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Retail and consumer goods industry news

16 May 2013
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 ...
16 May 2013
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...
16 May 2013
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-...
16 May 2013
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...
16 May 2013
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...
16 May 2013
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 ...
15 May 2013
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...
15 May 2013
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...
15 May 2013
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...
15 May 2013
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 ...