Retail and consumer goods industry news

Over 300 delegates attended the Symbol Conference this year to hear briefings from Nisa, SPAR UK, Premier and Costcutter. We've summarised some of the key take outs from the day here. On the look out for value IGD's latest ShopperVista research demonstrates the challenges facing British customers, highlighting 76% of those shoppers interviewed are still concerned about the cost of livin...

The importance of quality account management skills Quality account management skills are an important trading priority, according to both the retailers and suppliers that participated in the IGD 2013 Customer Engagement survey. This year we asked 36 international retailers and 96 branded suppliers, including 30 multinational, about their current trading relationship priorities. Amongs...

Australia's market leading grocery retailer has installed a convenient Click & Collect location at Australia's second busiest airport. Walk-in or drive through service available The concept is located outside the airport next to a new public pick up lane.  Woolworths hopes that passengers returning from trips will be able to order fridge and pantry essentials up to a week in advance of their ...

Turkey-based Migros Ticaret has announced first quarter results saying that consolidated sales rose by 10.4% to TRY1,591 million (€677.6 million). Store growth drives sales The retailer said that the addition of 41 stores – made up of 40 supermarkets and one hypermarket – during the first quarter had helped drive growth. The addition of new stores meant that Migros operated 907 by the end of ...

Supermarket News has reported that Belgium-based Delhaize has completed the renovation of 178 Food Lion stores in Delaware, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia and West Virginia. Design incorporates a number of improvements The retailer has previously said that the new stores will provide an improved quality and variety in fresh fruits and vegetables – as part of its ‘Fresh from the Field’ initi...

Fixed price discounter, Poundland, has launched a new price point of 97p to three stores, to combat competitor activity in those areas. Undercutting rivals The 97p price point has been launched in its East Ham, Dudley and Chelmsley Wood stores and will apply to all lines in those stores. These are all stores where competitors, including 99p Stores, have just opened. Poundland has not ann...

Leading delivered wholesaler Palmer & Harvey has become the first major UK wholesaler to launch a mobile online ordering service with the introduction of its Easy Order i-phone app. Available free from i-Tunes The P&H Easy Order app can be downloaded for free, but only existing P&H customers, registered for online ordering can make orders with it through their mobile devices. The app ...

The French competition authority has given Casino the go-ahead to acquire 38 Norma discount stores, according to press reports. Stores in south-eastern France The stores are located in south-eastern France, with most of them in the region of Lyon and on the Mediterranean coast.  The transaction remains subject to "implementation of [unspecified] commitments" and the competition authority ma...

Following the release of our league table showing the top 50 grocery retailers in Europe , here are five European store visits you may have missed, but need to check out. Casino, Belles-Feuilles, France : live 'lab store' for self-scanning Casino Group is trailblazing in terms of technological innovations, with a number of initiatives launched in the past year. We visited Casino Belles-...

Asda has reported a robust Q1 sales performance, including like-for-like sales growth of 1.3%, in the 14 weeks to April 12. This marked a significant improvement from the previous quarter, with the retailer attributing this to the success of its programme of investing in lowering the price of everyday essentials and its multichannel strategy. In the Walmart group results, Walmart reported the to...