In recent weeks the “Everyday Low Cost” retailer began offering deeper discounts to consumers willing to try the online grocery-pickup experience. Using targeted emails to Walmart.com customers in test areas, Wal-Mart agreed to give a $10 discount on a user’s first $50 order, for a test period of a few days, thecitywire.com reports. The retailer is also featuring its Pickup Grocery in a multiple platform media campaign from Internet banner ads on Yahoo! to local billboards in markets where the tests are underway.Tesco faces US lawsuit over profits scandal
A US law firm is asking Tesco shareholders to join a group that wants to bring a lawsuit and seek billions of pounds in compensation for losses relating to the British retailer's overstatement of profit last year, Reuters reports. Tesco said on Sept. 22 it had overstated first-half profit by 250 million pounds.UK: Morrisons' new boss ditches five from management team
David Potts, the new boss of Morrisons, moved to clear the decks of the struggling British supermarket group on Tuesday, ditching five members of its management team, Reuters reports. “I will now be constructing a leaner management board, with the aim of simplifying and speeding up the business,"Tesco Lotus cuts prices by up to 50%
Tesco in Thailand is cutting prices on fresh food items by between 10-50% in an effort to revive customer spending, retailanalysis.igd.com reports. The new price campaign will run for six weeks and will target over 100 fresh food items including fruit and vegetables. Tesco Lotus' sales have slowed in recent periods due to a slowing economy, periods of political unrest and also rising debt amongst consumers.New CEO appointed for Majid Al Futtaim
Majid Al Futtaim, the leading retail and leisure pioneer across the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) has announced the appointment of Bertrand Julien-Laferriere as CEO of Majid Al Futtaim Properties, zawya.com reports. The appointment will support the company's strategic focus on ambitious growth plans to expand the business throughout the MENA region. CEO of Majid Al Futtaim - Holding said: "Bertrand has extensive experience in international development and in managing real estate firms over the past 30 years."China: Dairy Farm Group top advertiser
Hong Kong advertisers have kick-started 2015 in a big way, marketing-interactive.com reports. The total ad spend for January and February combined, which amounted to $7 billion, has a year-on-year growth of 10%. Dairy Farm Group remained the top advertiser group with a 13% YOY increase in ad spend.Choppies expands regional footprint across Africa
Regional multinational grocery and general merchandise retailer Choppies with outlets in Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe has announced intentions to expand its footprint in the three countries and beyond, spyghana.com reports. The group’s chairman said: “As part of our expansion plans, we expect to open more stores in Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe, although the rate of expansion in Botswana is expected to be slow.” Canada: Metro boosts digital personalization
Shoppers using Metro Inc.’s mobile and web platforms can now get personalized sales, known as “Just for You,” the Montreal-based retailer said. The feature builds on Metro’s 2013 launch of what it called the food industry’s first “personalized digital ecosystem.” It allows shoppers to get a personalized flyer showing them weekly specials organized according to their purchasing preferences, as well as their weekly “usuals,” allowing them to build their weekly grocery list faster, supermarketnews.com reports. UK Supermarket property investment ‘re-boots’ after sector turbulence
MSCI Inc., a leading provider of investment decision support tools worldwide, released research today which shows that the property investment market which underlies the UK supermarket sector has ‘re-booted’ following the turbulence that affected the big operators last year, international-supermarketnews.com reports. Despite the difficulties that the ‘Big Four’ supermarket operators experienced in 2014, property investors still bought £1.3bn of supermarket property assets which provided an average total return of 7%.Swedish Coop reveals results
Kooperativa Förbundet (KF), the Swedish Cooperative Union which owns Coop Sverige, Sweden’s second largest grocery retailer, has revealed its 2014 results, reporting net sales of SEK 34.2bn (€3.7bn), alongside a net loss of SEK 49m (€5.3m). Comparative figures versus 2013 are unavailable given that the retailer launched its new structure, Coop Group on 1 January 2014, retailanalysis.igd.com reports.New Tesco Lotus shopping app features barcode scan
Tesco Lotus launched an application yesterday to allow people to shop for groceries online just by scanning a barcode, nationmultimedia.com reports. The company will target 200,000 downloads of the app this year, which should double its online sales from the 2014 level. Last year, its online sales were generated from its website and amounted to less than 1 per cent of in-store sales.Costco will receive Hesburgh award
The Rev. Theodore Hesburgh Award in Business Ethics will be presented to Costco Wholesale, southbendtribune.com reports. Costco offers employees a starting wage of $11.50 per hour and can pay out as high as $23.50 per hour. They offer medical, dental, vision care, benefits and a pension contribution. When the company announced it was opening a store in Mishawaka, it received 22,000 applications for the estimated 200 jobs at the store.Germany's METRO Group partners with Frequentz
METRO Group, one of the largest retailers in the world, has partnered with Frequentz, Inc., a global leader and champion of end-to-end visibility, in a strategic move that will help the retailer continue growing exponentially by building customer trust through supply chain transparency, virtual-strategy.com reports. 
More Listeria fears: Wegmans recalls spinach
Rochester-based Wegmans Food Markets is recalling roughly 12,540 frozen packages of Wegmans’ organic spinach due to possible contamination with listeria, tpr.org reports.