Switzerland: SPAR opens state-of-the-art forecourt store in Eschenbach
SPAR Switzerland opened a new SPAR Express store at the AVIA petrol station along the main road to Eschenbach in the canton of St. Gallen. The 100m2 store offers customers everything they need for daily top-up grocery shopping. The range focuses on a diverse selection of fresh foods, including fruit and vegetables, bread, dairy, and meat. Additionally, fresh cut flowers are available every day.
Source: spar-international.com
Dutch online turnover grew 23.6% in 2021
Dutch ecommerce businesses were able to increase their turnover with 23.6% when compared to 2020. While this turnover growth is higher than what physical stores achieved, it’s evident that the strong ecommerce growth in the country is slowing down. In comparison: in 2020 the online turnover growth was almost 44%. The data come from Statistics Netherlands that reports on yearly turnover growth in retail. According to the report, pure online players saw their revenue grow with 18.9% in 2021 when compared to the year before. Multi-channelers had a higher turnover growth, of 29.4%.
Source: ecommercenews.eu
Britain's Tesco calls time on 'Jack's' stores
Tesco, Britain's biggest retailer, said it would no longer operate stores under the low-cost "Jack's" brand, less than 5 years after it established the format amid much fanfare. The group launched Jack's, named after Tesco's founder Jack Cohen, in 2018 at a store in Chatteris, eastern England, as part of its centenary celebrations.
Source: reuters.com
UK: Asda to trial digital ID at self-checkouts
Asda has announced it will be the 1st supermarket to trial an automated age verification solution at self-checkouts which aims to make it easier and quicker for customers using this facility. From this week, customers in Asda’s Pudsey and Stevenage stores can use privacy preserving age estimation technology when purchasing alcohol, which works via a camera in the self-checkout screen to accurately estimate a customer’s age.
Source: corporate.asda.com
China: JD.com’s App hosted 69.1bln interactions and gifted $240mln during the Spring Festival Gala 2022
A total of 1.5bln RMB ($240mln USD) worth of virtual red envelopes and physical gifts were handed out amid 69.1bln times of interactions in JD’s App during this year’s Spring Festival Gala television program, marking the highest amount of giveaways in the nationally popular show’s interactive campaign history. JD.com is the exclusive interactive partner of this year’s gala held by China Media Group. JD Cloud, the cloud computing service under JD Technology, successfully handled the tremendous traffic peak to ensure a smooth red-envelope-grabbing experience during the show.
Source: jdcorporateblog.com
"Colruyt is cheaper than Dutch and French supermarkets"
Belgian customers no longer need to cross the border to get the cheapest shopping basket, claims Colruyt: the discounter claims to be cheaper than Dutch competitors such as Jumbo and Albert Heijn or French rivals like E. Leclerc and Auchan.
Source: retaildetail.eu
Russia: Mercury Retail hits 15,000th store milestone
Russian convenience operator Mercury Retail Group has announced the opening of its 15,000th store. The group hit the milestone with the opening of 9 new stores, bringing the total selling space across the Mercury Retail estate to more than 1.1mln square metres.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Japan: Seven & i to sell department store unit, Nikkei reports
Japanese retailer Seven & I Holdings Co Ltd is in final negotiations to sell its department store unit Sogo & Seibu, the Nikkei business daily reported, amid investor pressure to focus on its core convenience store business. Investment funds and companies are expected to be among the potential bidders with negotiations on price to begin this month, Nikkei reported without citing sources. Seven & I said in a statement that while it is considering changes to its business portfolio, including selling shares of Sogo & Seibu, nothing has been decided yet.
Source: reuters.com
US: NGA offers data analytics tool to independent grocers
The National Grocers Association aims to help independent supermarkets keep abreast of market trends and spur sales through a partnership with grocery retail and wholesale solutions specialist BRdata. A new cloud-based tool called NGA Independent Insights powered by BRdata gives grocers a nationwide view of product and category trends among independents, enabling them to see which trending items they are underselling or not selling as well as which of their categories that are underperforming, NGA said.
Source: supermarketnews.com
US: FBFK Law Firm completes record $1.3bln industry deal merging meal kit leader Sunbasket with Keto lifestyle company Prüvit
In the largest meal kit industry merger to date, Dallas-based FBFK Law Firm announced it has completed a $1.3bln transaction merging at-home meal kit industry leader Sunbasket with Prüvit Ventures, a leading ketogenic lifestyle company, to provide consumers with at-home, fully ketogenic meal kits. The transaction was an all-stock deal, with Sunbasket and Prüvit becoming wholly owned subsidiaries of PSB Holdings, a new holding company.
Source: businesswire.com
US: Schnuck Markets expands Deli Order Ahead
Schnuck Markets has expanded its Deli Order Ahead program with the addition of touchscreen kiosks at another 30 stores. The self-service kiosks enable shoppers to order sliced meat and cheese, salads and prepared foods without having to wait on line at the deli counter, St. Louis-based Schnucks said. After entering their smartphone number, customers receive a text when their order is ready. The text tells them to pick up their order at the cooler next to the kiosk.
Source: supermarketnews.com
US: Tops holding Olympic Games for produce
In honor of the Winter Olympics taking place in Beijing, associates at Tops Markets LLC are holding their own games - in the produce department. During the next several weeks, associates across the grocer’s 3-state Northeast market area will go for the gold in a produce-themed Olympics. The Tops Produce Olympics will pit store teams against one another in such categories as the Peelz Mandarin Moguls Event, the Idaho Potato Lovers Luge Event, the Bob Sledding with Berries Event, and the Speed Skating with Seedless Grapes Event. Teams will earn points for the creativity of their produce displays as well as their ability to boost consumer awareness of the importance of eating more fruits and vegetables.
Source: progressivegrocer.com
US: Associated Wholesale Grocers and IRI partner to launch AWG Partner Gateway
Associated Wholesale Grocers, Inc. (AWG), the nation’s largest cooperative food wholesaler to over 1,100 independent companies and over 3,200 supermarket locations in 28 states, and IRI®, a fast-growing global technology leader in innovative solutions and services for consumer, retail and media companies, announced a strategic partnership to launch AWG Partner Gateway, a portal to enable integrated and seamless collaboration between AWG members and their vendor partners using IRI Liquid Data® technology.
Source: businesswire.com
US: SpartanNash offers free online delivery incentive
SpartanNash corporate-owned supermarkets are offering free online grocery delivery for Fast Lane orders during February. The Grand Rapids, Michigan-based grocery distributor/retailer said that all online Fast Lane orders of more than $35 won’t carry a delivery charge starting February 1. The free home delivery promotion will be available for a limited time, with the discount included automatically at checkout.
Source: supermarketnews.com