US: Kroger brings grocery store on wheels to Louisville neighborhoods
The Kroger Co. - along with Louisville, Kentucky, food bank Dare to Care and the city government's Louisville Forward - are bringing a Zero Hunger Mobile Market to neighborhoods with limited or no access to fresh groceries. The single-aisle grocery store on wheels is stocked with fruits, vegetables and other nutritious foods. Customers can pay by debit card, credit card or EBT, with no cash on the truck. According to Dare to Care, the Zero Hunger Mobile Market launched this month, but the Courier Journal reports that it actually started making rounds in July. The trailer plans to make 35 stops at 29 locations this month, every day of the week except for Wednesdays and Saturdays.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: Walmart reports Q2 earnings beat
Walmart reported second-quarter earnings of $1.27 per share, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $1.22 by 4.1%. This is a 1.55% decrease over earnings of $1.29 per share from the same period last year. The company reported quarterly sales of $130.4bln, which beat the analyst consensus estimate of $130.21bln by 0.15%. This is a 1.85% increase over sales of $128.028bln the same period last year. U.S. e-commerce sales growth of 37% includes strong growth in online grocery. Sam's Club comp sales increased 1.2%, and e-commerce sales grew 35%.
Source: benzinga.com
Canada: Metro to fast-track tech deployment to boost productivity and profits
Metro Inc. will fast-track the deployment of technology such as self-service checkouts and electronic shelf labels to its stores in an effort to lower labour costs, the grocer's chief executive said. The Montreal-based company expects to have self-service checkouts in 100 stores by the end of its 2019 financial year, which ends September 29. It will equip another 100 stores in the following year. Meanwhile, Metro plans to install electronic shelf labels, which can digitally display and change prices, in 32 stores this year and 67 more stores next year.
Source: ctvnews.ca
US: King Kullen closes multiple underperforming stores
New York-based grocer King Kullen has recently announced its second store closure this year. The Lake Ronkonkoma store, King Kullen’s oldest location, opened in 1971, but despite its decades of history, the store has recently been “underperforming,” according to Newsday. The company has also reported plans to close its North Babylon store in late September this year. “These stores were underperforming and the decision was made to close rather than renew leases that were coming due”, said King Kullen Spokesperson Lloyd Singer. The North Babylon location also faced the competition of incoming discount grocer Aldi a mere half mile away.
Source: delimarketnews.com
Canada: Walmart expands Instacart delivery partnership
Walmart Canada is expanding its on-demand grocery delivery service to 200 stores through its partnership with Instacart. The expansion of this service follows-on from the launch of a pilot service at 17 stores in the Greater Toronto Area (GTA) and Winnipeg last year. Through this service, customers can order grocery products to be delivered in as fast as an hour. This complements the retailer’s existing suite of ecommerce options. These include in-store grocery pickup, which will be extended to 190 stores by the end of the year, pickup at nine urban Penguin Pickup locations in the GTA and next-day delivery in the GTA by ordering through Walmart.ca.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
Cash and carry represents half of GPA’s sales in Brazil
GPA (part of the Casino Group) is rapidly expanding its Assaí cash and carry banner, which has been a major factor in its sales growth in recent years. In 2018 it opened 18 Assaí stores and it is on track to open 20 stores in 2019. In its H1 2019 results GPA reported that sales for the banner now account for 50% of gross sales across all its formats. Assaí has been so successful that over the last five years GPA has converted around 20 of its underperforming Extra Hiper hypermarkets to the banner. The stores which have been converted have seen sales more than double.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
Spain: El Corte Inglés switches to 98.5% renewable energy sources
Spanish retail giant El Corte Inglés has announced that 98.5% of the energy it used in 2018 was sourced from certified renewable resources. The company reduced its CO2 emissions by 70% when compared with the previous year. It has also cut electricity and water consumption by 4% and 7.2% respectively during this period. The retailer achieved its goals by upgrading its air conditioning, lighting and elevator elements systems, which has resulted in saving approximately 3,500 MWh of energy, it said. It also implemented measures to recycle wastewater, which led to a significant reduction in the company's water consumption, as well as installing solar panels for power generation.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Choppies to exit South Africa market, chair to step down
Botswana-based grocery retailer Choppies has announced that it will be exiting the South African market, four years after expanding into the country. It also stated that Festus Mogae would be stepping down as chair and director after the company's Annual General Meeting, due later this year. The company has been hit by operational turbulence in recent months, including the delayed release of its annual financial statements, which prompted the JSE to suspend the trading of its shares in November 2018. The Botswana Stock Exchange also suspended the company.
