RETAIL NEWS FLASH 16th October 2013
Table of Contents Sales & Marketing ................................................................................................................. 3 Finance ................................................................................................................................. 8 Technology .......................................................................................................................... 16 Strategy .............................................................................................................................. 19
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Sales & Marketing Kmart, Sears gear up for holiday season 15 October, 2013 | Retailing Today http://www.retailingtoday.com/article/kmart-sears-gear-holiday-season Kmart is kicking off the holiday shopping season with the launch of a new lease-to-own program in time for Black Friday. Kmart said it would launch the program through Whynot Leasing and make it available nationwide starting on Nov. 22. Sears, also part of parent company Sears Holdings, also is launching the program, making it available for more than 95 million items via Sears Marketplace, including electronics, home goods, jewelry and tools, as well as major brands and boutique items. "This year's holiday season is about savings and creating seamless shopping experiences for our Shop Your Way members, so we're relentlessly focused on delivering a world-class integrated retail shopping platform that delivers on these benefits," Sears Holdings EVP and president of online, marketing, pricing and financial services Imran Jooma said. "Sears and Kmart are committed to helping members and customers find convenient and affordable ways to shop, without letting the joy of the season become overshadowed by stresses like financial concerns." Members of the Shop Your Way loyalty program, whom the company said account for 65% of its sales, can access their benefits through a mobile app, which includes a new feature called Shop'In to help members save more during the season by checking in while shopping to access sales and load coupons to their smartphones. Other features include eCoupons, layaway, pay-in-store and Free Anyone, Anywhere Pickup, which allows friends or family to pick up items.
John Lewis to launch its first loyalty scheme 11 October, 2013 | The Retail Bulletin http://www.theretailbulletin.com/news/john_lewis_to_launch_its_first_loyalty_scheme_11-1013/ John Lewis has announced plans to launch its first customer loyalty scheme after successfully trialling the programme with specific customer groups. Launching on 30 October, the My John Lewis membership rewards programme will offer customers benefits and rewards tailored to their interests.
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From the information customers choose to share with the retailer, John Lewis will also be able to tailor the way it interacts with customers to tell them more about their favourite products and services, give exclusive product previews and provide shopping inspiration based on their interests and shopping preferences. With customers able to use their My John Lewis card in shops and online, the programme will include rewards such as free tea and cake in John Lewis’s restaurants each month, entry into regular prize draws every time they shop, invitations to exclusive local events, previews and other personalised incentives. Craig Inglis, marketing director at John Lewis, said: “We’re really excited about my John Lewis, as it enables us to bring our customers closer to our brand, and reward them in a new and more personal way.” Chris Bates, head of customer marketing, added: “We consciously decided not to develop a scheme based on collecting points, and instead offer more immediate rewards, previews and events so that customers can experience the benefits of membership straight away. It will also get better over time, as the more we learn about customers, the more we can personalise the experience we give them. “We have successfully trialled my John Lewis with specific customer groups, including nursery and beauty, and we are now able to open it up to all of our customers to join from October 30th.”
Staples launches new price match policy 10 October, 2013 | Retailing Today http://www.retailingtoday.com/article/staples-launches-new-price-match-policy?ad=news Staples is offering an added incentive to drive traffic to its stores this holiday season. Starting Nov. 3, the retailer will match prices on items sold and shipped by Amazon.com or any retailer that sells products in retail stores and online under the same brand. “Staples is committed to offering great products at the best prices," said Alison Corcoran, SVP of North American stores and online marketing. "Whether shopping in-store or online, Staples customers will be able to shop confidently, during the holiday season and beyond, knowing that we are providing them with all the right products and must-have gifts at the lowest prices.” If Staples customers find a lower price on a new, identical item, they can show the Staples Customer Service Desk associate the lower price at the time of purchase in a Staples store and Staples will automatically match the price. For a Price Match on Staples.com, customers can call 800-333-3330.
