Retail and consumer goods industry news

As retailers focus more on enhancing the in-store experience for customers, London has become a hotbed of format innovation. In this article we round up some of the formats to watch. Aldi: new format opens up possibilities Source: IGD research Aldi's ground breaking new small format store on Kilburn High Road is a significant development for the fast grow...

Dixy has reported total sales at RUR 42.3bn for the first quarter of 2013, and retail revenue growth of 22.7% in ruble terms, for the first four months. Convenience performing well With competition stepping up in Russia after strong performances from X5 and in particular Magnit , an encouraging Q1 for Dixy bodes well. Year-on-year sales grew by 21.9% to RUR 42.3bn, with neighbourhood ...

Executive Chairman Stefano Pessina has hailed 2012/13 as a 'transformational year' in Alliance Boots' newly released annual report. Though group sales slipped slightly to £22.4 billion (-2.6%), trading profit was up by 6.1% to £1.3bn in the year to March 31st. Underlying profit surged by 12.7% to £805 million, lifted by strong performances by both Health & Beauty (+6.8%) and the pharmaceutical who...

Walgreens has announced that it is to extend its agreement with CVS Caremark. New agreement will have positive benefits The agreement between Walgreens and CVS Caremark will see Walgreens remain as a network pharmacy provider within the CVS Caremark pharmacy benefit management (PBM) retail network. This should drive more customer traffic to Walgreens retail pharmacies, which has showed littl...

The drugstore retailers Boots and Watsons have announced plans to further invest their business in Thailand following a rise in sales last year. Watsons store expansion following sales growth The two speciality drugstore chains are preparing strategies in response to competition in Thailand’s health and beauty sector. Central Watson Co, operator of Watsons speciality stores, has announ...

Netherlands-based Ahold has chosen Ben Wishart to become its Group Chief Information Officer, a new role for the company. Wishart to work across Ahold’s global operations The retailer said that Wishart would input on its ‘Reshaping Retail’ strategy and would, therefore, work across Ahold’s businesses. Wishart, who used to work at UK-based Morrisons as CIO, will start working at Ahold on 17 ...

@WalmartLabs has made two further acquisitions, OneOps and Tasty Labs, to boost its capabilities in platform and cloud development and social integration. Adding technology and talent through acquisition These latest acquisitions represent a continuation of @WalmartLabs’ strategy to build its team by strategically adding technology and talent through key acquisitions. The acquisition of One...

SPAR has reported group turnover up 9.6% for the six months ended March 2013, driven by a strong performance from liquor stores. Tops liquor is standout performer Tops' wholesale turnover grew by 18.2%, and 25 new stores opened during the first half. Product inflation did have an effect however, at 7.9%. SPAR's combined food and liquor retail sales were up 10.2%, and 7.8% on a like-fo...

Twice as many shoppers are interested in using online tools to help them shop around for the best promotions and prices than in 2010. Digital connectivity and shopper savviness drive trend A new report from ShopperVista identifies online promotional cherry picking as the web-enabled behaviour most likely to be adopted by British grocery shoppers in the future. A third of shoppers now tell us ...

Metro Cash & Carry plans to open six new stores in the Moscow Region before 2020, according to Russian press reports. At least three new stores in 2013 Speaking to the Russian press, MD Pieter Boone said that three 'classic stores' will open this year, in Serpukhov, Podolsk and Noginsk. In addition, some 20 Metro Punkt outlets are planned in five to seven years' time. These cash & carri...