Source: fin24.com
Australia: 7-Eleven opens 700th store
7-Eleven in Australia has achieved a new benchmark, opening its 700th store in the market. The store in Banksia Grove in Western Australia is the 38th in the state, having opened its first store on the west coast in 2014. The retailer continues to steadily grow its network, planning 10-15 new store openings in Western Australia over the next two years. As well as new stores, it also aims to boost same store sales growth through new initiatives.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
Russia: X5 retailer focuses on growing demand for convenience foods
Russia’s top food retailer X5 is gearing up to compete with burgeoning online players to meet growing demand for convenience foods from time- and price-conscious consumers, Chief Executive Officer Igor Shekhterman told Reuters. “We used to compare ourselves with offline players, but we now say that we work in the food market and our competitors not only count traditional players, but also digital companies ... and fast-food restaurants,” Shekhterman said. E-commerce has flourished in Russia over the past decade, prompting brick-and-mortar retailers to invest in online services and delivery. In recent years, grocers have also felt the pinch from thriving online meals ordering companies. “We see that this need is growing everywhere, it really is a trend: people want to cook less”, Shekhterman said.
Source: reuters.com
Sweden: ICA H1 2019: +3.9% to SEK58.6 bln
ICA has released its first half results, reporting consolidated net sales increased by 3.9% to SEK58,627mln (US$6.1bln). Operating profit excluding items affecting comparability was SEK2,490mln (US$259mln) while cash flow from operating activities was SEK4,737mln (US$493mln). In Sweden, net sales increased by 3.3% to SEK41,673mln (US$4.3bln). ICA attributed this to: “price effects, but higher wholesale volumes, with a higher share of purchasing by ICA stores, also made a positive contribution”. Meanwhile, operating profit excluding items affecting comparability grew by SEK232mln to SEK1,774mln (US$184.5mln). Sales for ICA’s Swedish stores increased by 3.9% on a like-for-like basis and were in line with the market trend. ICA said the growth was mainly driven by “a higher average spend, but also by a larger number of items per customer visit”.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
UK: Asda releases Q2 results with continued focus on innovation
Walmart has published its earnings for the second quarter of 2019 including financial results for its UK business, Asda for the period 1st April to 30th June 2019. Reporting a straight calendar quarter, which includes a benefit of the later Easter in 2019, the UK supermarket delivered a 0.5% like-for-like sales growth excluding petrol over the second quarter of 2019. This completed the first half year reporting for the UK’s third largest supermarket, capturing Easter in both years and saw like for like sales decline of 0.3% compared to the same period last year.
Source: corporate.asda.com
China: Alibaba adds 20mln users; sales surge 42%
Alibaba Group boosted second-quarter revenues by 42%, as the number of active users on its e-commerce sites grew by 20mln. “Alibaba had a great quarter, expanding our user base to 674mln annual active consumers, demonstrating our superior user experience”, said Daniel Zhang, CEO. “We will continue to expand our customer base, increase operating efficiency and deliver robust growth. With strong cash flow from our core commerce business, we will continue to invest in technology and bring digital transformation to millions of businesses globally,” he said. The group reported net income attributable to shareholders of RMB21.252bln (US$3.096bln), on total revenue of RMB114.924bln (US$16.741bln). The annual active consumers on the group’s Mainland China retail marketplaces reached 674mln in the year to June 30.
Source: insideretail.asia
UK: Aldi brings self-service checkouts to London
Aldi has launched self-service checkouts in three of its six Local stores in London. Aldi launched its first self-service checkout in April of this year when it tested out the concept in its Glascote store in Tamworth. Despite it being a standard amongst the Big Four retailers and Aldi's main competitor Lidl, having them in 150 of its 740 UK stores, this was a first for Aldi. After a successful trial the retailer launched the checkouts in three other standard format stores, and three Local.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
Steinhoff weighs options for Pepkor Europe, says CEO
Retail group Steinhoff is considering all options over the future of its Pepkor Europe operation, including a potential initial public offering, CEO Louis du Preez said. "We are looking at all options and there is definitely no decision made either way", du Preez said when asked about reports it was considering floating the business, which owns Britain's Poundland and retail chains Dealz and Pepco. Elsewhere, the group said that its only hope for survival is to sell off assets to become a retail-focused holding company, as it fights to recover from a $7bln accounting fraud and share price crash.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Ireland: SuperValu introduces 100% compostable and reusable shopping bags
SuperValu has announced that from 9th September 100% compostable and reusable shopping bags will be available in its stores. A first for any Irish retailer, the introduction of these bags to SuperValu stores will result in a massive 2.5mln plastic bags being removed from circulation. The shopping bag that is priced at 89 cent is the first bag available in Irish supermarkets that is both reusable and compostable. “Our customers expect SuperValu to help them make more sustainable choices and we’re committed to doing just that", said Martin Kelleher, managing director of SuperValu. "Reducing our environmental impact on the planet is a core focus of our overall strategy to help build sustainable communities and we have already made significant steps forward in this area."
Source: checkout.ie
Online spending helps UK retail sales grow unexpectedly in July
British retail sales unexpectedly edged up in July, helped by the strongest growth in online spending in three years, as consumers continued to support the economy before the October 31 Brexit deadline. Monthly retail sales volumes rose 0.2% after a 0.9% surge in June, the Office for National Statistics said, beating the average forecast for a 0.2% decline from a Reuters poll of economists. Compared with July 2018, sales were up 3.3%, slowing from 3.8% in June but at the top end of forecasts.
Source: reuters.com