France news 

As Carrefour prepares to re-enter Greece in partnership with a local company and expands its range of online services in France, amongst other developments, we round up news from the retailer. Carrefour to return to Greece with new franchisee Carrefour has partnered with locally based Retail & More, a subsidiary of technology distributor TeleUnicom, to re-enter the Greek market 10 years aft...

On 1 January 2022, France officially implemented a law which banned the use of plastic packaging for most fruit and vegetable products. We look at five implications and what we could see next. About France’s plastic ban The French government introduced the plastic ban as part of the French anti-waste law for a circular economy, which aims to reduce plastic consumption. The law is set to impro...

Variety discounter B&M has reported encouraging Christmas trading, with group sales essentially matching last year’s pandemic-elevated peak. Against a demanding 22.5% growth from a year ago, group sales for the third quarter (26 September – 25 December 2021) rose 0.1%, bringing the year-to date total over nine months to +0.9%. B&M now expects FY22 to be significantly ahead of analyst expectations...

As the channel continues to benefit from growing shopper interest, we look at developments in Sweden, France and the Netherlands. Axfood partners with online grocery retailer In Sweden, Axfood has partnered with online grocery retailer Mathem as the two parties look to create further synergies and build economies of scale. The strategic partnership will help the two develop their online off...

Belgium’s Colruyt saw flat sales in the first six months of its 2021/2022 financial year. While its revenue fell by 0.2% to €4.981 bn, the retailer reported its gross margin fell to 26.9%, down from 28.1% in the previous financial year. Market share remained stable after recent falls… Colruyt said its market share in Belgium remained stable at 31.0% at the end of the first half of its finan...

As Auchan looks to advance its local operations, we round up news from the retailer as it aims to support sustainable initiatives in France and drive ecommerce growth in Portugal and Russia. Auchan signs up to Planet-Score Environmental Labelling System Auchan has said it supports the launch of the Planet-Score environmental labelling system as part of the on-going expansion of environmenta...

Variety discounter B&M’s half year results for the 26 weeks to 25 September show a decline in performance from its Q1 sales. Key numbers: Group revenue £2,268m +1.2% year-on-year (+26.8% vs 2019 pre pandemic figures) Group adjusted EBITDA of £282.2m, representing growth of +86.4% vs H1 FY20 B&M UK revenue £1,909m +1.3% (+31.1% vs 2019) 14 gross new store openings (9 ...

Carrefour plans to become net zero by 2040, while Lidl Switzerland said it had reduced its carbon footprint by 11%. Furthermore, we look at retailers adopting the environmental labelling system, Planet-Score. Finally, Metro completed phase one of its food waste prevention initiative, with over 30 suppliers committing to the project. Carrefour sets carbon neutrality target Carrefour plans to...

Following on from its Digital Day announcement , we look at several developments, including its partnership with Meta, from Carrefour globally. Carrefour and Meta sign strategic partnership… Carrefour has signed a strategic partnership with Meta. The partnership will cover all its integrated countries and, therefore, will benefit operations in France, Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Italy, P...

As part of its Digital Day, Carrefour has said it is aiming ‘ to be a global leader in Digital Retail ’. The new digital strategy builds on the retailer’s 2018 aims, which have created a strong foundation on which to build. The retailer said the aim to be a global leader would be ‘ built on a ‘data-centric, digital-first’ approach ’. Targeting tripling of ecommerce GMV to €10 bn by 2026 Car...