Shopkick, a shopping rewards app is expanding its focus. The company today is launching a new feature called Shopkick Grocery, to move its business into the area of grocery awards. The app will dole out gift cards to consumers who engage with the brands’ content, including by scanning barcodes on products, making purchases, watching videos, trying suggested recipes and more. (techcrunch.com) Walmart partners with JD.com to launch Asda in China
Walmart's Asda will launch a flagship store on JD.com’s cross-border platform, JD Worldwide, giving the brand access to the ecommerce platform’s 226 million customers. It will sell food and health products, such as nuts, biscuits, coffee, tea bags energy bars, and foods for babies and children. (thedrum.com)Whole Foods' stock rises on report Amazon weighed buying the grocer
Shares of Whole Foods Market climbed Wednesday, on the heels of a report from Bloomberg that said Amazon was once a possible bidder for the grocery chain. Jeff Bezos' e-commerce conglomerate reportedly considered a takeover of Whole Foods last fall, but ultimately didn't pursue a deal, an unnamed source with knowledge of the situation told Bloomberg. (cnbc.com) Ahold Delhaize: 45% own-brand sales from healthy products by 2020
Ahold Delhaize CEO Dick Boer reiterated the retailer's sustainability strategy at the company's annual general shareholder meeting, which recently took place in Amsterdam. "Being a sustainable retailer is embedded in our strategy," Boer explained. "It's on our minds as we grow, innovate and save." In his address, Boer outlined the retailer's strategy to have 45% of its own-brand sales come from healthy products by 2020, as well as efforts that the company has made to reduce its food waste by 20%. (esmmagazine.com) US: Retailers join forces to stop increase on cost of importsPlease, click here to read the article.
French Carrefour reports rise in first-quarter sales
Carrefour said first-quarter sales had risen 6.2% at current exchange rates to €21.3bn, boosted by a strong performance in Brazil. Carrefour said it was sticking to its target for full-year 2017 sales growth of between 3 and 5%, at constant exchange rates. The retailer said said its French market environment remained "very competitive". (Reuters)Aldi boosts range to win bigger share in Australia
Aldi plans to boost its grocery selection by close to one fifth as it chases a bigger share of Australia's $90bn grocery market and fends off any fresh competition. Suppliers report Aldi plans to add as many as 250 products to its range of about 1450 items in a bid to rapidly expand its 10% stake in the nation's grocery spend and claw back its rapid sales growth rate in its established east coast markets. Please, click here to read the article at smh.com.au. China: Walmart will open 15 new stores in Hubei
Walmart, the world’s largest chain retailer, signed a memorandum of strategic cooperation with Hubei on March 30, planning to open 15 new stores and create 6,000 jobs for Hubei within the following three years. (wuhansocial.com) Carrefour to sustain pace of investment in Poland
Carrefour Poland has said that it will invest PLN260m (US$65m) in 2017, matching the same level of spending as it did in 2016. The retailer said it was aiming to open two hypermarkets, 10 supermarkets and more than 100 convenience stores. The money will also be spent to update a further 12 hypermarkets, 20 supermarkets and a number of the shopping centres in which its stores are based. The retailer is also continuing to focus on its online offer, as it looks to expand its range available online to 12,000 SKUs including fresh products. (igd.com)Japan: FamilyMart UNY revenu increases
FamilyMart UNY has published their annual results, posting a 109.3% increase in operating revenues to JPY894bn (US$8.1bn) in FY2016, with its operating income increasing by 15.0% to JPY56bn (US$510m) due to the consolidation of the two companies. (igd.com) Tesco Asia delivers robust growth
Tesco's preliminary results for its FY2016/17 show that its Asian operations grew 4.0% at constant exchange rates and 1.8% on a LFL basis - a positive result, when compared to total group sales, which increased 1.1% at constant exchange rates and 1.0% on a LFL comparison. However, performance was mixed and slowed in H2, signalling that there is more work to do. Revenue in Thailand, the retailer's largest market outside the UK, continued positive momentum, reaching THB 204,059, an increase of 4.6% on the previous year. Revenue in Malaysia was reported as MYR 4,458, a marginal decline of 1.2% compared to last year. (igd.com)Spanish Eroski signs deal with Kutxabank to support franchisees
Spanish retailer Eroski has signed an agreement with Kutxabank, a financial institution based in the Basque Country, to offer what it says are "advantageous financing conditions" to its franchisees. Eroski is seeking to exceed 100 franchised outlets this year, with planned expansions in Andalusia, Madrid, Castilla-La Mancha, Extremadura and Levante. The new openings will be built around the Contigo format, unveiled by the retailer last year. (esmmagazine.com)UK: Sainsbury's accelerates Argos integration
Following its acquisition of the Home Retail Group last year, Sainsbury’s has accelerated its introduction of Argos stores within its supermarkets. The 50th Argos store since the £1.4bn takeover has now opened inside a Sainsbury’s store, as boss Mike Couple pledges another 200 in the next three years. (retailgazette.co.uk)South Africa's Shoprite looks beyond Africa to Eastern Europe
Africa's biggest grocery retailer Shoprite is considering a push into Eastern Europe, where it hopes to use knowledge gleaned from former suitor Steinhoff International, its new CEO told Reuters. "We will look at other developing countries. That is also something that came out from our Steinhoff discussions and they've got good presence there, so we would like to leverage off that knowledge and definitely have a look at the East Bloc countries," he said in an interview at the company's head office outside Cape Town. (Reuters)Tesco admits rising food prices are causing a ‘resurgence’ at the discounters
When asked by Marketing Week whether a rise in food prices could mean Tesco loses customers back to the discounters – who will be less affected by price inflation due to their simpler supply chains – Tesco’s CEO replied: “We know the level of price inflation in a basket at Tesco, relative to the rest of the big four, is the lowest. Having said that, it is fair to say that since the turn of the year, we’ve seen and are aware of a resurgence in growth at the discounters. (marketingweek.com)Carrefour to roll out Meal box solution in France
Following on from a successful trial by its operations in Belgium, Carrefour France has said it will be rolling out a meal box solution. The boxes with the ingredients are set to be launched in April. (igd.com)India: BigBasket setting up separate warehouses for supply to hotels
Online grocery store BigBasket (Supermarket Grocery Supplies Pvt. Ltd) is planning a big push into institutional sales and is setting up separate warehouses to cater to businesses, a move that will help the firm increase sales of private labels and improve profitability, said a senior company executive. (livemint.com) Russian X5 Retail has deal with Centrosoyuz for 1000 new stores
X5 Retail Group N.V. announced Wednesday the signing of a cooperation agreement with the Central Union of Consumer Societies of the Russian Federation or Centrosoyuz. The company noted that the five-year agreement has the potential to lead to the opening of up to 1,000 new stores under the joint brand of COOP-Pyaterochka during the first three years of the project. (rttnews.com) India: Flipkart acquires eBay
Local ecommerce player Flipkart buys eBay India. This is part of an agreement where eBay makes a US$500mn cash investment in exchange for an equity stake in Flipkart. (igd.com)