Upmarket UK retailer Waitrose, has posted a like-for-like sales increase of 2.7% over the six weeks to 31 December, according to a trading update from parent, John Lewis Partnership. Waitrose’s gross sales were up 4.8% to £914.9m for the period, compared to the same period last year. At Waitrose, sales were driven largely by increased demand for the premium private label range Waitrose 1, which saw a 21.4% uplift in sales. (esmmagazine.com) India: Flipkart will take a ‘decisive lead’ in 2017, says co-founder
2017 will be a defining year for Flipkart as the company is looking to take “decisive lead” in the Indian market, its co-founder Sachin Bansal has said. The company, which recently announced top-level changes, said the restructuring is aimed at “improving operational efficiencies”. (indianexpress.com) UK: Lidl December sales growth helped by fruit and veg
Lidl UK has posted a revenue increase of 10% in the month of December, compared to 2015, with Christmas sales of turkey, vegetables and lobster helping to boost revenue. Retail-intelligence firm Verdict Retail said that sales, encouraged by Lidl's 'Pick of the Week' fruit-and-vegetable promo, went up 60%. (esmmagazine.com) US: Supervalu posts loss in Q3
Supervalu’s third quarter sales declined by 1.4% to $3.0bn, driven mainly by a 3.4% decline in sales at its retail division, including a 5.7% fall in identical store sales. Sales within its wholesale division increased by 0.2% to $1.9bn with sales to new and existing customers offsetting stores no longer supplied by the business. Net losses came in at $11m, compared to a $16m in the same quarter last year. (igd.com)Aldi US looks to expand healthy offerings
As consumers look to live out their New Year’s resolutions, Aldi US is bolstering its healthy offerings to help with expanded products and options launching this month. “At Aldi, we want our customers to know we are dedicated to making living healthier not only attainable, but affordable, too,” said Liz Ruggles, Aldi’s Director of Marketing, on the "Hello Healthy" initiative. “In addition to providing high-quality groceries at the lowest possible prices, we developed these new resources to help our shoppers achieve their goals in health and wellness.” Please, click here to read more at delimarketnews.com. Norway: Rema 1000 gives discount on fresh produce
REMA 1000, discount banner of Norway’s Reitangruppen has launched a new loyalty programme, Æ, today (5th January). Competitors NorgesGruppen and Coop Norge were quick to respond, with loyalty scheme enhancements of their own. REMA 1000's customers will get 10% off on frequently purchased items and will get 10% discount on fresh produce. Coop Norge has also responded by offering an 11% discount on fresh produce to loyalty card holders in its Coop Extra stores. (igd.com)UK: Food sales up at Marks & Spencer in Q3
UK retailer Marks & Spencer has seen its like-for-like food sales rise 0.6% in the 13 weeks to 31 December, the retailer has reported. Total food sales were up 5.6% for the retailer in the period. Overall, Marks & Spencer saw a 4.5% rise in total UK sales in the period, with International sales up 2.9% at a constant currency basis. (esmmagazine.com) AU: Woman finds brown frog in Coles packaged lettuce
A Melbourne woman has discovered a live frog in a bag of packaged lettuce she bought from Coles. She contacted Coles on Facebook. Coles responded that it was "concerned to see this" and said it would contact Ms Latinaa privately. (abc.net.au) Lidl, Eurospin lead growth in Italian grocery sector
Grocery retailers Lidl and Eurospin had the highest growth in the Italian sector in 2015, according to a study by financial institution Mediobanca. It also surveyed the turnover of major Italian grocery retailers in the period between 2011 and 2015, which grew by 4.5% in that period, and by 1.9% in 2015 alone. Fuelling the growth during those four years were discounters Lidl Italia (+43%) and Eurospin Italia (+42.9%), followed by Esselunga (+11.6%) and Iper-Unes (7%). Coop remained stable (+0.1%), while PAM Group lost ground (-4.9%). (esmmagazine.com) 
South Africa's Woolworths expects fall in H1 profitSouth Africa's upmarket retailer, Woolworths Holdings, expects first-half profit to be between 2.5% to 7.5% lower, the company said in a trading update on Thursday. (Reuters)
Japanese Aeon Q3 profit jumps
Aeon Co posted a 51% jump in its third-quarter operating profit as brisk business at supermarkets, drug stores and discount outlets helped the biggest retailer by sales in Japan offset losses at its general merchandise stores. Operating profit for quarter ended Nov 30 was 13bn yen (US$112.14m), versus 8.6bn yen a year ago, calculations based on the retailer’s nine-month results show. For March-November, Aeon reported a 5.6% rise in its operating profit to 85.4bn yen. (Reuters)Seven & i to triple store tally in China's inland areas by 2020
Seven & i Holdings plans to triple its network of supermarkets and general merchandise stores in China's inland areas to 20 by 2020, aiming to capitalize on the region's high growth and demand from middle-income consumers. The mass retailer's local subsidiary will bring its stable of Ito Yokado general merchandise stores up to 10 in Sichuan Province. Please, click here to read more at asia.nikkei.com. Dutch Jumbo grew faster than the market in 2016
Netherlands-based Jumbo has announced its results for 2016, saying total sales rose 7% to €6.678 bn (or 9% stripping out the beneficial effects of a 53rd week in 2015). The retailer said organic growth of 4%, versus its estimate of industry wide growth of 2.5%, meant it gained share and underpinned its sales performance during the year. (igd.com)Italy: Auchan-Sma splits purchasing alliance with Sisa
Auchan-Sma has said that it has split its purchasing alliance with Sisa, effective from the beginning of January 2017. The two parties began working together from January 2015, with the alliance meant to be lasting for an initial four-year period. However, Auchan-Sma and Sisa said that both sides had chosen to end the agreement earlier. (igd.com)Taiwan: President Chain, FamilyMart set sales records in past year
The operators of convenience store chains 7-Eleven and FamilyMart, both posted record high sales in 2016, boosted by growth in revenues from diversified or new product 
lines, according to the two companies' latest sales results. President Chain Store Corp., which operates the 7-Eleven chain, announced consolidated sales of NT$215.36bn (US$6.76bn) in 2016, up 4.8% from the previous year, after posting sales of NT$18.01bn in December. FamilyMart Co. Ltd., which owns and operates the FamilyMart chain, also saw sales grow 4.8% for the year to a record NT$60.567bn after a strong December in which sales rose 9.1% year-on-year to NT$5.10bn. (chinapost.com.tw) India: Hawkers launch app to deliver veggies home
Taking the digital leap, a local vegetable hawkers' union is launching a mobile phone app to deliver fresh produce at the doorsteps of consumers in Kalyan. As the union has 1,690 hawkers as members, the vegetables will be delivered at home within a couple of hours of placing the order — and buyers will have the option of making payment through the app or by cash. (timesofindia.indiatimes.com)