Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is increasing the pressure on suppliers to cut the cost of their products, in an effort to regain the mantle of low-price leader and turn around its sluggish U.S. sales, Wall Street Journal reports. The retailing behemoth says it has been telling suppliers to forgo investments in joint marketing with the retailer and plough the savings into lower prices instead.UK: Tesco reports 4Q results
Tesco reported yesterday a net loss of $2.1M, for the fourth quarter ended December 31, 2014. Adjusted net income for the quarter was $4.8M, prnewswire.com reports. Fourth quarter 2014 revenue was $134.5M, compared to $141.9M for the third quarter of 2014 and to $136.8M for the fourth quarter of 2013, a decrease of 5% and 2%, respectively.Ahold USA saving energy costs
Bluestone Energy Services, LLC, announced today that it is continuing and strengthening its relationship with supermarket leader, Ahold USA, virtual-strategy.com reports. For nearly the last ten years, Bluestone Energy and Ahold USA have partnered to reduce the energy consumption across hundreds supermarkets, resulting in a substantial reduction in energy costs that can be passed onto customers. Ireland: Lidl to open 60 additional stores
Competition in the Irish grocery trade is set to become even more intense following the disclosure by German discounter Lidl that it is looking for sites for more than 60 additional stores on both sides of the Border, irishtimes.com reports. Lidl is already one of the largest retailers in Ireland with 143 stores and a further 38 in Northern Ireland.Kantar: The British not turning away from the big four
Chris Cowan, consumer insight director at Kantar Worldpanel UK, says the claim that shoppers are deserting the big four is not so clear cut, producebusinessuk.com reports. He said that shoppers are not leaving the big four, but they are spending more during trips to other retailers. They are still making the same number of trips for groceries – not shopping more often. Reports of the death of the weekly shop have been greatly exaggerated. The main shopping trip size is getting smaller, while the top-up trip size is getting a bit bigger. 
Amazon: ordering groceries by touching buttonAmazon.com on Tuesday unveiled its latest effort to bring more speed and convenience to online shopping: A WiFi-connected gadget called the Amazon Dash Button that allows shoppers to refill orders of household staples with the press of a button, washingtonpost.com reports.
AU: Woolworths says 'effects' test will 'chill' competition
Retailers have warned that consumers could face higher prices if the government adopted a Harper review proposal to introduce an "effects" test into the misuse of market power rules, afr.com reports. Woolworths said the proposal will "chill" competition while the Australian National Retailers' Association warned the government against adopting a measure that would increase regulatory burdens, especially given it had committed to cutting red tape for business.Portugal's Alisuper in financial difficulties
After being saved from bankruptcy by the Nogueira Group in 2012, Portuguese supermarket chain Alisuper is once again faced with financial problems, esmmagazine.com reports. Suppliers are limiting the supply to stores due to unpaid bills, while the 340 employees are faced with wage delays. Owner José Nogueira does not deny the existence of problems, but adds that they are in the resolution process and that the viability of the supermarket chain is not in question. In an interview for daily Expresso, he stressed that "sales are good, but market conditions are very difficult, people are not consuming". Russia – investors still interested in grocery retail
Investors are betting on fast growing retailers like Magnit, despite on-going economic sanctions and squeezed Russian shoppers seeking out cheaper goods, retailanalysis.igd.com reports. Investors are betting that retailers like Magnit and Lenta can maintain their fast pace of growth despite the difficult market conditions in Russia.US: Wegmans best again!
Wegmans is once again tops in Consumer Reports' annual supermarket survey, pennlive.com reports. A survey appears in the magazine's May issue, and focuses on fresh and organic foods. Wegmans also was tops in the magazine's 2014 supermarket survey.UK: Sainsbury’s creates 480 digital jobs
Sainsbury’s is creating 480 specialist digital jobs which will allow the grocer to develop innovative consumer-facing technologies, retail-week.com reports. The jobs will enable the grocer to strengthen its in-house digital and technology offering and create more digital shopping solutions.US: Price Chopper starts Market 32 makeover
Price Chopper has started $300M makeover to Market 32, wnyt.com reports. When the rebranding was announced last November, owners were promising new products, new food service options, and a re-emphasis on customer service. Price Chopper plans to gradually rebrand all of their stores to the new name. UK: Retailer Iceland not amused with discounters
Malcolm Walker, the boss of supermarket chain Iceland, has launched an expletive-laden tirade aimed at rivals Aldi, Lidl and Asda that references allied victories in the World Wars, ibtimes.co.uk reports. Iceland is struggling amid a brutal supermarket price war. In 2014, it reported flat like-for-like sales while earnings fell 11% to £202.2m (€280m, $300m). The numbers are expected to fall again in 2015.Greece food retail sales increases
Greece's retail sales dropped for the third straight month in January at a slower pace, rttnews.com reports. The volume of retail trade fell 0.1% in January, much slower than December's 1.4% decrease. Sales of food registered an increase of 1.7%.NZ: Pak'n Save workers 'in wage stand-off'
Low pay offers mean Pak’n Save is beginning to earn a reputation as "Pak’n Slave" says FIRST Union senior organiser Bill Bradford, voxy.co.nz reports. "Tomorrow FIRST Union members will protest poverty pay at Pak’n Save Alderman Drive in Henderson. Pak’n Save Alderman Drive offers the lowest pay out of all the unionised Pak’n Save stores in Auckland." Spanish Feb retail sales up 2.7% y/y
Spanish retail sales rose for the seventh straight month in February by 2.7%, Reuters reports. Nationally, only food and large chain store sales are back at the levels of 2010. Food sales rose 0.4% on the previous year.AU: ShopWings aims to deliver
Supermarket chains are falling behind in the online shopping revolution, says Manu Dupont, the co-founder of new online supermarket ShopWings, queenslandcountrylife.com.au reports. Nearly two months after the launch of the new grocery delivery service in Sydney, Mr Dupont said delayed home deliveries and imprecise food allocation had weakened supermarkets' online stores. He said he was positioning ShopWings as a partner to existing supermarkets, rather than a rival seeking to cut their lunch. The ShopWings website enables users to order groceries from its partner supermarkets - Coles, Aldi and Harris Farm - after checking that their postcode is within the delivery zone. Every delivery is guaranteed to arrive within two hours.US: Phoenix groceries get cheaper overnight.
Phoenix shoppers' grocery bills will get a bit lighter overnight. Five years after its inception, the city's emergency tax on food expired at midnight, meaning residents will spend about $1 less for every $100 of basic groceries, azcentral.com reports.