Canadian retail sales bounce back as online shopping surges
Retail sales climbed for the seventh straight month in November as Black Friday deals and a rush to order online gifts early to avoid shipping delays pushed sales up 1.3% to $55.2bln, Statistics Canada said. But the federal agency's unofficial early estimate for December appeared to dampen the retail momentum. It said sales for the last month of 2020 - typically the peak of the holiday shopping season - potentially fell by as much as 2.6%.
Source: bnnbloomberg.ca
Canada: Empire to open seven more FreshCo stores
Empire has announced the next Safeway-to-FreshCo conversions. Seven Safeway locations - six in Alberta and one in Northern Ontario - will reopen under the company’s FreshCo discount banner in the second quarter of fiscal 2022, the company said in a press release.
Source: canadiangrocer.com
Russia: Lenta reports retail sales growth of 7.3% in FY2020
Russian retailer Lenta has posted retail sales growth of 7.3% to RUB438bln (€4.8bln) in full-year 2020. Despite changes in consumer behaviour due to the pandemic, the retailer saw an 11.6% growth in average ticket in hypermarkets as well as supermarkets. Sales in hypermarkets were up 7.1% year-on-year to RUB399bln (€4.4bln), while supermarket sales increased 9.3% to RUB38.2bln (€420mln). The company reported ‘strong’ like-for-like sales growth of 5.4% in its financial year 2020.
Source: esmmagazine.com
Poland: Carrefour launches initiative to prevent food waste
Carrefour Poland customers can find everyday items with short shelf lives at reduced prices in hypermarkets and supermarkets across the country, thanks to the retailer's new 'Stop Marnotrawstwu' (Stop Waste) initiative. The retailer will offer reductions of up to 90% in the special zones in stores dedicated to the initiative.
Source: esmmagazine.com
India’s online grocery market to grow 8 times in 5 years, JioMart to gain: RedSeer
With Reliance Retail's JioMart being the latest major entrant with a massive potential to disrupt the e-commerce space, the next big thing is the delivery of groceries online and the market size is estimated to grow eight times in the next 5 years in the country. As companies from Reliance to BigBasket put their top dollar in serving daily grocery at your doorsteps, online grocery is going to be the next battleground for growth, expanding to over $18bln by 2024. The eGrocery market has grown 60% from the calendar year 2020 and is expected to grow 41-49% by the first half of CY21, according to the latest data provided by homegrown consulting firm RedSeer.
Source: thenewsminute.com
German retail giant Lidl opens Baltic logistics center in Riga
Retailer Lidl opened a new logistics center on January 25 to serve the Baltic states in Riga. Located at 131 Dzelzavas Street, it will provide future Lidl stores in Latvia and Estonia with goods and products. At the opening of the logistics center Jakob Josefsson, Chairman of the Board of Lidl Latvija and Lidl Eesti said: “Last year was very significant for us - we completed the construction of this modern building and created over 1,200 new jobs throughout Latvia with our recruitment campaign. Opening the logistic center during this substantial global crisis demonstrates our dedication and will send an optimistic signal to our colleagues, future customers and to the society that we can successfully operate in these turbulent times and reach our goals”.
Source: eng.lsm.lv
Germany's Aldi Süd to close four regional companies risking 660 jobs: report
Aldi Süd is planning to close four regional companies in Germany over the next two years, according to a report in Rundschau.de. The move is part of the retailer’s plan to save costs by revamping its logistics network. Around 660 jobs will be lost as a result of these closures. Aldi Süd is striving to offer alternative employment to all employees affected by this decision, the report added.
Source: esmmagazine.com
UK: Waitrose ranked first for efforts to reduce plastics in Greenpeace report as it confirms latest plans for refillables test
Waitrose has ranked first in Greenpeace’s annual league table, for the second year in a row, which looks at how supermarkets are reducing use of single-use plastics. It also becomes the first supermarket to integrate its refillable range into the aisles as part of its ‘Waitrose Unpacked’ test.
Source: waitrose.pressarea.com
Getir raises $128mln for expansion into UK, France, Brazil and Mexico
Turkish on-demand rapid delivery company Getir announced it has secured $128mln for international expansion in a funding round. The funding round, led by venture capitalist Michael Moritz’s Crankstart Investments and Brazilian Base Partners, valued Getir at around $850mln. With this investment, Getir aims to expand internationally to offer its services initially in London, Sao Paolo, Mexico City and Paris.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com
Poland: SPAR opens two EUROSPAR supermarkets in Bydgoszcz
SPAR Poland has added two EUROSPAR stores in Bydgoszcz to its retail portfolio, bringing total store numbers in the market to 225. The new supermarkets are located in the city centre and offer customers a large variety of fresh food.
Source: spar-international.com
Aldi opens milestone 100th store in Italy
Discounter Aldi has reached the milestone of 100 stores in Italy. The retailer is now present in 6 regions of northern Italy: Trentino-Alto Adige, Piedmont, Lombardy, Veneto, Emilia-Romagna, and Friuli-Venezia Giulia, employing over 2,000 workers between its shops, offices, and logistics centres, located in Oppeano and Landriano.
Source: esmmagazine.com