UK grocers continue to post significant sales increases, Kantar data finds
The latest Kantar grocery market share data for the UK has shown that all major grocers are continuing to show strong sales growth, even as lockdown measures ease. According to the 12-week data to 14 June, the overall grocery market saw sales rise by 13.7%, with multiples up 12.8%. Of the major grocers, the Co-operative showed the strongest sales growth, of 34.5%, benefiting from its largely neighbourhood footprint, while online operator Ocado also saw sales surge, by 42.2%.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Finland: Retailer Kesko posts 3.9% decline in sales in May
Finland’s Kesko Group has posted a 3.9% decline in sales from continuing operations in May, amounting to €936mln. The company’s grocery trade division reported sales worth €458mln in this period, down 4.8% year-on-year. Sales in the building and technical trade division increased by 4.7% in comparable terms, amounting to €420.6mln. The company’s building and technical trade division, excluding speciality goods trade, witnessed a 4.6% comparable growth.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Latvia: Maxima launches mobile payment app
Maxima Latvia has launched, what it claims is, the first mobile payment app in Latvia, enabling consumers to pay for groceries from their phones. The app will provide shoppers with convenience and functionality and act as a digital wallet, adding the Paladies loyalty card to the platform. To use the app, shoppers can link their payment cards onto the app and scan a QR code at the checkout. A maximum purchase is set at €150 (US$168) for safety.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
Holland: Ahold Delhaize to enter strategic collaboration with Oliver Wyman
Ahold Delhaize announced that it has entered a strategic collaboration with Oliver Wyman to further strengthen the merchandising capabilities of its European brands in the areas of assortment optimization, pricing and promotions, by deploying Oliver Wyman’s Retail Elements tool suite. Retail Elements by Oliver Wyman is a suite of digital solutions that embed actionable analytics in workflows, allowing the Ahold Delhaize brands in Europe to make better and faster decisions on their assortments, pricing and promotions, freeing up time to serve customers and promote innovation.
Source: aholddelhaize.com
Australia: Woolworths underpayments blow out to $390mln; 1350 jobs to go
Woolworths has revealed it will face one-off costs of nearly $600mln this financial year after identifying another $75mln in staff underpayments, blowing the total cost of its wage scandal to $390mln and taking the shine off a bumper fourth-quarter sales update. The supermarket told investors it will spend a total of $185mln remediating workers in the 2020 financial year after identifying new payment shortfalls for its salaried staff at its ALH Hotels division, who were not paid in full compliance with the general hospitality industry award based on analysis of the 2018 and 2019 financial years. Another $176mln will be spent in redundancy costs for up to 1350 workers following the closure of 3 of the company's distribution centres in the NSW suburbs of Minchinbury, Yennora and Mulgrave, which will make way for 2 new automated centres Woolworths plans to build in Moorebank in southwest Sydney.
Source: smh.com.au
UK: 2/3 of consumers tried alternative to grocer since social distancing measures were implemented
Research released from Ensono, a leading hybrid IT service provider, shows that the coronavirus lockdown has caused most Brits to try different grocers, and that many consumers will continue to use these after lockdown. The survey of 2000 UK consumers by Ensono - which serves well-known brands in the food, grocery, and retail sectors in the UK - found that just over 6 in 10 (62%) have tried other grocers instead of their usual grocery provider during the pandemic. While 45% confirmed they have tried another tier one or tier two grocery brand, from Tesco to Aldi, 50% had tried food shopping at businesses other than the big grocers. As a result of the increased demand for digital grocery shopping and retail experiences, nearly 1 in 5 (20%) report trying a digital alternative, like HelloFresh or Oddbox. This increases to 1 in 4 (24%) among the Gen Z age group.
Source: retailtimes.co.uk
UK: Supermarket Morrisons calls in KPMG for board review
Big Four professional services firm KPMG has been tapped by the UK’s fourth largest supermarket chain to help review its corporate governance. The news comes following the exit of 2 of Morrisons’ non-executive directors, who both raised corporate governance complaints when they resigned. Morrisons is the 4th largest chain of supermarkets in the UK, and is headquartered in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England.
