To follow is a brief review of retail news from around the world:
March 19 – Alibaba’s New App Focuses on Discounted Products
The new App features products that sell below 19.9 yuan (˜US$3). This “Taobao Special Offer Edition” offers products across a large range of categories, including food, clothing and electronics accessories and includes delivery in the cost of the featured items. From South China Morning Post
March 19 – Dutch Online Supermarket Expands to Germany
Dutch Online Supermarket, Picnic, will expand slowly into four regions in Germany followed by a fifth region after its initial launch. Picnic uses small, electric cars to deliver grocery orders and is able to do so without a delivery fee for a minimum order of €25 and keep prices low as a result. From E-Commerce News
March 19 – SPAR Announces Entry into Greece’s Grocery Sector
The Dutch retail group plans to open its first ten stores by July, stating that it aims to run this project as a modern cooperative network of independent retail stores in Greece. From Retail Detail
March 19 – UK’s John Lewis Partnership Announces Newest Store Will Bring Customers a New Level of Customized Shopping
This newly opening John Lewis store, located in West London, will offer customers more than 20 new in-store services to enhance their shopping experience, including a large focus on Smart Home offerings. From Housewares Live
March 19 – Auchan Launches New Payment App in Italy
AuchanSpeedy app, allows customers of Auchan’s loyalty program in Italy to scan products in-store and pay for them on their phone. The aim is to provide additional payment options for customers. From European Supermarket Magazine
March 17 – Australian Conglomerate Wesfarmers Spins Off Coles
The largest company, Wesfarmers, has announced that it will spin off supermarket Coles as it has indicated that the retailer does not have the earning potential that it would require to retain the Coles chain. From News.Com.Au
March 16 – France’s Supermarket Chain, Leclerc, Has Launched Home Delivery and Click and Collect to Compete in Paris
With over 680 stores throughout France, Leclarc has taken aim on gaining sales in the Paris, where its efforts are not currently concentrated. The retailer anticipates needing three years to become competitive against rivals Carrefour and Casino. From Reuters
March 14 – Costco Explores Grocery Delivery in Canada
After success a late 2017 launch of US delivery service late last year, Costco is now considering taking the service into Canada. The retailer is looking at sites from which they can fulfil fresh grocery orders. From Huffington Post
March 14 – UK Supermarket Chain, Morrisons, Saw 16.9% Increase in Bottom Line Profits in 2017
Morrisons’ pre-tax profits increased by 9.5 per cent to £374million, while like-for-like sales grew by 2.8 per cent. In the final quarter of 2017, the supermarket’s sales rose by 2.6 per cent, including a 2 per cent increase in online and store-based sales. From This is Money
March 13 – Romanian Supermarket Chain, Mega Image, Opened a New Concept Store in the City Center of Bucharest
Part of Belgian-Dutch Ahold Delhaize, Mega Image has focused on modern, shopping enhancing features, without making compromises to its value proposition. The retailer hopes to maintain Forbes’ recognition as Romania’s “coolest retail brands”. From Retail Detail
March 8 – India’s Flipkart Plans Country’s Largest Logistics Park near Bengaluru
The proposed project will house multiple massive warehouses that will rival in size those set up by Amazon and Alibaba in the US and China, respectively. The planned 4.5 million square feet of warehouse space will allow for Flipkart to consolidate all of their warehouses around Bengaluru. From Business Standard
March 8 – UK’s John Lewis Partnership Faced Difficult 2017
As the retailer’s 2017 profits fell 21.9% to £289.2 million, John Lewis opted to decrease its annual staff bonuses. Gross sales for the 2017 were up 2% at £11.6 billion, but the retailer was faced with exceptional costs of £111.3 million, including £72.8 million on restructuring and redundancy costs, principally in relation to brand, distribution and retail operations. From BBC
March 7 – Amazon.com Begins Discussions in Brazil
Amazon.com met with suppliers in Brazil last week to discuss plans to stock and sell products across multiple categories in Brazil. Currently Amazon.com acts as marketplace for third-party sellers in Brazil, where e-commerce represents only 5% of Brazil’s $300 billion retail market. From Reuters
March 5 – Thailand’s Leading Retail Group Aims to Double Sales in Next 5 Years Targeting Online Growth
Thailand’s Central Group focusing a rapid expansion in e-commerce operations and possible mergers and acquisition. Earlier in in the year, Central introduced their online tool, Central On Demand and plans to supplement sales at its 4,970 stores in 38 provinces throughout Thailand with online expansion. From Nikkei Asian Review
March 5 – Spain’s El Corte Inglés & Russia’s DIXY Group Introduce Alipay to Attract Business From Chinese Tourists and Students
El Corte Inglés plans to introduce Alipay to all of its department stores throughout Europe. Meanwhile, DIXY Group plans to roll out the technology at 150 of their stores, trying to take advantage of the 520 million consumers using Alipay as their primary payment method. From European Supermarket Magazine & European Supermarket Magazine
March 5 – Dubai’s Lulu Group Plans to Establish Central Logistics Hub at Dubai Wholesale City
With 144 hypermarkets and shopping malls across the region and identified as one of the top 50 fastest growing retailers globally, Lulu Group is establishing this logistics hub to help integrate services that will contribute to the expansion of the group’s offerings and keep up with customer demand. From Images Retail ME
March 2 – JD.com Announces Fourth Quarter and Full 2017 Results
JD.com posted a 38.7% forth quarter increase in net revenues over same period in 2016, with year-on-year net revenues increasing 40.3% from 2016 to $55.7 billion. From JD.com
The International Business Council is a special interest group of IHA members, dedicated to helping its membership market and sell their products internationally by sharing information, providing networking opportunities and offering programs to assist, support, and educate. Membership is free to all regular, IHA members – visit the IBC website to learn more.
