India: Flipkart secures more funding for Amazon battle
Indian e-commerce firm Flipkart has received US$201mln funding for its wholesale business from its Singapore-incorporated parent. The investment comes during a period of intensifying competition between the firm and its Amazon-backed competitor in a market estimated to be worth $18bln. It signals a prioritising of sales growth by the retailer since its acquisition by Walmart. A report last year indicated that Flipkart has seen a more than 80% increase in transactions in recent months, prompting the company to expand into new business lines such as furniture and groceries over the next three years.
Source: insideretail.asia
Germany: Metro Q1 results show positive like-for-like growth
Metro’s total sales declined by -0.6% to €8.0bln in Q1 2018/19, compared to the same period last year. The decline was driven by negative currency effects in Russia and Eastern Europe. Like-for-like (lfl) sales for the group rose 2.3% in the period. Eastern Europe (excluding Russia) and Asia remain Metro’s most dynamic regions, whilst Germany saw a decline in LFL sales.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
UK's Iceland: steady expansion in Norway
Iceland has announced plans to open three new stores in Norway, according to Nettavisen. This comes after its initial launch of two in May 2018. The Norwegian stores are operated by Ice Nordic, Iceland's franchise partner. The first two branches were launched in Oslo and Larvik. They are smaller than the average UK stores, but include a similar range of private label, fresh and locally sourced products. CEO of Ice Nordic Geir Olav Opheim has said the stores are close to reaching profitability, with strong sales in the later part of the year and Christmas.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
France: Casino Group to sell six stores to rival Leclerc
French supermarket retailer Casino, in the process of divesting assets to cut debts, has agreed to sell six of its 'Géant' hypermarket stores to domestic rival Leclerc for €100.5mln. "Reducing these losses will contribute to the group's growth objective in trading profit in the France retail segment," Casino said in a statement.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Alipay gets Luxembourg e-money license to serve Europe
Alipay, the fintech company owned by Alibaba, has obtained an electronic money license in Luxembourg. With this license, Alipay can serve the European market. The Asian payments company is already present with a licensed entity in London, but it can now serve customers across Europe. The launch of the new Luxembourg-licensed entity, called Alipay (Europe) Limited S.A., was officially announced by Pierre Gramegna, the Minister of Finance in Luxembourg, in Hong Kong. The e-money institution license allows the company to offer its financial services across the European Union. With the new PSD2 license, Alipay can serve customers across Europe, but also connect users from China with online and offline retailers that are located in EU countries. “Alipay’s presence is a welcome addition to Luxembourg’s financial ecosystem and will further consolidate its position as a leading European hub for fintech and ecommerce”, the Minister commented. “It will considerably contribute to the strengthening ties between Europe and China.”
Source: ecommercenews.eu
India: Grofers aims for $1bln run rate during upcoming grocery sale
Online grocery start-up Grofers is a aiming to hit $1bln gross sale run rate during an upcoming grocery sale as it prepares for an expensive market share battle against bigger rivals such as BigBasket and Amazon India. “During the sale we will hit a billion dollar run rate,” Albinder Dhindsa, co-founder and CEO at Grofers told Mint in an interview. “It is not likely to continue at the same level post the sale but will be 1.5X of the current run rate because we are acquiring new users,” added Dhindsa.
Source: livemint.com
UK: M&S adopts F1-inspired tech in fridges
Marks and Spencer is reducing the energy consumed by its fridges by using Aerofoils, the Formula One-inspired device from Aerofoil Energy. Aerofoil is influenced by Formula One aerodynamics from Williams Advanced Engineering and is similar in appearance to the rear wing of an F1 car. The technology uses aerodynamics to guide cold air down the fridge more efficiently, meaning substantially less cold air is lost from the chiller unit, resulting in lower energy use, fewer carbon emissions and warmer aisles in stores. Ian Moore, head of store development at Marks and Spencer, said: “We’re excited to be collaborating with Aerofoil Energy to reduce the energy consumption and environmental footprint of our stores. This technology will also help us offer a better shopping experience for customers by improving the temperature in our aisles.”
Source: talkingretail.com
Retailers Lidl & Kaufland top food importers’ ranking in Romania
Retail chains Lidl and Kaufland, part of German group Schwarz, remained the largest food importers in Romania in 2018, according to local Economica.net. Romania imported EUR 6.2bln worth of agri-food products in January-October last year. Notably Rewe Romania, the operator of Penny Market supermarket chain plunged from the third place in 2017 to the eighth place after it sold the Billa chain to Carrefour. Nonetheless, Rewe has expanded aggressively, by opening 26 units in 2017 and another 15 in 2018 to reach a total of 236 units.
Source: romania-insider.com
Greece: online grocery e-Fresh grew 93% in 2018
E-Fresh, a fast-growing online grocery retailer from Greece, has had a successful year. The digital supermarket announced that its sales have increased by 93% last year. The company also secured a 88% repeat customer rate, while the number of customers grew 94%. The online grocer did not only achieve good numbers with regards to customers and sales, it also expanded its suite of machine learning technology and saw the number of employees grow to over 150. The online supermarket uses artificial intelligence to maintain a 4-minute fulfilment time and thanks to the use of automation and robotics technology in their fulfilment centers a delivery within 3 hours from order placement can be guaranteed.
Source: ecommercenews.eu
Holland: Albert Heijn's Instock to operate independently
Dutch retailer Albert Heijn has announced that its food waste prevention initiative - Instock - will now operate as an independent organisation. Instock started four and a half years ago, as a pop-up restaurant serving food made from discarded items in Albert Heijn. Currently, it runs three restaurants, and makes products from unsold food. As an independent entity, Instock will source residual flows from other organisations.
Source: esmmagazine.com
UK: Asda and Wincanton renew supply chain partnership
UK grocer Asda has renewed its transport and warehousing contract with Wincanton for another three years. The logistics firm will continue to operate four Asda sites in Doncaster, Larne, Rochdale and Wigan, covering frozen, chilled and ambient grocery, as well as general merchandise. This partnership, which began back in 2005, employs 1,216 Wincanton staff and utilises 58 vehicles.
Source: essentialretail.com
US: Weis Markets slashes prices on 7K-plus items
Weis Markets has introduced its Low, Low Price program, which cuts prices on more than 7,000 products across the Mid-Atlantic grocer’s stores. Described by Weis as “the company’s most ambitious price reduction program to date”, the initiative aims for the lowest everyday prices in the market. “We understand saving money has never been more important for our customers”, said Richard Gunn, Weis’ SVP of merchandising and marketing. “That’s why we are making a multimillion-dollar investment to provide the lowest price in the market on more than 7,000 everyday products.” According to the grocer, “The Low, Low Price initiative is a key part of [its] program to offer a strong value proposition in an increasingly competitive marketplace.”
Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: UNFI CEO: Supervalu ‘puts us in position to win’
Despite integration and synergy challenges, United Natural Foods Inc. (UNFI) stands better-positioned to compete in today’s grocery marketplace with its purchase of Supervalu Inc., according to UNFI Chairman and CEO Steve Spinner. “That combination puts UNFI in a position to win in the long term, and today we are the largest public wholesaler by far”, Spinner said at UNFI’s Investor Day event.
Source: supermarketnews.com