Source: consultancy.uk
Convenience grocery stores outperform as Britons shop local - Nielsen
Grocery sales at British convenience stores were up 17% year-on-year in the four weeks to June 13, ahead of the 14% growth in total grocery sales, as consumers in coronavirus lockdown prioritised shopping locally, industry data showed. Market researcher Nielsen said online shopping in lockdown also continued to be popular, with sales soaring 115% compared to the same period last year, and maintaining the 13% share of sales recorded in the previous 4-week period. Nielsen said the average spend per shopping visit across all formats was 20.32 pounds ($25.30), a decrease of 1.30 pounds compared to the previous 4 weeks. Over the 12 weeks to June 13, Iceland outperformed all other major UK grocery retailers with a 23.2% rise in sales year-on-year, thanks to a surge in demand for frozen food products during lockdown.
Source: reuters.com
Holland: Ahold Delhaize announces Jan Hommen to retire as Chairman of the Supervisory BoardAhold Delhaize announced that Jan Hommen will retire as Chairman and member of its Supervisory Board on December 31, 2020. The Supervisory Board has appointed Peter Agnefjäll as the new Chairman effective January 1, 2021. Effective immediately, Peter will serve as Vice Chairman to work with Jan to ensure a smooth transition.
Source: aholddelhaize.com
Unfair treatment of UK supermarket workers leads to ground-breaking legal claim
A ground-breaking legal case against the UK’s big supermarkets claims some of their employees are being treated unfairly, and as a result they should be entitled to billions in compensation and back pay. The case is being brought by leading Human Rights lawyers Leigh Day who are fighting to get equal pay for employees of Asda, the Coop, Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Tesco. The legal case against the supermarkets is based on the principle of equal pay for equal work which is protected in the 2010 Equality Act forcing all employers to pay the same to people who do similar jobs.
Source: coventrytelegraph.net
UK: Costcutter trying to improve deliveries and support growth categories
Costcutter Supermarkets Group is introducing a range of measures it claims are designed to improve its delivery on-time service for all retailers, support key growth categories, and reduce the group’s overall carbon footprint. To improve delivery times and maximise the efficiency of existing deliveries, the convenience symbol group is increasing the minimum order quantity for ambient products from 80 cases per order to 120 cases per order. It is also introducing a £55 (+VAT) charge for any retailer that does not use their delivery slot.
Source: kamcity.com
US: Why Twin Cities food co-ops haven't fared as well as supermarkets in pandemic
As COVID-19 took hold in the U.S., conventional supermarkets saw sales increase about 12% in April and in May, according to Supermarket News, a trade publication. Co-ops, on the other hand, experienced a 5.7% sales decrease nationally in April and a 1.4% decrease in May, according to Census.gov. Twin Cities co-ops fared better than their national cohorts, with a nearly 3% decrease in April and 1% sales increase in May, according to National Co-op Grocers in St. Paul.
Source: startribune.com
US: New research from FMI and Label Insight reveals omnichannel grocery shoppers see transparency as essential across in-store and online shopping channels
FMI - The Food Industry Association and Label Insight, the product transparency market leader, released the research report "Transparency Trends: Omnichannel Grocery Shopping from the Consumer Perspective". The 2020 research touts the rationale for how 81% of shoppers say transparency is important or extremely important to them both online and in-store. The analysis offers the leading considerations among consumers for how they define transparency when grocery shopping.
Source: prnewswire.com
US: Kroger Technology & Digital named to Computerworld's Top 100 Best Places to Work in IT
The Kroger Co. announced Kroger Technology & Digital has been named to Computerworld magazine's Top 100 Best Places to Work in IT for 2020. This marks the third consecutive year that Kroger's technology and digital team has been recognized by the annual list for having an innovative, industry-leading workplace culture. This year, Kroger ranks 51st among large companies.
Source: prnewswire.com
US: Industry calls for gov’t to address coin shortage
FMI - The Food Industry Association and the National Grocers Association (NGA) were among the retail trade associations to send a letter to the U.S. Department of the Treasury and the Federal Reserve, asking the federal policymakers to take swift action in response to a nationwide coin shortage caused by a decline in cash transactions for retail purchases amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Source: progressivegrocer.com