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Excluded products and services are Staples EasyTech services, Copy & Print products produced by or outsourced to third party vendors, custom print and promotional products, postage, gift and phone cards and apps sold on the App Center. Also Staples does not price match to competitors’ or its own local or special events (grand opening, anniversary, clearance, timed sales or liquidation sales, and “Black Friday” or “Cyber Monday” sales), or to taxes, warranties, typographical errors, merchandise credits, or to contracted prices offered to customers of Staples Advantage.
CVS personalises loyalty offers 10 October, 2013 | Planet Retail http://www.planetretail.net/News/Article/0/86234?WTrss_f=Daily%20News%20Summary&WTrs s_a=CVS%2Bpersonalises%2Bloyalty%2Boffers&WTrss_ev=a CVS has launched myWeekly Ad, a personalised digital promotional flyer that can be accessed online by Extra Care loyalty scheme members. The US drugstore operator said that the items featured are based on the member’s purchasing history. Customers signing up for the flyers can view their offers on desktop, tablets or mobiles.
PayPal alternative proposed by AMAZON 09 October, 2013 | Planet Retail http://www.planetretail.net/News/Article/0/86210?WTrss_f=Daily%20News%20Summary&WTrs s_a=PayPal%2Balternative%2Bproposed%2Bby%2BAMAZON&WTrss_ev=a Online giant Amazon has announced a new service called Login and Pay with Amazon. The service rivals PayPal by enabling shoppers to check out at third party retail websites by using payment information stored on Amazon. In doing so Amazon could reap the reward of access to more customer data. The system is intended to make checking out more streamlined and secure, according to the online specialist. Shoppers will not have to enter their payment details during checkout, and the information will not have to be stored at an additional site. However, many retailers recognise Amazon as competition and therefore are unlikely to want to promote its services or products on their site, especially considering that Amazon has said it is unwilling to share customer credit card information with retailers who use its service.
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Costco to Remain Price Aggressive 09 October, 2013 | Supermarket News http://supermarketnews.com/retail-amp-financial/costco-remain-price-aggressive ISSAQUAH, Wash. — As commodity prices come down, Costco Wholesale Corp. here said Wednesday it will lower prices accordingly on supermarket-related items. “We have been the leader in terms of keeping prices down despite very upward increases and underlying costs, so as those [prices] come down, it gives us margin relief," said Richard A. Galanti, executive vice president and chief financial officer. "But generally speaking, across what I’ll call the supermarket canned and boxed categories, we’re going to try to lower prices. Being aggressive is in our blood. "We kept our prices down when underlying raw material costs skyrocketed, and now they’re coming back [down], and hopefully that will give us a fairer margin in some areas where we have really hit ourselves hard. But we’re going to keep doing what we’re doing in terms of being aggressive. And while we certainly aren’t cavalier about our competition, we think our toughest competitor is ourselves, and we’re going to keep driving that.” Galanti’s remarks came during a conference call with analysts to discuss financial results for the 16week fourth quarter and 52-week fiscal year ended Sept. 1, which compared with a 17-week quarter and 53-week year in the previous periods. Net income for the quarter rose 1.3% to $617 million, while sales increased 0.8% to $31.8 billion and comparable store sales climbed 5% overall, including 5% in the U.S. and 4% outside the U.S For the year net income was up 19.3% to $2 billion, while sales rose 6% to $102.9 billion and comps increased 6% overall, including 6% in both the U.S. and international markets. Galanti said Costco plans to ramp up expansion in fiscal 2014, with plans for 36 new warehouses — including its first two locations in Spain — compared with 26 new units in fiscal 2013 and 16 the year before, with capital expenses between $2.3 million and $2.5 million, compared with $2.1 million last year. Besides the two warehouse in Spain, the company expects to open 18 in the U.S.; five in Australia; four in Korean, three in Japan, three in Canada and one in Mexico.
