US: Sprouts sticks to game plan in lapping Q1 pandemic impact
Cycling COVID-fueled gains from a year ago, Sprouts Farmers Market posted decreased sales and earnings for its fiscal 2021 first quarter but topped Wall Street’s per-share projections. For the quarter ended April 4, net sales declined 4.3% to $1.58bln from $1.65bln a year earlier, Sprouts reported. The Phoenix-based specialty grocer said a solid performance by new stores helped drive sales, offset by a 9.4% drop in comparable-store sales stemming from the onset of COVID-19 a year ago.
Source: supermarketnews.com
US: Southeastern Grocers primes Winn-Dixie for expansion
Southeastern Grocers (SEG) took the first step in its store upgrade and expansion plan for 2021. Jacksonville, Florida-based SEG opened a new Winn-Dixie supermarket in Viera, Florida, converted from 1 of 4 locations acquired last year from bankrupt Earth Fare. With the new store, SEG said it’s on track to have remodeled 70% of all its locations by the end of this year.
Source: supermarketnews.com
US: Uber partners with Gopuff to support development of super app
Uber and Gopuff have announced a strategic partnership to provide a solution for everyday essentials through Uber Eats. Gopuff provides on-demand delivery of household products, medication, food and drink in over 650 cities across the US. It operates more than 250 micro-fulfilment centres to fulfil orders. In 2020, Gopuff increased the number of micro-fulfilment centres it operates by almost 80%.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
Nearly 1 in 3 new stores opening in the US is a Dollar General
About 45% of the 3,597 store openings that large retail chains in the United States have announced so far this year are from Dollar General, Dollar Tree and Family Dollar, according to the latest figures from Coresight Research, a firm that aggregates the numbers from company filings and press releases.
Source: edition.cnn.com
Amazon blocked 10bln listings in counterfeit crackdown
Amazon, which has been under pressure from shoppers, brands and lawmakers to crack down on counterfeits on its site, said that it blocked more than 10bln suspected phony listings last year before any of their offerings could be sold. The numbers were released in Amazon’s first report on its anti-counterfeiting efforts since it announced new tools and technologies in 2019. The number of suspected bad listings that it blocked last year was up about 67% from the year before.
Source: abcnews.go.com
Canada: Giant Tiger plans to increase store count to 300
Giant Tiger Stores Ltd. is planning to expand its footprint as demand for discount products surges amid the pandemic. The retailer has plans to increase its store count to 300 across the country, up from its current 259 locations, and is investing upgrades for both e-commerce and stores. "Our bricks and mortar coverage of the country still trails the pack a little bit", said Paul Wood, a veteran company executive who was appointed president and CEO of Giant Tiger last fall.
Source: canadiangrocer.com
India: Zomato to invest $100mln in Grofers to back grocery delivery ambitions
Food delivery giant Zomato may invest $100mln in online grocery startup Grofers after talks of a possible merger between the two fell through last year. IPO-bound Zomato’s investment is likely part of a larger financing round and may value the Gurugram-based online grocery firm at around $1bln, sources told ET, which first reported the development.
Source: inc42.com
Poland: Dino Polska sees 24.3% growth in revenue in first quarter
Polish retailer Dino Polska has reported 24.3% year-on-year growth in revenue to PLN2.76bln (€600mln) in its first quarter, driven by like-for-like sales growth and the expansion of its store network. EBITDA for the quarter increased 27.7% year-on-year to PLN243mln, while EBITDA margin increased 0.2 percentage points to 8.8%.
Source: esmmagazine.com
UK: Pandemic year brings about huge growth for online grocery
AHDB reported: "Online grocery shopping was growing in popularity prior to COVID-19, but the pandemic has brought about a huge acceleration in growth for food and drink online. With online grocery sales reaching £18bln in 2020, online share of total grocery in 2020 even exceeded IGD’s pre-COVID forecasts for 2024, reaching 8.8% in 2020, when their previous forecasts in 2019 anticipated a 7.7% share by 2024".
Source: ahdb.org.uk
Australia: Woolworths to go ahead with spin-off of drinks and hospitality unit
Australia’s biggest supermarket chain Woolworths Group said it would press ahead with the separation of its drinks and hospitality business which was shelved last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The company initially announced plans to demerge Endeavour Group, formed by restructuring its drinks business and combining it with its hotels unit, in July 2019.
Source: reuters.com
Taking centre stage - examining Europe's Top 10 Discounters
New research from IGD has shown that the discount channel will account for 43% of retail growth across Europe and will add €34bln in sales from 2020 to 2022. Discount is the second-largest and fastest-growing grocery retail channel in Europe and while it has been consistently gaining share in recent years, shoppers increased focus on value, accelerated by COVID-19 and the advancement of developing markets in Eastern Europe, see the channel taking centre stage across the region.
Source: esmmagazine.com
UK: Morrisons sees sales growth slow due to tough comparatives
UK supermarket Morrisons has reported a sharp slowdown in quarterly sales growth, due to tough comparatives with the corresponding quarter last year, which saw the first COVID-19 lockdown. Morrisons said like-for-like sales, excluding fuel, rose 2.7% in the 14 weeks to May 9, its fiscal first quarter - ahead of analysts' average forecast of up 1.6% but down from growth of 9.0% in the previous quarter.
Source: esmmagazine.com