Markets/Europe/News

Europe news & analysis

15 March 2023
Spanish market leader reported a consolidated sales growth of 11% in 2022 but highlights the tough market conditions had major impacts on its profitability. However, Mercadona claims the effort to reduce the groups margin has made it possible to produce savings of more than 5.7 million households, as the retailer did not transfer €375m of cost increases to shoppers baskets. Positive sales perfo...
14 March 2023
Having opened a Phase 1 investigation into the acquisition of Co-op’s 132 petrol forecourt sites by Asda in January 2023, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has announced it has found the deal raises competition concerns in 13 locations across the UK. In the 13 locations the CMA believes the businesses currently compete for customers and would not face sufficient competition after the...
14 March 2023
The Grocer has reported that independent chain Jempson’s is to become the second Together with Morrisons retailer, with plans to convert its six stores to the dual-branded fascia. Jempson’s will convert its superstore in Peasmarsh to the new fascia later this spring, with the remainder of the estate to follow during 2023. The move will be a blow for Nisa, which has been Jempson’s primary supplier...
10 March 2023
Delhaize has announced plans to sell all of its in-house stores to independent franchisers. Transition to one operating model Delhaize currently operates in Belgium with two models for stores. Firstly, its affiliate model includes 636 stores operated by independent franchisees across its AD Delhaize, Proxy, and Shop & Go banners. It also has 128 stores currently under own management. The...
07 March 2023
Following years of speculation, German discounter Lidl has begun testing Scan & Go in the Netherlands. Seven Dutch stores go live Lidl shoppers in the Netherlands can now benefit from less queuing, as the discounter launches scan & go in seven stores. The stores testing the technology can be found in Halsteren, Hilversum, Huizen, Nijkerk, Oosterhout, Oud-Beijerland and Velp. Improving th...
06 March 2023
Following my visit to EuroShop retail trade fair 2023, I pick out my key takeaways from the event. The EuroShop retail trade fair brings together retailers, suppliers and service providers from around the globe. The 2023 event took place in Düsseldorf, Germany and welcomed over 81,000 visitors from 141 countries. I was fortunate enough to be one of those visitors, here are my five key takea...
03 March 2023
ELO has revealed Auchan Retail’s full year results showing positive sales at a group level, considering the tough market conditions and extremely complicated economic and geographical climate. At a group level the retailer reported its sales revenue increased by 7.7% to €32,893m, driven by returning customers. Auchan has taken the active approach to consider the medium and long-term goals. Dur...
03 March 2023
Morrisons has opened a new recycling plant in Fife that will reprocess previously ‘hard-to-recycle’ soft plastics. The site is co-owned by Morrisons and was constructed and will be operated by recycling plant specialists Yes Recycling. A number of other organisations, including Nestlé UK & Ireland and Zero Waste Scotland, have also been involved in the development of the facility. The new recy...
03 March 2023
Sainsbury's and Tesco have both hit significant milestones in their convenience operations this week.  Sainsbury’s breaches £3 billion in convenience revenues Sainsbury’s has announced that its convenience stores have achieved sales of £3 billion for the first time. The business, which comprises over 800 stores across the UK, grew 10% year-on-year in the financial year to date and are up 7%...
03 March 2023
Overall, the French retailer reported net sales of €33.6 billion, a 5.2% same-store growth, as its LATAM performance supports challenges in its home market. Larger formats struggle as convenience drives growth in France The French market has become a lot more competitive on price, which has become a challenge for the Casino banners. Despite the impact of inflation, volume sales have dropped...