.de for over ten years and managed to become the number five of the biggest online marketplaces in Germany. But still, the company is throwing in the towel. “We very much regret to inform you that the Rakuten marketplace Rakuten.de will no longer accept new orders for customers and dealers in Germany from October 15th”, the company informed its dealers by mail.
Source: ecommercenews.eu
Fastest growing brands Ocado, Deliveroo and Just Eat reflect massive growth in home delivery during the pandemic, according to the BrandZ™ Top 75 Most Valuable UK Brands ranking
Online retail and take-away brands Ocado, Deliveroo and Just Eat are the UK's fastest growing brands according to the 2020 BrandZ™ Top 75 Most Valuable UK Brands report, launched by WPP and Kantar. Already gathering pace pre-COVID-19, Ocado's online capabilities and perceptions of strong differentiation from other grocery retailers made it take the coveted title of this year's fastest growing UK brand, increasing +63% in brand value to $3.3bln (£2.7bln) and reaching no.18 in the Top 75 ranking.
Source: prnewswire.com
China: CR Vanguard expands partnership with Dada Group
China Resource Vanguard has expanded its strategic partnership with Dada Group, China’s leading local on-demand delivery and retail platform. The expanded partnership will focus on omnichannel fulfillment, product management, user operations and marketing. JD Daojia will provide CR Vanguard with integrated fulfillment solutions, including full warehouse, half warehouse and store warehouse. Dada Now, Dada Group's local on-demand delivery platform, will offer omnichannel delivery services to CR Vanguard's stores.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
Carrefour to invest in expansion in Egypt
Carrefour is set to invest EGP200mln (US$12.7mln) in Egypt as it expands its store base and improves its existing stores for shoppers. Initially the investment will see the opening of new supermarkets in Cairo and Alexandria, while by the end of 2020 the retailer aims to add nine further stores, taking its total to 63. Money will also be spent to increase the digitisation of its operations in Egypt and to develop a more integrated ecommerce operation. This will enable shoppers to buy online from 18 stores across Cairo and Alexandria, which will see a doubling of its capacity by November 2020. This should support the retailer’s longer term aim to grow online sales from between 4% and 5% to somewhere between 10% and 15%.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
Sweden: Coop sets new food waste reduction target
Coop Sweden has announced that food waste in its operations will account for less than 1% of its sales by 2025. The new goal highlights the retailer's willingness to take greater responsibility to contribute towards reducing food waste.
Source: esmmagazine.com
UK: Billionaire brothers in pole position to buy Asda in £6.5bln swoop
The billionaire brothers behind one of Britain's biggest petrol station operators have moved into pole position to clinch the biggest deal of their career: the takeover of Asda that will value the supermarket chain at more than £6.5bln. Sky News can exclusively reveal that a consortium led by Mohsin and Zuber Issa, the bosses of EG Group, and TDR Capital, the London-based private equity firm, has been selected by the American retail giant Walmart as the preferred bidder for Asda. Walmart's decision to select the Issas' bid will confound expectations that it was likely to pursue a deal with Apollo Global Management, the buyout firm which has been working with Rob Templeman, the former boss of Debenhams.
Source: news.sky.com
US: Kenny Family Stores of Delaware launch new food product competition & web series 'Aisle Trials'
Kenny Family Stores of Delaware announces the launch of their new competition and web series, Aisle Trials. Local businesses in the Delaware area are invited to submit their food products to Aisle Trials for a chance to become a vendor in the Kenny Family ShopRites of Delaware stores.
Source: prnewswire.com
US: Kroger and Ocado announce location of high-tech customer fulfillment center in Romulus, Michigan
The Kroger Co., America's largest grocery retailer, and Ocado, a world leader in technology for grocery ecommerce, announced Romulus, Michigan, as the latest location for a Customer Fulfillment Center (CFC). The location confirms a previous announcement stating Kroger and Ocado would construct a CFC in the Great Lakes Region.
Source: prnewswire.com
US: Zero Grocery raises $3mln toward reusable packaging deliveries
Zero Grocery, an online grocer trying to stand out from the crowd by offering reusable packaging, has raised $3mln in a new funding round, bringing the total to $4.7mln since the company’s launch in 2019. That may not be a ground-breaking amount of capital, but this new funding round shows how sustainable commerce practices continue to take on a bigger role in food and other types of retail.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
Amazon to hire 3,500 workers in British Columbia and Ontario
Amazon will hire 3,500 Canadians to work in spaces it is opening and expanding in British Columbia and Ontario. The e-commerce giant revealed that 3,000 of the jobs will be in Vancouver, where it is growing its footprint, and another 500 will be in Toronto, home of a new Amazon workspace.
Source: canadiangrocer.com