Retail and consumer goods industry news

Acquiring the McColl's convenience business saw Morrisons gain almost 1,000 sites which it is steadily converting into its Morrisons Daily format. The goal is to have thousands of Morrisons Daily stores operating around the UK. Source: IGD Research: Strategic outlook for Morrisons Image source: Morrisons Daily LinkedIn Morrisons continues to secure new wholesale agreements and str...

I have the privilege of visiting stores in Thailand every year to see firsthand how they are evolving over time. In my last two visits, there is a growing use of digital screens in different parts of the stores. Some of these are being used to generate extra revenue for the retailer, while others are enabling communication with shoppers. 1. Tops: cross-channel marketing and shopper engagement ...

The supermarket channel faces tough market conditions over the next five years. The cost-of-living-crisis has seen shoppers turn to the discounters as they seek to stretch household budgets. Although food inflation has started to come down, it is expected to remain above recent historical levels into the first half of 2024. The discount and convenience channels will see their store footprints ...

Walmart has launched a Generative AI-powered feature, My Assistant, to its home office associates in the US. The launch of ChatGPT by OpenAI last November has popularised the technology and led to a wave of new developments in our industry. Multiple use cases My Assistant has been developed to free up teams from undertaking monotonous and repetitive tasks. Walmart sees significant potential...

I visited Aldi’s new store in Woking, its 1,000 th in the UK. Store 1,000 and more to come On 7 September 2023, Aldi welcomed its 1,000 th store to the UK, in the Lion Retail Park in Woking. The German discounter entered the market in 1990 and has risen to be the UK’s fourth largest grocery retailer in 2023, according to recent Kantar data . The discounter has also revealed its ambi...

Amazon has made headlines recently with a new store in Moorgate, a new fee for same-day deliveries in the UK, the end of its Amazon Shipping hiatus, and the opening of its long-awaited robotics fulfilment center in Tallahasse. The UK’s newest Fresh store has just opened in Moorgate Exactly one month after Amazon announced closures of three Fresh stores in London, Amazon Fresh opened its doo...

GS25 Music & Beer Festival just ended after touring four cities in Korea. Through combining with Korean popular culture, this retailer has successfully showcased their brand image and connections with the younger generation. In this article, we will delve into the key areas of inspiration it gave to fellow retailers and suppliers. What was the festival about? Since 2017, GS25 has been hosti...

Frictionless shopping company, AWM, has launched an online portal for companies to purchase a fully autonomous store. Container style stores ready to go In what it describes as an “industry-first,” the company’s online procurement and delivery portal has been developed to enable the mass adoption of frictionless shopping. The Quick Drop Units (QDUs) are shipping container style stores which...

Lotte Mart, being one of the must-go places on travellers’ itinerary, has attracted numerous foreign shoppers over the years. To better facilitate foreign travellers’ shopping experiences, Lotte Mart decided to create special shopping zones at branches that are frequently visited by them. Centralised K-food zone The retailer first implemented a 20-metre-long special shopping zone in its Seo...

We review the retailer’s first quarter performance, including four initiatives driving growth and efficiencies. Q1 key numbers Total merchandise and service revenues increased 5.0% to $4,275.8m Road transportation fuel revenues fell 21.5% to $11,235.2m, reflecting lower fuel prices Same-store merchandise revenues increased by 2.1% in the US, 6.4% in Canada, and were up 2.7% in othe...