Ireland: Lidl opens €100mln distribution centre in Newbridge
Supermarket group Lidl has opened its new €100mln distribution centre in Newbridge, County Kildare - its single biggest investment made by Lidl here since 2000. Lidl said the centre will deliver new cost efficiencies, which will benefit customers in the form of cost savings. From January, Lidl will cut prices on 500 products after a price reduction on over 250 products in the past six months. It said its new distribution centre's increased capacity means it can store 49mln products as a result of the streamlining of operations. Over 60% of these products will come from its network of Irish suppliers.
Source: rte.ie
China: Alibaba shares jump in blockbuster Hong Kong debut
Shares in Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba have surged in its Hong Kong trading debut in one of the year's most anticipated stock offerings. The firm, which is already traded in the US, raised around $11.3bln (£8.8bln) in its secondary listing. At the launch, Chairman Daniel Zhang cheered Alibaba's return to Hong Kong. The move is seen as a boost for the city amid fears that long-running protests have tarnished its reputation as a financial hub. In opening moves on Hong Kong's Hang Seng Index on Tuesday, Alibaba's stock jumped more than 6%.
Source: bbc.com
Malaysia: 7-Eleven’s profit up 10% year on year
7-Eleven Malaysia’s profit surged 10% year on year in the third quarter. Figures released by the firm showed sales growth of 4.5% during the quarter and a 5.1-percentage point improvement in gross profit margin. The firm opened 53 new stores during the period, taking the total network to 2382 stores. 7-Eleven Malaysia’s profit improvement looks set to continue in quarters. “We are confident that continuous implementation and improvement of our strategy roadmap in strengthening the key areas of assortment, supply chain, operational excellence, store base and digitally enabling the organisation will continue to deliver positive results despite challenging headwinds as we look forward to ensuring that 7-Eleven remains as Malaysian consumers' preferred convenience store brand”, said CEO Colin Harvey.
Source: insideretail.asia
Germany: Tegut in talks with Redos for Real hypermarket, report suggests
Supermarket chain Tegut is in talks with real estate investor Redos to acquire seven branches of Germany's Real supermarket chain, a report in Handelsblatt has revealed. For several months, Metro has been negotiating with Redos, which was chosen as the preferred bidder for the Real supermarkets. Redos expressed interest in acquiring 280 Real stores from the parent company, Metro. Germany's Edeka is also one of the bidders for the supermarket chain, the report said. According to the Federal Cartel Office, Germany's national competition regulator, it expressed interest in 87 Real stores.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Spar Colruyt Group to reopen two supermarkets in Belgium
Spar Colruyt Group will reopen two refurbished supermarkets, in Diest and Kalken in Belgium, on 28 November. The refurbished store in Diest has a sales area of almost 1,000 square metres and employs around 20 people. The fresh produce department has been modernised and expanded to offer products of better quality. Store owner, Filip Claes, said: "The reputation of our quality fresh produce reaches far beyond Diest. We wanted to further improve on that. That’s why we installed better equipment and increased the retail area".
Source: esmmagazine.com
UK: Morrisons partners with app to fight food waste
Morrisons offers food past its ‘best before’ date through the Too Good to Go app, which offers the food directly to customers. Customers will be able to use the free app to purchase the boxes of unsold fruit and veg, bakery and deli items worth at least £10 for £3.09. The contents of the boxes will be revealed when picked up from the local supermarket. All consumers need to do is download the app and browse local stores with food available. They can select a local store from which to purchase, pay through the app, and then collect their food from the store during the given collection window. The service has been trialled in a handful of stores and the supermarket giant will be making it available in all 494 of its stores nationwide from 26 November.
Source: talkingretail.com
Holland: Automated cashless Albert Heijn opens at Schiphol
Albert Heijn's experimental automated and cashless store is now standing at Schiphol. For the next two months, Schiphol visitors can "experience the speed and convenience of shopping without a cash register", the supermarket chain said. Albert Heijn first tested the automated cashless store at its head office in Zaandam. Customers scan their debit card to open the door. Inside the store they take the products they want, bag them and walk outside. The groceries picked are automatically registered and paid for. Customers have the option to check their purchases at the exit. The cashless store is now placed on Jan Dellaertplein in front of Schiphol Plaza. Albert Heijn opted for this location to continue testing due to the large number of passers-by. The store will be located at Schiphol until the end of January and is open daily from 8:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.
Source: nltimes.nl
Israel: Yochananof expands IPO to NIS 500mln
Demand for the supermarket chain's shares in the public stage of the offering totaled NIS 440mln (USD 127,058mln), of which only 10% was filled. The final results of food retail chain Yochananof's IPO, published late last week, show great success. Yochananof announced that demand for its shares had been high in the public stage of the offering, following strong demand in the stage for investment institutions. This demand enabled Yochananof to increase the size of its IPO from the planned NIS 460mln (USD 132,833mln), which had been guaranteed in the stage for institutions, to NIS 500mln (USD 144,384mln).
Source: en.globes.co.il
Germany: Rewe expands its package service
Customers of German supermarket Rewe can now choose from an even larger selection online to have it delivered with Rewe’s package service. They can order all kinds of private label products, durable foods and non-food items, all with no minimum order value. The online supermarket has expanded its assortment with thousands of articles, including durable products from its own brands ‘Rewe Bio’, ‘Rewe Beste Wahl’, ‘Rewe Feine Welt’ and ‘Rewe frei von’, as well as non-food items such as drugstore, cosmetics, kitchen and household goods.
Source: ecommercenews.eu
Amazon Fresh brings grocery delivery to Columbus
Amazon Fresh is rolling out one- and two-hour delivery in Columbus. Included with an Amazon Prime membership, Amazon Fresh provides shoppers with tens of thousands of Amazon items that are eligible for one- and two- hour delivery, from produce and groceries, to Amazon devices, electronics, health and personal care, home & kitchen, toys and more. Amazon customers who have already utilized grocery delivery though Whole Foods Market can start using the Amazon Fresh delivery service. First-timers have to request an invitation to shop Amazon Fresh or Whole Foods Market delivery at www.amazon.com/grocery, and will be notified when they can start shopping.
Source: columbusunderground.com
Amazon plans to open cashierless supermarkets, report says
E-commerce giant Amazon.com is planning to open cashierless grocery stores as it tests the use of its human worker-eliminating technology on a larger scale, Bloomberg reported, citing "a person familiar with the project". Amazon already employs the pricey "just walk out technology", which uses of a web of software and cameras to monitor and charge shoppers, at 21 Amazon Go stores across the country. Shoppers who've checked into the store with their Amazon app simply select what they want from shelves and leave without waiting in a line to check out, rendering human workers redundant. An Amazon spokesperson declined to comment on plans to open more cashierless supermarkets and pop-up stores. It might also license the technology to other retailers as soon as the first quarter of 2020, according to Bloomberg.
Source: cbsnews.com