France: Auchan Supermarché launches -
After announcing its single banner initiative in Q4 2016, Auchan has opened the first of the converted Simply Market stores under the Auchan Supermarché banner, in Saint Germain lès Corbeil, some 35km from Paris. The store is the first of 14 test supermarkets that will be run under the Auchan Supermarché banner. The 14 test stores are all set to open in the first half of 2017. The design puts a greater focus on fresh. (igd.com)Online grocery sales set to surge, grabbing 20% of market by 2025
Online grocery shopping could grow five-fold over the next decade, with American consumers spending upwards of $100bn on food-at-home items by 2025, according to a report released Monday. A report from the Food Marketing Institute and Nielsen points out that the online channel is likely to capture significantly more market share in the decade ahead from the bricks-and-mortar stores. (cnbc.com) UK: Profits rise at Ocado
Ocado on Tuesday reported a 3.3% rise in full-year core earnings and said it was well positioned for growth. The firm said it made earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) of £84.3m in the year to Nov. 27 2016. Gross full-year retail sales grew 13.6% to £1.27bn, with growth slowing to 13.1% in its fourth quarter. The retailer said on Tuesday that discussions with multiple international retailers regarding the adoption of its "Smart Platform solution" technology were continuing. (Reuters) Russia's O'Key Group posts 7.6% sales increase in 2016
Russian retailer O'Key Group announced that its 12 month net retail sales for 2016 showed a 7.6% year-on-year increase, compared to last year. Sales increased from RUB 160.3 billion to RUB 172.5 billion. In the fourth quarter alone, net retail sales increased by 4.8%, increasing from RUB 47.2 billion to RUB 49.5 billion, compared to 2015. The group's discount banner DA! experience the most growth last year. (esmmagazine.com) Africa: Choppies sets out expansion plans
After announcing mixed results as part of its 2016 annual results, when it said like-for-like sales fell by 4.5%, Botswana-based Choppies has said that it will continue to expand across all countries in which it operates, aiming to open around 45 more stores. The expansion will be focused on the South African province of KwaZulu-Natal, while 10 will be added in Zambia and ‘one or two’ in Zimbabwe. (igd.com) AU: Aldi to take on Spudshed with 14 new stores
Aldi announced that it plans to open 14 stores this year, creating 350 jobs and taking its total number of stores to 33. Morley will be the focus of the retail battle when the first new Aldi store of this year opens there within two months. It will open in Cockburn, Lakelands, South Fremantle, Spearwood, Banksia Grove and Secret Harbour. The chain refused to reveal the location of the other seven stores to open this year. (thewest.com.au) UK supermarket with the fastest queues revealed
New research suggests that customers in Sainsbury's have the shortest wait times at checkouts, while queues at tills are longest at Asda. It found that checkout times at all supermarkets were slightly quicker last year compared to 2015, with Waitrose seeing the best improvement in cutting queuing times. (mirror.co.uk) Africa: Shoprite, Steinhoff marriage talks continue
Listed retail giants Shoprite and Steinhoff say they continue to have exclusive talks about a possible merger. The companies on Tuesday said they “remain engaged in exclusive on-going negotiations regarding the potential sale of Steinhoff’s Africa retail assets to Shoprite”. This follows an announcement in December that the companies were planning on creating an entity to be called Retail Africa. (iol.co.za)Carrefour seeks Brazil unit IPO in second quarter, sources say
France's Carrefour SA aims to price the initial public offering of its fast-growing Brazilian unit as early as the second quarter, two people with direct knowledge of the plan said on Monday; a sign demand for new equity offerings in Latin America's No. 1 economy is gaining traction rapidly. According to the source, Carrefour expects the IPO to take place in a fresh round of stock offerings slated for late April. Carrefour is confident investors may value the unit at a 25% premium to larger peer GPA SA's 14.5bn real ($4.6bn) market capitalization, the same person said. (Reuters) UK: Morrisons announce acquisition of Carnoustie plant
Morrisons and Farmcare announced a supply agreement and the acquisition of the Farmcare potato packing business at Carnoustie by Morrisons. The plant in Carnoustie will be used to store, grade, pack and procure potatoes for Morrisons customers. (montrosereview.co.uk)Chile's Cencosud sees 2017 consolidated sales of $16.5 bln
Latin American retailer Cencosud said on Monday it expected consolidated sales of $16.5bn this year on improved performance of its business units, increased online growth and new store openings. Improved regional economic prospects, especially in Argentina, Brazil and Peru, will also help buttress Cencosud's business units, it said. (Reuters)
Albertsons on Monday — the two-year anniversary of its merger with Safeway — shared some of the progress the company has made since the combination made it the second-largest supermarket company in the United States. Since the merger closed in January 2015, Albertsons said it has grown its workforce by 10%, adding 26,000 jobs, building 23 locations and acquiring 151 more stores. (drugstorenews.com) Greece: Sklavenitis approved to acquire Marinopoulos
Sklavenitis has received conditional approval from the Greek competition authorities to acquire Marinopoulos, making it one of the country's leading retailers. The sale was conditional on Sklavenitis selling 22 stores and continuing existing partnership agreements between Marinopoulos and small local suppliers. As part of the bail-out, suppliers may also only receive 50% of the debt owed by Marinopoulos once Sklavenitis completes the acquisition. (igd.com)Ahold Delhaize completes nearly 75% of share buyback
Ahold Delhaize has completed nearly three-quarters of its proposed €1bn share buyback, the retailer reported Tuesday. The total number of repurchased shares equals €70.1m, or 3,540,266 common shares. In the week of 23 to 27 January, the company purchased 1,213,909 additional shares, at an average price of €19.94 per share, a total consideration of €24.2m. (esmmagazine.com) Mega Image to sustain expansion in Romania
According to reports in the local press, Mega Image is set to maintain its pace of expansion in 2017, after adding 50 stores in 2016. The expansion is expected to see the retailer open in the city of Cluj for the first time, taking it outside the 250-km radius around Bucharest in which it has so far operated. The retailer believes that rising consumption in the country will be maintained in the short term, which will support its sales growth. (igd.com)
Brazilian supermarkets on Monday cut their sales growth forecast for this year, reflecting efforts among households to funnel most of their disposable income into paying off debt amid Brazil's worst recession on record. Industry group Abras said that sales volumes at Brazilian supermarkets fell 4.7% in the first 11 months of last year. That decline came on top of an annual decline in supermarket sales volumes of 1.2% in 2015. (Reuters) 