NEIMAN MARCUS debuts year-round domestic free shipping 03 October, 2013 | Planet Retail http://www.planetretail.net/News/Article/0/86141?WTrss_f=Daily%20News%20Summary&WTrs s_a=NEIMAN%2BMARCUS%2Bdebuts%2Byearround%2Bdomestic%2Bfree%2Bshipping&WTrss_ev=a
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Neiman Marcus has begun offering free standard shipping and returns on most domestic purchases. The scheme covers its namesake and Bergdorf Goodman stores and both banners' respective ecommerce sites. The initiative comes in advance of the crucial holiday shopping season and puts the Dallas-based retailer on par with competitor Nordstrom, which already offers year-round free shipping and returns on domestic purchases. According to the US luxury department store, year-round free shipping and returns meets a top demand of customers.
MCDONALD'S introduces US loyalty scheme 01 October, 2013 | Planet Retail http://www.planetretail.net/News/Article/0/86081?WTrss_f=Daily%20News%20Summary&WTrs s_a=MCDONALD%2527S%2Bintroduces%2BUS%2Bloyalty%2Bscheme&WTrss_ev=a McDonald’s is looking to a digital loyalty programme to attract younger customers, reports Bloomberg. The scheme will reward diners with free food and exclusive offers. The global foodservice chain has teamed up with mobile solutions marketer Front Flip, which has already introduced the scheme in about 420 US McDonald’s restaurants. The programme is to extend to an additional 150 locations in coming weeks.
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Finance Family Dollar Posts Flat Comps in Q4 14 October, 2013 | Supermarket News http://supermarketnews.com/dollar-stores/family-dollar-posts-flat-comps-q4 MATTHEWS, N.C. — The government shutdown will likely rattle an already shaky consumer base for Family Dollar Stores, its chief executive officer said last week. "The way I think about these kinds of things, it’s just not a help to consumer confidence," Howard Levine, Family Dollar’s chairman and CEO, said during a conference call reviewing the discounter’s fourth-quarter financial results last week. "The threat of a shutdown, the uncertainty regarding some of the government assistance that impacts our consumers [and] the uncertainty around job growth are very real to our consumers every day. "Over half our customers are on some kind of government assistance out there, so when they hear and read about all this uncertainty, I think it impacts their confidence [and] their outlook." Possible effects of the shutdown contributed to a gloomy outlook for first-quarter sales for Family Dollar, officials noted. The company expects comparable-store sales to decrease in the quarter and gain only slightly for the new fiscal year, which began Sept. 1. That trend follows a disappointing fourth quarter in which comps were flat vs. an expectation of a low-single-digit increase. The company cited stressed consumers as well as sales-driving initiatives from last year’s fourth quarter, when Family Dollar expanded its consumables offerings including food, and adding cigarettes for the first time. Consumables Sales Those consumables continue to drive sales and traffic for the chain, officials noted. "Some of what happened in the quarter was just cycling some of our best comps from the prior year," Michael Bloom, Family Dollar’s president and chief operating officer, said. "Our consumables strategy is working very well and we’re driving traffic and driving trips." Expense controls and reduced inventories helped net income to increase by 26.3% to $102.2 million for the fourth quarter, while total sales increased 5.8% to $2.5 billion. For the fiscal year, Family Dollar reported net income of $440.4 million, a 2.6% increase, on $10.4 billion sales. Total sales increased by 11.4%. "Fiscal 2013 was more challenging that we originally planned," Levine said. "We expect that many of the headwinds faced by our customers will persist: High unemployment levels, higher taxes and continued uncertainty in Washington will likely continue to pressure our customers’ income."
