Europe news & analysis

Waitrose has revealed that strong performance at its northern stores was a key factor driving its strong first quarter trading. Waitrose 'well liked in the North' Commenting on regional variations in sales, Managing Director Mark Price said "We are seeing strong double-digit growth throughout the country, our northern stores are actually performing better than our southern stores." He added t...

.style1 { border-width: 0; } Speaking at IGD's Symbol Summit, Booker announced it is to launch a new discount focused convenience store package, bringing a unique value focus to the symbol sector. 75% of products on permanent promotion Booker will launch this new symbol group alongside its Premier brand, allowing the independent operator to compete against the rise in discounters. The...

Belgium-based Delhaize has stated that in its first quarter it had enjoyed revenue growth of 2.1% at identical exchange rates, aided by growth in its home market. Retailer enjoys ‘strong first quarter’ In its first quarter, Delhaize said that revenues had risen by 1.5% and 2.1% at actual and identical exchange rates, respectively, to €5.5 billion, while like-for-like growth was 3.8%. The re...

Latest UK grocery market performance data from insights company Nielsen show that supermarket sales in the four weeks to 27 April fell by 1.4%, reflecting the impact of an earlier Easter this year. However, the latter two weeks of the period registered growth of +2.8% indicating a stronger underlying trend in the market. Share data shows Sainsbury's gaining ground The 12-week retailer market ...

Iceland has begun a trial of its new online shopping service from a small  number of stores in the North West, the North East, London and the South West. Developing existing services Iceland's online trial will offer shoppers next day delivery for free, for orders placed before 10pm with a minimum spend of £25. Iceland already offers shoppers next day delivery for purchases made in-store, w...

The latest figures from the British Retail Consortium Retail Sales Monitor indicate that UK sales fell by 0.6% in April.  However, this performance was significantly distorted by the timing of Easter, which this year fell a week earlier in March.  Like-for-like sales were down by 2.2%. Three month trend smoothes Easter-effects The 12-week performance data offers a better picture of the underl...

Sainsbury's has released a buoyant set of annual results for the year to 16 March 2013 with total sales (inc VAT) up 4.6% to £25.6bn. Total sales (inc.VAT, ex fuel) were up 4.3% and by 1.8% on a LFL basis. Excluding property disposals, underlying profits before tax rose 6.2% to £756m. Focus on food Key to the solid results has been the retailer's food first ethos and continuing investmen...

As Sainsbury's releases its annual results, which show continuing strong performance with like-for-like sales ahead by 1.8%, we reveal our key takeaways about the business and its strategy ahead. 1. Live Well For Less has underpinned recent success Sainsbury's Live Well For Less initiative defines its positioning and has chimed well with the sentiment of shoppers in what remain austere t...

Belgium-based Colruyt has announced plans to launch a new umbrella private label brand called ‘Boni Selection’. New brand to unify a number of private labels The retailer has said that ‘Boni Selection’ will replace more than 50 existing private label brands and will come with new, distinctive packaging and will stand for ‘ affordable, homely quality products ’. Colruyt went on to say that the...

Rewe has made two announcements regarding its operations in Austria. Billa expands presence of Regional Regal offer Rewe has said that has expanded the presence of its Billa Regional Regal regional shelves to all its stores in Austria. The range includes products from some 200 local producers from 25 regions, with the size of offer depending on the specific federal state in which a store is l...