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THIS WEEK'S NEWS
PLASTIC BAG CHARGE COMING TO LOCAL RETAILERS IN ENGLAND
THE UK GOVERNMENT HAS ANNOUNCED THAT THE PLASTIC BAGCHARGE WILL BE DOUBLED AND EXTENDED TO ALL RETAILERS INENGLAND FROM NEXT YEAR.
The plastic bag charge will be doubled to 10p and extended to all retailers in England from April next year, the UK Government has announced. The scheme previously only applied to businesses with over 250 employees.
The move is expected to dramatically decrease the number of plastic bags in circulation and help level the playing field between small and large retailers, while also giving independent retailers the chance to donate the proceeds to local charities.
Since the initial charge was first introduced to larger retailers in 2015, there has been a 95% cut in plastic sales in supermarkets.
WAITROSE TRIALS HALF-HOUR DELIVERY WITH DELIVEROO
WAITROSE HAS SIGNED A DEAL WITH DELIVEROO TO RUN A 12-WEEK TRIAL OFFERING SHOPPERS HOME DELIVERY IN AS LITTLEAS HALF AN HOUR.
Waitrose launched a new 12-week trial with Deliveroo yesterday in a small group of stores as it ended its Ocado partnership after 18 years. Meanwhile Ocado moved to start delivering for M&S, also from yesterday.
Customers will be able to use the Deliveroo app to choose from more than 500 Waitrose products with delivery in as little as 30 minutes. Shoppers can order from one hour after the shop opens to one hour before it closes, and can also track the progress of their order and where the delivery driver is on the app.
There is a minimum spend of £10, with delivery charges between £2.50 and £4.99, or free for Deliveroo Plus members.
The move has prompted speculation that Waitrose may be planning a deeper relationship with Amazon, who bought 16% of Deliveroo earlier this year.
MENTHOL BAN AWARENESS ‘REMAINS LOW’
Consumer awareness of May’s menthol ban remains strikingly low with almost half of all consumers still unaware of the legislation, according to new research by vaping brand blu.
Just 54% of 2,000 consumers interviewed were aware of the ban and of those that were aware of it, around
a third said they learnt about it two to three months before it came into place – although 18% did not learn of it until after the ban was introduced.
A significant 79% thought the ban would not lead to any changes in their own smoking behaviour or purchasing activity.
LAST WEEK OF EOHO DRIVES 6% INCREASE
The final week of the Eat Out to Help Out scheme helped boost retail footfall by 6%, according to analysis by retail analysts Springboard. Bank Holiday Monday marked the final day of the scheme, apparently spurring consumers across the country to
make the most of the discounted prices available. Springboard said the August Bank Holiday weekend was a “remarkable success” as retail destinations saw only 11% less footfall compared to last year.
Shopping centres saw footfall increase by 9.1%, high streets reported a jump of 4.8% and retail parks grew by 5%. While footfall has remained 26.1% down in comparison to last year, this increase has been a welcome improvement on the previous week’s figure of 30.7% down.
PR APPOINTS MCCURRACH
Pernod Ricard UK has namedGlasgow-based marketingagency McCurrach as itsnew field sales partner ingrocery and convenience. Inconvenience, it will create anew permanent team, whichwill cover 1,800 stores.Thecompany will also becomea full category partner forMcCurrach’s MyStore+ app.
SPAR OPS BOSS
Spar UK has named LeeJohnson as Operationsand Strategy Director withresponsibility for finance,governance, IT, supply chainand strategic planning. He joinsfrom Coty where he was VPfor global FP&A and strategicplanning, with previous roles atLego, Microsoft, SC Johnsonand Sara Lee.
JACKING IT UP
Tesco has begun to make itsJack’s range of value fooditems available to its OneStop outlets for the first time.Around 50 Jack’s productswill be added into One Stopstores and are available fromthis week to retailers operatingfranchised and companyownedstores.
DRONE LIFT OFF
Amazon has received formalapproval from the FederalAviation Administration inthe US to operate its fleet ofPrime Air delivery drones. Thisallows Amazon to “safely andefficiently deliver packages tocustomers” alongside AmazonUPS and Google-ownerAlphabet’s Wing Business whoalso have FAA approval.
G&T SHOCKER
New data from Boë Ginsuggests tonic is no longer themixer of choice. A survey of2,000 UK gin drinkers foundthat over half (53%) of thoseaged 18-34 now prefer a ginand lemonade, with just aquarter (26%) opting for tonicas a mixer, driven largely bythe growth of flavoured gins.
BP’S LIVING WAGE
The Living Wage Foundationhas formally accreditedforecourt operator BP as aUK Living Wage employer. BPemploys around 6,600 staffin its UK convenience storenetwork and everyone nowreceives a minimum hourlywage of £9.30, with staff inLondon paid at least £10.75per hour.
