News

Retail and consumer goods industry news

03 February 2014
Belgium-based Colruyt has revealed consolidated revenue for the first nine months of its financial year, saying they had risen 4.5% to €6.5 billion, despite the ‘ highly competitive and promotional market ’ that emerged. Growth at retail banners ‘ rises less rapidly ’ The retailer said that sales at its retail banners had risen by 4.3% during the first nine months of the year, down from 4.8% ...
31 January 2014
Walmart has announced that fourth quarter comparable store sales, for the 13 weeks ending January 31, through its US stores and Sam’s Club operation, are expected to be lower than previously anticipated. Reductions in food stamps and winter storms having an impact Having initially expected fourth quarter comp store sales through its US stores to be flat, the retailer now expects these to be...
31 January 2014
Whether it be new promotions, the launch of retailer radio stations or new supplier deals, read on to get a quick round up of this weeks news from Australia. New battleground for promotions being drawn? As predicted in our 'Australia in Focus: Six Trends for 2014' article , both Coles and Woolworths have started to redirect capital freed up from not running fuel docket promotions into new me...
31 January 2014
Following up to two years of development and trials, Tesco convenience subsidiary, One Stop is now ready to begin rolling out its franchise model and is actively recruiting independent retailers to take on then package in a five year agreement.  It is aiming to have 15 -20 new franchise stores trading by the end of February. Five successful trial sites One Stop trialled the concep...
31 January 2014
Waitrose has reported a 6.8% strong growth in ex-fuel sales for the second half of 2013, attributing its success to the uptake of the myWaitrose loyalty scheme and 'outstanding' customer service. Rapid growth in convenience and online New channels continued strongly to Waitrose's growth with convenience sales up by 23.2% and online by 33.0% during the 26 weeks to January 25th. While v...
31 January 2014
Amazon announced that annual sales increased 22% to $74.45 billion in 2013, against $61.09 billion last year. Excluding currency impact, sales were up 24%. Operating income rose 10% to $745 million and net income was $274 million, compared to a net loss of $39 million in 2012. For the fourth quarter ended 30 December 2013 Amazon recorded a 20% rise in net sales to $25.59 billion, or a 24% incr...
31 January 2014
Finland's S Group has released its 2013 results, with total sales of €11.4bn, +1.2% versus last year . Supermarket sales grew by 3.5% while performance was weaker elsewhere Supermarket sales grew by 3.5%, which includes sales in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia and Russia, as well as S Group’s home market of Finland. S Group CEO, Taavi Heikkila commented the organisation’s sales were strongest ...
31 January 2014
Tesco has reportedly created a new innovation 'lab' in London that it hopes will help it develop cutting edge innovations for today's rapidly changing retail landscape. Creating a more agile and experimental culture via Tesco Labs The new 'Tesco Labs' facility has been set up to enable the retailer to be more reactive and responsive to consumers changing need. It will form the centre of Te...
30 January 2014
Walmart has expanded the scope of its grocery e-commerce test in Denver to include pick-up from store for customer orders, in addition to home delivery. Customer pick-up enhances the convenience of grocery e-commerce Having run a test of grocery e-commerce, Walmart-to-Go, in the San Francisco area for a number of years, Walmart launched a new test in Denver last October. In contrast to the ...
30 January 2014
Loblaw has announced plans to invest $100m in Québec this year to drive format development and store improvements. Renovation of existing stores This announcement is part of a long-term strategic commitment by Loblaw to the Province, and is in addition to the $100m already invested in 2013. New jobs will be created across the region, plus a significant part of this investment will go toward...