Coronavirus (COVID-19):
latest news from around the world

In an unveiling a major transformation plan, Kraft Heinz is adopting a new strategy, approach and operating model. We highlight some of key changes it has planned, including a shift from a category approach to consumer-driven platforms. Scale and agility Having been appointed last year, Miguel Patricio, CEO, has undertaken a significant review of the business. This has enabled it to identif...

Following a pilot programme, Sam’s Club is rolling out Scan & Go for fuel purchases. National roll-out by the end of the year Scan & Go has been hugely popular with Sam’s Club members, with usage increasing significantly since the start of the pandemic. Member adoption rate has doubled over the past 12 months. The retailer is building on this with a mobile pay-at-the-pump experience than br...

Following a successful trial, Tesco has teamed up with social enterprise and food sharing app OLIO to help reduce food waste in stores and feed more people in crisis. The new partnership builds on Tesco’s existing food surplus donations programme, including its Community Food Connection scheme with FareShare, through which 2 million meals per month are donated to food charities across the UK. ...

Co-op have announced interim results for the first half of 2020* showing a 7.6% increase on last year.  This puts the retailer ahead of the forecasted 6.8% growth for the total UK food and grocery market in 2020 according to IGD's lastest channel forecasts . * 26 weeks to 4 July 2020 Highlights Revenue up 7.6%, driven by food and wholesale businesses Significant increase in co...

The Grocer magazine has reported that Iceland has launched a trial to bring Bargain Booze branded concessions into its Food Warehouse stores, to boost alcohol ranges and bring greater focus to the offer. Extends Food Warehouse alcohol range to 1,000 lines The trial stores at Cheltenham, Poole and York now have dedicated Bargain Booze sections comprising 1,000 lines, more than doubling the e...

South Korea’s largest health and beauty chain is preparing for an IPO (Initial Public Offering) in 2021, with the aim to join the stock market in 2022. A move to drive future growth Koo Chang-geun, CEO of Olive Young, in his letter to employees said the company will start preparing for an IPO next year with the aim to list on the stock market in 2022. CJ Group, the parent company of Oliv...

We explore the latest updates from German drugstore operators: Dm, Rossmann and Muller on their sustainability and digitalisation developments.    Dm and Rossmann partner with Henkel to test refill stations Dm and Rossmann are piloting refill stations of Henkel’s new brand- Love Nature. Customers can refill laundry detergents and dishwashing detergents from participating stores. The refill ...

Waitrose's revenue grew 8.3% to £3.4bn in the first half of the year to 25th July 2020, alongside double digit profit growth. However, John Lewis' negative sales and profit performance continue to have a dilutive impact on the Partnership's results. Robust grocery performance Waitrose's like-for-like sales rose 9.6%, whilst the retailer also reported a healthy trading profit improvement of ...

Vancouver-based Food X Technologies has signed a strategic partnership with Carrefour Group to accelerate the retailer’s ecommerce capabilities. Integration of Food X technologies by mid-2021 The partnership with Food X Technologies has been formed to support Carrefour in increasing the productivity and profitability of its ecommerce operating systems while enhancing its digital customer e...

Sainsbury's has announced that Argos customers will now receive Nectar points for purchases made at Argos in-store and online. Previously customers could only collect points if they placed an Argos order online. Now they will automatically collect points for purchases made in-store as well. To launch the scheme double points will be offered on all purchases for a limited period (September 18th - ...

Amazon has rolled out its Prime membership service in Turkey, as it looks to further develop its offer in the market. Increasing loyalty Amazon launched in Turkey in 2018, offering products across a range of categories including electronics, personal care, baby, home, computer and office, and books. Amazon has now launched its Prime membership service in the market, giving customers access ...

Morrisons has announced the appointment of Rachel Eyre as its new chief customer and marketing officer. She will will join Morrisons from Sainsbury's in early 2021, taking over the role from Andy Atkinson who was promoted to group commercial director earlier this year. Eyre's role will cover customer insight and marketing including advertising, in-store and targeted marketing. She will also ...

Pan Pacific International’s Don Don Donki plans to open its first store in Taiwan. Progressive expansion across Asia The first Don Don Donki store in Taiwan will be located in Taipei’s Ximending business district. The company has been advertising to recruit new employees on local recruitment websites. However, it has not confirmed the address of the store nor an expected launch date. Donki ...

Big C's sales declined by 6% year-on-year for the half of the year, as non-food retail areas were closed and hours were limited due to night-time curfew. The retailer is making plans for the future to return to growth and prevent further business disruptions. Strategies for adapting to new normal The retailer has listed four priorities for growth post the crisis: Product assortment: f...

Mobile World Corporation, which operates a chain of convenience stores called Bach Hoa Xanh, will partner farmers to grow clean and vegetables for sale at its stores. 4K Farm project with experts The retailer will invest in a model of growing clean vegetables in 4K Farms with four criteria: No pesticides No growth agents No preservatives No genetically modified varieties ...

Tesco launches new Clubcard Prices campaign and extends Aldi Price Match Tesco has stepped up actions to appeal to price sensitive shoppers with a new Clubcard Prices campaign and the extension of Aldi Price Match to more products. Up to 50% off selected brands through Clubcard Prices From today, exclusive 'Clubcard Prices' will be automatically offered to customers with Clubcard account...

The leading US food retailer, HEB, is partnering with Swisslog to deploy several automated micro fulfillment centres (MFC) to support its curbside pick-up and delivery business. Rapidly increasing interest in MFC Interest in MFCs continues to grow in the US, with several retailers partnering with a range of startups and established companies to test and deploy. Takeoff Technologies has emer...

Market growth once again slowed in this reporting period as shoppers continued to return to their pre-Covid behaviours, and many stopped shielding. In the 12 weeks ending 6th September take home grocery sales grew by 10.8%, according to Kantar. This was the fifth month to see double digit growth, however was a slowdown compared to the 14.4% growth seen in the previous reporting period. We l...

Africa-based pure ecommerce retailer Jumia has announced new partnerships in Uganda and Kenya, while rolling out services to make it easier for shoppers to buy from it in Ghana. Jumia expands pick up stations’ presence in Ghana As it looks to make using its services as easy as possible and as it looks to benefit from the uptick in shopper interest in ecommerce in the region as a result of C...

As Carrefour continues to drive change across its operations in Europe, we round up developments from France, Belgium, Italy, Poland, and Spain. Carrefour France enjoyed a good summer In an interview with local trade publication LSA, the managing director of Carrefour France, Rami Baitiéh, discussed the retailer’s performance over summer 2020, given the challenging operating environment. Ba...