Retail and consumer goods industry news

Looking at Popshelf from the outside, I expected to walk into a vibrant home décor and entertainment store, which is exactly how it felt when I was met with a colourful Halloween display right in front of me. What I wasn’t expecting was a surprising grocery offering at the back of the store, which feels like an unintentionally well-kept secret. Popshelf seeks to bring joy and value to higher i...

Following Sainsbury’s recent updates to its premium meal deal offer , Tesco has begun a trial of premium meal deal baguettes. Across the country, 170 stores will range the new £5 premium meal deal that includes a baguette, a drink and a side. Filling options include mozzarella, tomato & basil pesto, chicken & beechwood bacon ceaser, tuna mayo & cucumber, Wiltshire ham, cheddar and Dijon mu...

A round-up of recent announcements from Boots and Superdrug. Boots launches new premium haircare category Following a surge in customer demand for professional haircare products, Boots has expanded its beauty offering, creating a new premium and professional haircare category. Over 400 new products from 10 professional and salon haircare brands including, Redken, L’Oréal Professionnel, P...

Roundup of the recent strategic initiatives and promotions for Singles’ Day led by China’s leading ecommerce giants. Ecommerce rivals compete for Singles’ Day success This year’s Singles’ Day Shopping Festival (also referred as 11.11 or Double 11) unfolds amidst global economic uncertainty, with shoppers seeking value-for-money products. High-income shoppers still value brands and new produ...

Pick n Pay released its interim results for FY24, concerning the period from late February to late August 2023. To everyone’s surprise, the result was worse than expectations, with a 97.1% drop in trading profit, attaining only ZAR31.8m, indicating a significant drop from FY23 ZAR1.25 bn profit. Minimal growth with major banners underperforming Pick n Pay’s grocery business has three main b...

Our global analysts share their opinion on grocery retail news from across the globe. Hy-Vee becomes the latest retailer to partner with Takeoff Technologies – Ollie Butterworth, Senior Insight Analyst for the US US Midwestern retailer Hy-Vee has entered a multi-year partnership with automation specialist Takeoff and they have plans to open “upwards of 20” micro fulfilment centres (MFCs) ov...

I assess the news from across the discounter’s European markets. Slowing down of network growth continues France has become the latest market where Lidl has announced plans to reduce the number of store openings, with only 10 new stores this year. The discounter had been opening between 20 and 30 stores per year and was gaining momentum in the challenging market, but in recent months it has...

Expansion plans are underway for Amazon as the retailer announces it will launch in South Africa in 2024 and expand drone deliveries to new markets, as well as cross-category to deliver medications. Additionally, the first marketing campaign for its byAmazon private label brand has launched and Amazon Fresh in Seattle has become the first ever grocery store to win a Zero Carbon Certification. ...

Canada’s leading retailer, Loblaw, has developed its own protected gateway, enabling it to leverage the capabilities of generative AI. Text and image generation Garfield has been developed to allow the retailer’s colleagues to interact with Large Language Models (LLMs) in a safe and secure environment. The retailer wanted to leverage the potential of new and emerging LLMs such as ChatGPT an...

Sainsbury's and Greggs have taken another step forward in their partnership with the first Greggs café officially opening in a Sainsbury’s store. The café situated in Sheffield Sainsbury’s is the 3 rd partnership site between the two retailers and follows on from sites opened earlier this year in a petrol forecourt and a retail park. The café will be open 7am-7pm Monday to Saturday and 10a...