Survey: UAEs most budget-friendly supermarket
Carrefour is the cheapest store for some basic household grocery staples and Al Maya the most expensive, a new survey of six supermarkets by Souqalmal.com has found. The survey, provided exclusively to The National, was conducted on 11 household items, from bread and milk to Dettol All-Purpose Cleaner and a 21 pack of size 1 Pampers diapers, creating an average bill of Dh168.81 across all six locations surveyed. Carrefour was 11% cheaper than the average, with a bill of Dh149.75, while Al Maya’s bill was 11% more expensive, at Dh187.50. Choithrams trailed close behind at 9%, or Dh183.30. Ambareen Musa, founder and chief executive of Souqalmal.com, says the analysis aims to simplify bargain shopping for residents by offering more transparency on supermarket pricing while also highlighting wher the best deals are.
Source: thenational.ae

FamilyMart celebrates 100th store in Indonesia
Having opened four stores in one day last month, FamilyMart is now celebrating its 100th store in Indonesia. FamilyMart is celebrating its 100th store in Indonesia by offering loyal customers discounts on a variety of items, priced at IDR100. Earlier this year, the retailer via BNI launched TapCash membership card for shopping, gift points, special discounts at all FamilyMart stores. Shoppers can top up the card (at FamilyMart outlets) in cash and can use it for swift and convenient payment for seleced bus and metro journeys, as well as tolls.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com

Swiss retail sales fall unexpectedly in May
Switzerlands retail sales declined unexpectedly in May, data from the Federal Statistical Office revealed. Retail sales slid 0.1% year-on-year in May, in contrast to a 2.9% rise in April. Sales were expected to grow 1.4%. On a monthly basis, retail sales decreased 1.3%, in contrast to a 0.4% rise in April. This was the first decline in four months. Retail sales of food, drinks and tobacco logged an annual decrease of 0.3% and non-food sector sales fell 1.2%.
Source: markets.businessinsider.com

Magnit launches new store concept in partnership with Russian Post
Magnit launched 12 stationary pilot stores and one mobile unit in Moscow, the Krasnodar Territory and the Ryazan region. The new store concept is based on the post office, designed and built in partnership with Russian Post. Magnit stated that the rationale behind this new concept is the ability to open a store in geographical areas wher it is ‘economically inexpedient’. Partnership with Russian Post will optimize the costs by sharing the distribution network and attract more traffic to the store due to the combined shopper missions.
Source: retailanalysis.igd.com

Germany: Warburg-HIH Invest - €100mln acquisition of a portfolio with 5 specialty retail centers
Warburg-HIH Invest Real Estate GmbH finalized the acquisition of five specialty retail centers for the open-end special fund “Perspektive Einzelhandel: Fokus Nahversorgung.” The purchase price of the specialty stores with a total rental space of 43,000 square meters is in excess of EUR100mln. Patrizia subsidiary Rockspring Property Investment Managers LLP is the seller. The properties are located in Herten, Bürstadt, Sinzheim, Reppenstedt, and Lehrte. More than 80% of total rental income comes from food retailing. Key tenants include Edeka, Kaufland, Rewe, Obi, Aldi, dm, and Penny. The rental contracts continue to run for an average of eight more years.
Source: globallegalchronicle.com

Ecommerce in Europe was worth €534bln in 2017
Ecommerce in Europe has once again shown some double-digit growth. The total ecommerce turnover in Europe increased by 11% last year, making it worth 534bln euros. For the current year, a growth rate of 13% is expected, which would mean ecommerce in Europe will be worth 602bln euros in 2018. The European ecommerce industry has thus shown some significant growth, if you take into account the industry was worth no more than 307bln euros five years ago. This is one of the many findings of the new European B2C Ecommerce Report by Ecommerce Europe.
Source: ecommercenews.eu

Sweden: Smart packaging to deliver “disruptive innovation” to online grocery, claims Tetra Pak report
As digitalization permeates a range of sectors, “smart packaging” technologies based on unique digital codes will take both online and off-line grocery in exciting new directions during the next few years, according to the Tetra Pak Index 2018. The growth of smart packaging will enable suppliers to utilize digitalization technologies to respond to some of the largest trends shaping online and physical grocery, such as sustainability, personalization and convenience. online grocery shopping is growing at a double-digit rate, while traditional stores are being reinvented, merging together into an omnichannel wher consumers expect to be able to buy whenever, wherver and however they choose, with the smartphone as their compass, according to Tetra Pak. Packaging will play an important role in response to the trends that are shaping the growth of online grocery.
Source: foodingredientsfirst.com

Missing trolleys: huge costs to supermarkets in UAE
Shopping cart theft and abandonment is a major issue among stores in the UAE. Despite repeated appeals to shoppers to not take shopping carts home, shops claim that many trolleys are still going missing, and its proving to be a drain on supermarket revenues. Costing upwards of Dh300 a piece, shopping cart losses are becoming such an epidemic that in recent years, supermarket chains have been forced to implement extra measures to hunt down abandoned carts from local neighbourhoods. Speaking to Khaleej Times, a spokesperson for Lulu Hypermarket said shoppers taking carts and not returning them has long been an issue for supermarkets. "We have been seeing this trend for many years; its global. On average, Lulu sees around 10 to 12 carts go missing from some of its bigger stores each month in the UAE."
Source: khaleejtimes.com

U.S. retail vacancies rise marginally in second quarter: Reis
U.S. retail vacancies rose marginally to 10.2% in the second quarter, real estate research firm Reis Inc has stated. The report said 55 of 77 metros reported a rise in vacancy compared with the second quarter last year, when U.S. retail real estate vacancies were at 10%. "After withstanding the hundreds if not thousands of store closings over the last 18 months, the neighborhood and community shopping center industry suffered its worst quarter in nine years," the Reis report said. Net absorption was a negative of 3.8mln square feet, compared with 909,000 square feet in the year-ago quarter. Reis said it does not expect the vacancy rate to improve in the near future.
Source: esmmagazine.com

US: Giant Eagle launches Scan Pay & Go service
Giant Eagle Inc. is looking to make the checkout experience smoother for mobile-savvy consumers. The Pittsburgh-based supermarket chain has launched Scan Pay & Go, a new service that enables customers to use their smartphones or a store-provided device to scan groceries as they shop. The program allows shoppers to keep track of exactly how much they’re spending during their trip and then take advantage of an expedited checkout. The company said it’s the first major supermarket retailer in Pittsburgh to offer a mobile, in-store experience in which customers can tally their items while they shop.
Source: supermarketnews.com

CAN: Walmart touts local offerings in new campaign
Walmart Canada has launched a multimedia marketing campaign promoting its high-quality local foods. The “Canadian Farms. Canadian Grocers. Walmart prices” campaign is anchored by a 30-second TV spot featuring a woman unpacking groceries from Walmart in preparation for her daughter’s first birthday dinner. The items reflect the home province of various relatives, including tomatoes from Ontario, like grandpa Jeff; AAA Angus Beef from Alberta, like uncle John; and maple syrup from Quebec, like auntie Mary. The spot concludes with the woman realizing they forgot to buy a B.C. item, necessitating a return trip to Walmart.
Source: canadiangrocer.com