Spar International, the world’s largest voluntary food retail chain, has announced a new partnership with Burque Group to open its first stores in Pakistan. The partnership commences with a focus on the development of stores in Karachi. Spar multi-format stores, ranging from convenience to neighbourhood to supermarket will expand over time across the country. (retailtimes.co.uk) Coop Danmark tests unmanned grocery store concept
Coop Danmark is planning to open the first unmanned grocery store in Denmark during the first quarter of 2018. The retailer is trialling the new concept, Beep & Pay, in one of its Dagli'Brugsen neighbourhood stores in Sengeløse. Customers scan their mobile phone when entering the store so that they can be identified. Then, they scan products themselves as they shop, and pay for their purchases via the Beep & Pay app. The store will be monitored by camera surveillance, but employees will only be present for a few hours a day to restock fresh produce. (esmmagazine.com) UK: Morrisons expands its home delivery coverage from store
Morrisons is expanding its delivery service in North East England, using picking from store. The move represents a wider use of technology developed for Morrisons by Ocado to enable home delivery in areas where Morrisons has stores but Ocado doesn’t have fulfilment centres. As a result, says Morrisons, “more and more households will soon be able to access Morrisons.com.” (http://internetretailing.net) Amazon to end Fresh grocery delivery service
Amazon.com Inc is ending its Fresh grocery delivery service for select areas, though it continues to operate in more than a dozen cities from Los Angeles to Tokyo. AmazonFresh deliveries will stop for some people after Nov. 30. AmazonFresh started more than a decade ago but has yet to make a major dent in the $700 billion U.S. grocery market. (Reuters)US: Weis Q3 sales rise, but promos trigger earnings dip
Weis Markets increased third-quarter sales by 15% and comparable-store sales by 1.5%, but earnings tumbled 58.1% behind aggressive pricing and promotional programs that drove the higher sales volumes. The Sunbury, Pa.-based retailer also said earnings were beset by deflation in produce and inventory management challenges in some of its recently acquired stores. (groceryheadquarters.com) US: H-E-B pilots hybrid grocery delivery model
H-E-B is experimenting with a hybrid grocery delivery model in which store employees pick and bag online orders while third-party companies, Instacart, Shipt and Lash deliver the orders to customers. The new model is being piloted at around 100 of the Texas grocery chain’s 300 stores in the San Antonio, Houston and Corpus Christi markets. (fooddive.com) US: Publix sees sales jump for Third Quarter of 2017
With boosted sales and stock price, Publix is closing out the third quarter of its fiscal 2017 on a strong note. Part of the impact is from Hurricane Irma, which hit the company’s Florida home earlier this fall. In addition to a 6.2% increase from the same time last year’s quarterly sales, from $8 billion to $8.5 billion, comparable-store sales for the third quarter of 2017 increased 4.3%. (delimarketnews.com)