News

Retail and consumer goods industry news

24 October 2013
 At a press event in Beijing, Walmart CEO Mike Duke and Walmart China CEO Greg Foran spoke about the company's progress in China's competitive market to date, and its strategy for the years ahead. Walmart's three year plan to 2016 Open up to 110 new outlets, focusing on tier two, three and four cities (offset by planned closure of non-performing stores - read about it here ) Expand ...
24 October 2013
At a corporate level, Finland-based Kesko announced that net sales fell during its third quarter and the first nine months of the year, although some of the fall was offset by growth in its food trade division. Headline figure affected by home and speciality goods trade Kesko announced that during the January to September timeframe it generated sales worth €6,953 million, down 3.8% on 2012. T...
24 October 2013
Walmart de México y Centroamérica has reported net sales up 1.9% and EBITDA up 5.5% year on year, for Q3 2013. "Very pleased" with financial performance in Central America Total revenues were up 6.4% year on year and EBITDA was up 36.3%. Walmex has been improving its value and price propositions to serve customers better and to attract those who shop in the informal, traditional market. I...
24 October 2013
Coles has reported Q1 sales for the 13 weeks to 29 September up 4.9% to AU$8,905m. All other retail arms of Wesfarmers continued to grow well, despite Target, where its leadership team is overseeing a longer term transformation. Wesfarmers' Managing Director, Richard Goyder, said that he was 'generally pleased' with the results. Food and Liquor sales up 4.4% to AU$6,914m Coles continued steady ...
24 October 2013
Robinsons, one of the Philippines' largest multiformat retailers, is set to raise USD 620m in public shares. Funding expansion in an increasingly competitive market Robinsons is the retail arm of the Philippines' Gokongwei Group. Its broad store portfolio includes supermarkets, drugstores, department stores and the Ministop convenience franchise, alongside DIY and speciality stores. Store ...
24 October 2013
Attending an industry event in Montreal this week, provided an opportunity to hear directly from three grocery CEOs in Canada; Couche-Tard’s Alain Bouchard, Sobeys’ Marc Poulin and Walmart’s Shelley Broader. What did these leaders have to say about growth and differentiation? Sobeys growing the business through acquisition With a focus on driving growth in an era of disruptive change, Sobeys’...
24 October 2013
The Canadian Competition Bureau has approved Sobeys’ proposed acquisition of Canada Safeway, subject to the divestment of 23 stores. Deal includes grocery stores, distribution centres and manufacturing facilities Sobeys announced in June that it had reached an agreement to acquire all the assets of Canada Safeway in a deal worth $5.8bn. Net of the divestments, Sobeys will acquire 190 stores ...
24 October 2013
Following our Online Grocery Retailing event, we share our five key learnings about how the channel is developing. 1. Click and collect continues to gain momentum Click and collect is growing in popularity for both shoppers and retailers in grocery retailing, with the UK providing a great current example. Shoppers' desire to save time and sometimes money is driving demand, while retailers are...
24 October 2013
Tesco has announced the launch of its Price Promise scheme in the Irish market, which will be comparing prices to Aldi and Lidl. Price Promise in action Tesco's Irish Price Promise will work on the same principle as its UK scheme, which compares Tesco prices with Asda, Sainsbury's and Morrisons. However the Irish guarantee will compare the prices at checkout with those of comparable produ...
24 October 2013
Asda has announced plans to rapidly grow the number of collection points it has available for online orders. 10 new collection points a week Asda is aiming to open 10 new drive through collection points a week, in its store car parks. Asda is intending to have a collection point in every car park by next summer (over 550 stores). Asda currently offers drive through points at 242 of its s...