August 21 – Chinese Online Retailer Pindoudou Announces First Quarter Growth
Strong second quarter growth with increase in revenue of 67% year-on-year was announced by Chinese online retailer, Pindoudou. The retailer credits growth with increased active monthly users which reached 568.8 million for the quarter, representing a 55% increase over last year. From Pindoudou Inc
August 21 – SPAR Switzerland Adds Fully Electric Truck to Its Fleet
As a step toward one of SPAR Switzerland’s declared objectives of reduction in pollution emissions and heavy traffic, the retailer has added a fully electric vehicle to its fleet. The truck with transport products, emission-free and nearly silently, from the distribution center to several regions served by the retailer in Switzerland. From SPAR International
August 21 – Walmart’s Flipkart Partners with Ecommerce Site in Nepal
In a partnership which will avail hundreds of thousands of Flipkart sellers access to the ecommerce market in Nepal, Walmart-owned Flipkart has entered into a partnership in India with Nepal’s Sastodeal. Flipkart’s private label products in addition other sellers’ products will be listed on the Sastodeal platform, focused on categories including electronics, home appliances, home décor and furnishings. From ET Retail
August 20 – Polish Convenient Store Opens 100 Stores in July
Zabka, the largest convenient store chain in Poland, opened 100 new stores in July. The retailer has almost 6300 outlets throughout their franchisee network in Poland. Article in Polish From Wiadomości Handlowe
August 20 – Australia’s Bunnings and Officeworks Drive Strong Performance
Wesfarmers-owned Bunnings and Officeworks has reported favorable FY20 results due to strong performances in its retail division. Strong performances include double-digit increases in sales and earnings at Bunnings and Officeworks and revenue growth at Kmart Group, despite the impact of the loss-making Target chain. From Inside Retail
August 20 – Alibaba Announces Strong Q1 Performance
With Alibaba’s year-on-year revenue growth of 34% and Tmall’s gross merchandise value growth of 27% for the quarter ending June 30, the retailer sites consumer packaged goods (CPG) as one of their rapidly growing categories. Active users on the retailer’s marketplaces reached 742 million, increasing 16 million from the year ending March 31, 2020. From Alibaba Group
August 20 – Primark Enters Poland
Ireland’s fashion department store, Primark, has opened its first store in Poland, representing its thirteenth market. The retailer currently has 382 stores and opened its first store in Central/Eastern Europe in 2019 with an outlet in Slovenia. Primark has additional stores openings planned through 2022 in Eastern Europe. From Retail Gazette
August 18 – India’s Reliance Retail Acquires Pharmacy Marketplace
Reliance Retail has acquired 60% share of pharma marketplace Netmeds’ parent company, Vitalic. The aim of the acquisition by India’s largest retail group is to expand into categories which compete more closely with Amazon. The newly acquired marketplace serves 5.7 million consumers in more than 670 cities and online. From Tech Crunch
August 18 – Falabella Reports Online Sales Growth
LATAM retailer, Falabella reports online sales growth of 24% in Q1, driven by Falabella.com in Chine and Linio at a regional level. Department store revenues fell 15.6% over the quarter, while home improvement revenues fell 7.6%, while supermarkets’ revenues had a zero variation in the quarter. Peru’s consolidated revenues grew 11.4% in Q1, driven by supermarket sales increases of 30.8%. In Colombia, revenues increased by 8.0% during Q1, compared to the same period of last year. Argentina showed a 5.1% drop in revenues during Q1. In Brazil, sales grew 2.1% in Q1, driven by the growth of the online channel. From Falabella
August 18 – Walmart’s Asda’s Grocery Sales Double in Q2
Asda, Walmart’s UK subsidiary, reported record online Q2 sales, with online grocery sales doubling and click and collect sales quadrupling. Data revealed that many of these sales were from customers new to shopping at the retailer. Asda has increased its online capacity by 65% since March. From Asda
August 17 – Thailand Central Retail Bounces Back
