UK: New rewards scheme for Best-one retailers
Best-one, the symbol group run by wholesaler Bestway, has launched a new initiative called Core Rewards that it claims will help its retailers make more money. The initiative is designed to increase retailers’ awareness of the key lines that tend to drive sales in a convenience store. It comprises a core product range and a rebate scheme and encompasses 232 products at launch. If retailers buy 75 percent of these core products, they will qualify for a financial rebate of up to 5 percent. The Core Rewards range spans categories including soft drinks, crisps and snacks, confectionery, alcohol, grocery, chilled and non-food.
Source: Talking Retail
CHINA: Suning to acquire all Guangzhou Circle K stores
Suning Xiaodian, the convenience store chain owned by Chinese retail giant Suning, has announced it is buying more than 60 Circle K outlets in Guangzhou province from Hong Kong’s Fung Retailing to further consolidate its position in South China. Fung Retailing will sell all its shares in subsidiary Liya South China Convenience Store to Suning Xiaodian, it was reported, without disclosing the investment amount. Suning Xiaodian is the Nanjing-based firm’s entry point to small-scale community shops. At present it has 6,000 outlets in over 70 cities, serving 35,000 communities and 120 million consumers.
Source: Asia Times
AUSTRALIA: Aldi growing three times as fast as competitors
Australian's top priorities in grocery shopping are convenience, quality and pricing – with the latter surprisingly coming in third. Dunnhumby’s latest Australian Grocer Retailer Preference Index found that Woolworths is the go to “one-stop shop” for wide product variety while rival Coles is the chosen grocery for promotions and rewards. However, discount grocer Aldi beats them both on price. Woolworths beats Coles as Australians’ preferred grocery retailer with an RPI score of 95 versus 91. However, Aldi is hot on the heels, described as an ‘accelerating threat’ with an RPI score of 69. The discount grocer is growing three times faster than its competitors, and can potentially double its market share in the next 10 years, according to Dunnhumby. It also reported that there are five primary customer pillars. These are convenience and quality; easy shopping experience; price; operations and drive time. It ranked the five retailers with Woolworths ahead of Coles. Aldi comes in third as the “dark horse in the race”, while IGA and 7-Eleven currently trailing.
Source: Inside FMCG
GERMANY: Aldi, Lidl and Co. to donate edible food
Consumer Protection Senator Cornelia Prüfer-Storcks (SPD) announced on Wednesday a Federal Council initiative that will oblige supermarkets such as Rewe and Edeka and discounters such as Aldi and Lidl to work with relief organizations and donate edible food. “The time of voluntary action is over,” said Prüfer Storcks. “It is now time for specific rules.” The initiative is oriented towards neighbouring countries such as France, Belgium, Italy or the Czech Republic, which are considered European pioneers in the fight against food waste. Currently, only 180 supermarkets in Hamburg cooperate with the local blackboard. If Prüfer-Storck’s initiative has a majority, supermarkets should expect sanctions for violations.
Source: International Supermarket News
INDIA: Reliance supermarket fined Rs 30,000 for selling expired goods
Sanitation staff of Siddipet Municipality imposed a fine of Rs 30,000 on Reliance Super Market for selling expired goods and rotten fruits and vegetables on Wednesday. With Commissioner K Srinivas Reddy getting a lot of complaints from customers, he instructed the sanitation staff led by Inspectors Satyanarayana, Nagesh, and Sathish to conduct raids on the store on Wednesday. Among other expired foods, they also found rotten fruits and vegetables. They warned the managers of the store that it would be seized if they continued to repeat the sale of rotten fruits and expired goods in the store. The Municipal Officials said that they would inspect the stores at regular intervals to check the goods.
Source: Telangana Today
US: FedEx to end ground delivery business with Amazon
FedEx will no longer make ground deliveries for Amazon as the online shopping giant builds its own fleet and becomes more of a threat to delivery companies. The announcement Wednesday comes two months after FedEx already terminated its air delivery contract with Amazon. FedEx said dumping Amazon is part of its plan to go after more e-commerce deliveries from other companies. Traditional retailers like Walmart and Target want to sell more of their goods online, which in turn allows FedEx to distance itself from Amazon.com without suffering the same competitive damage it might once have. At the same time, Amazon is growing its own fleet of air and ground transportation, giving it more control of how its packages are delivered while reducing its reliance on FedEx, UPS and the U.S. Postal Service.
Source: Lemon Wire
US: Walmart is coming for Amazon
Late last year, Walmart overtook Apple to became the third-largest online retailer in the US. Only Amazon and eBay are larger. Walmart is quickly growing its online presence by buying up smaller online retailers. Last quarter, Walmart’s online sales grew 43 percent. The company's annual online sales grew 40 percent in 2018 compared to 13 percent for Amazon. In the last 12 months, US online sales hit $527 billion, which is still only 10 percent of total US retail sales. In the next five years, US online sales are expected to grow over 50 percent. By 2024, they’re expected to make up 13 percent of total retail sales. Analysts believe that Walmart will eventually become the top online retailer due to its experience in the grocery business and its impressive growth figures.
Source: Investing.com
US: Big Y goes bagless
When checking out at Big Y stores and gas station convenience stores, customers will no longer be offered a single-use plastic bag to carry their items in. The decision to eliminate the use of plastic bags in stores and gas stations was announced in January, and initially scheduled to be in place by 2020. However, in July, the store announced its decision to get rid of the single-use bags in all stores earlier than expected, on Aug. 1. Instead of plastic bags, customers are encouraged to bring reusable bags to do their grocery shopping or can purchase a handled paper bag for 10 cents. It follows other stores that already do not carry plastic bags including Pride, Aldi, Price Rite, Costco and BJ’s, among many other smaller retailers. A statewide ban on plastic bags has been proposed for Massachussets, which would join California and Hawaii, which already have a ban in place.
Source: The Reminder
US: A grand reopening for Price Rite stores
As Price Rite Marketplace continues the rebranding initiative it launched last fall, five of the value grocery chain’s Connecticut locations celebrated grand reopenings this week. The company stated, "At the five Connecticut stores, Price Rite shoppers will see a revamped layout and brighter decor, including a market-style produce department with new LED lighting, vibrant color palettes and clear signage."
Source: Supermarket News
US: Kroger looking to hire 500 new employees this weekend
Kroger is looking to hire more than 500 new employees during a hiring blitz this weekend. In addition, The Kroger Co. of Michigan wil hire an additional 300 associates later in the year as new stores open in Warren and Sterling Heights. Applicants may apply online at www.jobs.kroger.com [jobs.kroger.com] and then visit any store on August 9 or 10 to participate in an interview. No appointment is necessary, but applicants must apply online before attending the hiring event. The Kroger Co. of Michigan presently employs over 18,000 associates and operates 120 Kroger stores plus the Michigan Dairy.
Source: WXYZ Detroit