UK Waitrose: Price war 'will be death of supermarket chains' -
Britain's biggest supermarkets are cutting their own throats in a race to the bottom on price, the boss of Waitrose has warned, thisismoney.co.uk reports. Mark Price, who is also deputy chairman of the John Lewis Partnership, said relentless price-cutting to keep pace with German discounters Aldi and Lidl is damaging consumer choice and could even result in a company failure unless the biggest chains alter course. ‘Supermarkets are saying “If we drop our prices it’s all going to be OK again”. But the reality is people don’t eat more food because you drop your prices. If everybody keeps dropping their prices, it’s a zero sum game. (Click here to read more.)
Pick n Pay enjoys a growing footprint in Zimbabwe
Pick n Pay is gaining traction in Zimbabwe, where it jointly owns the TM Supermarkets chain together with Meikles, iol.co.za reports. On Friday it said that turnover for the year to March had surged 8% to $360m (R4.42bn) on the back of raised branch sales. The South African grocer has embarked on an ambitious expansion programme away from its home market. In April this year it said it would invest more than R5bn in expanding the rest of its Africa operations, such as those in Zimbabwe.
UK: Lidl considers plan to sell wine online
Lidl is considering a plan to sell wine online in the UK, a move that would give the discounter a new way to compete with its rivals, theguardian.com reports. Ben Hulme, head of beer, wine and spirits at Lidl’s UK business, told trade journal the Drinks Business that he was keen on the plan. “The growth in wine is there to be seen and I would love to do it,” he said. “However, I don’t have the full picture in terms of the full complexity of what that would mean for the business.” Hulme was behind Lidl’s move into the premium wine market last year.
Coop affirms leadership position in Italy
Coop Italia has affirmed its leadership position in the Italian retail food market with a 19% share, practically unchanged compared to a year earlier, esmmagazine.com reports. The cooperative's 2014 results also reveal stable revenues, at €12.4bn, while private label products surpassed 26% of total sales (+1% on 2013). At the end of last year, Coop had 1,189 stores across Italy. In an attempt to boost competitiveness, Coop has been strengthening international alliances, such as Coopernic, which aims to become the "biggest European purchase center" (€130bn turnover and over 20,000 sales points). This initiative also includes Leclerc, Delhaize and Rewe.
Supermarket sales rise but Asda 'falling behind' its rivals, says Nielsen
Supermarket sales rose for the seventh straight month in June, but Asda is “falling behind its peer group,” according to new figures, retail-week.com reports. Sales volumes were up 0.3% during the four weeks ending June 20, according to Nielsen figures. But the value of sales at the till fell by 0.3%, the third consecutive month of year-on-year decline, driven by deflation and in-store promotions. Asda saw the biggest decrease in year-on-year sales among the top 10 supermarkets, slipping 3.8% in the 12 weeks to June 20. Nielsen’s UK head of retailer and business insight Mike Watkins said: “One third of shopper spend is on promotions and price cut items – this level of promotional activity encourages shoppers to visit more often but does mean spend per visit is down a little on last year at many supermarkets.”