Thailand’s Central Retail announced that sales in its home and offshore markets have started to bounce back to pre-COVID-19 levels, following a loss of USD 80.7 million in the June quarter. Despite being closed more than 46 of the 91 days in the second quarter, the quarterly revenue was down only 21% year-on-year. The company’s investment to an online model has paid off, allowing a migration to ecommerce during the time of the shutdown. From Inside Retail
August 17 – JD.com Announces Increase in Net Revenue for Q2
JD.com has announced net revenue for Q2 totaled USD 28.5 billion, up 34% from Q2 2019, driven by an increase of 30% in number of active users to 417. 4 million and an expansion of daily active mobile users of 40% in one year. The online retailer also announced record sales during the 8.8 shopping festival. From JD.com
August 17 – Spain’s El Corte Inglés to Close, Restructure or Transform 25 Stores
With an objective of resource optimization and reduction in debt, El Corte Inglés has planned the closure, sale or transformation of 25 stores. The retailer has suffered greatly from the COVID-19 pandemic. Article in Spanish From Peru Retail
August 16 – John Lewis to Close 8 Stores
UK retailer has announced the closure of 8 of its department stores. John Lewis confirmed that these stores were facing difficulties prior to the COVID-19 pandemic and that the closures were inevitable. From Retail Gazette
August 13 – Walmart Canada Breaks Ground on New Distribution Center
Walmart Canada has broken ground on what will be a next generation distribution center measuring 555,000 square feet. The Ontario-based distribution center is slated to be operational in 2024 and will be capable of handling the highest volume of product of any Walmart facility in Canada. From Walmart Canada
August 11 – UK’s Debenhams to Cut 2500 Jobs
Adding to the 4000 job cuts announced since May, UK department store, Debenhams plans to cut 2500 more jobs, equaling two-thirds of its employees. The cuts are to be made through UK stores and distribution center, but the retailer said no additional stores are planned to be closed above the 20 stores closed earlier in the year due to the pandemic. From BBC
August 10 – SPAR Plans Expansion in Africa
Marking its eleventh market in Africa, SPAR plans expansion into the Republic of Ghana with the conversion of 17 existing supermarkets in and around the capital city of Accra. Current turnover from SPAR outlets in Africa accounts for 16% of SPAR International’s global turnover.From SPAR International
August 10 – Amazon India Reaches a Million Prime Members
Four years after launching Prime membership in India, Amazon has reached one million prime subscribers to the service, costing just over USD 13 per year. During the recent Prime Day in India, 91,000 sellers sold to buyers across 97% of the country. Amazon has recently announced a future investment of USD 1 billion in India to digitize local, small businesses. From Tech Crunch
August 9 – MercadoLibre Becomes The Most Valuable Company in Latin America
Due to the recent events of COVID-19, MercadoLibre has become the most value company in Latin America. Between February and mid-May, MercadoLibre has registered purchase order growth of more than 100% over the same period last year in Chile, Colombia and Mexico, with an increase of 52% in Argentina and 39% in Brazil. The number of buyers on the site has increased 45% from February to mid-May to 5 million. Article in Spanish From América Retail
August 7 – Australia/New Zealand’s Kmart Transfers Former Target Stores in K Hub Stores
After Westfield, parent company of Target (Australia) announced the closure of many underperforming Target stores, the retail group has unveiled three stores under the K Hub banner in former Target stores in Victoria, Australia. K Hub will offer a curated collection of products aimed for smaller format stores. From Inside Retail
August 6 – Canadian Tire Announces Sales Growth in Second Quarter
Canadian Tire announced sales growth of 20.3% in sales for the second quarter, ending June 27. This represents an increase of nearly CAD600, despite temporary closure of stores due to COVID-19, the retailer saw ecommerce sales surge. From Canadian Tire
August 6 – Action BV Expands in Poland
Non-foods discounter, Action BV, has recommenced its expansion plans in the Polish market, with the plans to open an additional twelve stores, adding to its current store count of 69 stores. The retailer is focusing on central and southern Poland in 2020. From Kantar Retail IQ