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Follow dollar store news in SN’s free daily e-newsletter Plans for the new fiscal year include continuing an aggressive store rollout and renovation schedule, Levine said, with 525 new stores and 850 renovations planned — about the same levels as fiscal 2013. However, the company plans to reduce capital spending to a range of $550 million to $600 million vs. spending of $744 million last year. The reduced spending forecast reflects Family Dollar’s plans to use multiple financing approaches to building stores including a build-to-suit financing structure in addition to the company’s customary fee development program, Mary Winston, chief financial officer, said. "We’re expanding our toolkit of financing vehicles that we can use to fund our store base," she said. Bloom said the company would also look to sharpen pricing with an eye on "making sure we are priced right in areas where the customer expects us to be right." He added that the company was reviewing its advertising strategy, with a goal of increasing effectiveness and making more use of media like digital, radio and in-store communications. Beginning in January, Family Dollar will roll out renovated checkout areas at its stores. Bloom said the new areas would drive high-margin impulse sales while increasing checkout speed. The company also last week announced a partnership with Checkpoint Systems on a new shrink reduction technology that will apply electronic product tags at manufacturing or distribution facilities, rather than at stores. The rollout is set to begin in January Bloom also detailed a "door-to-shelf" pallet delivery program whereby goods are delivered to stores on pallets that go directly to the sales floor. The program was tested at stores serviced by a North Carolina warehouse, and was shown to have a positive impact on sales, shrink, damages, worker compensation claims and turnover, Bloom said. The program will be rolled out to three other distribution centers this fiscal year.
Ikea grow sales and increase share in 'almost all markets' 14 October, 2013 | Retail Gazette http://www.retailgazette.co.uk/articles/24444-ikea-grow-sales-and-increase-share-in-almost-allmarkets The world’s largest furniture retailer, Ikea, grew sales by 3.1 per cent in the last year as it increased its market share across its global portfolio. The privately owned Swedish firm said that sales hit £23.8bn in the year to end August. Last year it set itself a target of doubling sales by 2020 to €50 billion. New chief executive Peter Agnefjaell said: “Value for money is increasingly important to our customers — and our sales development shows that people all over the world appreciate our concept of good quality, well-designed products at low prices.”
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Ikea, famed for its flat pack furniture and huge warehouse like stores, said operations in southern Europe had continued to be hit by low consumer confidence and austerity measures. Some of its strongest growth was seen in Russia and China and said it made significant progress in North America. It now has 303 stores globally, visited by 690m people last year, and said it had increased its share in ‘almost all markets.’
Safeway third-quarter profit down 14 October, 2013 | Fresh Plaza http://www.freshplaza.com/article/114172/Safeway-third-quarter-profit-down#SlideFrame_1 Safeway, which operates grocery stores under its own name and regional chains such as Vons and Randalls, had recently seen its sales trends improve somewhat after struggling in the face of heightened competition and a weak economy. The supermarket chain came under pressure last month from activist shareholder Jana Partners LLC, which disclosed that it had acquired a stake of roughly 6% and said that it had spoken with Safeway management about shedding some of its unprofitable markets and returning more capital to shareholders. Jana Partners also urged Safeway to consider shedding its remaining stake in the giftcard business the supermarket chain spun off earlier this year. On Thursday said the planned exit from the Chicago market is expected to produce a tax benefit of $400 million to $450 million that would partly offset tax expenses related to its pending sale of its Canadian business. The company also said some proceeds would be used for stock buybacks and to invest in growth opportunities. Safeway said that Dominick's, which was still considered part of its continuing operations in the latest quarter, incurred pretax losses of three cents a share in the latest quarter and nine cents a share for the first 36 weeks of 2013. Safeway has already made several strategic moves this year, including a deal to sell its Canadian operations for $5.7 billion, more than analysts expected. The company also spun off its gift-card unit into a publicly-traded company, Blackhawk Network Holdings Inc. HAWK +4.00% . Safeway reported a profit of $65.8 million, or 27 cents a share, down from $157 million, or 66 cents a share, a year earlier. Excluding the write-down of a warehouse information software project and other items, adjusted earnings from continuing operations were down at 10 cents from 16 cents. Meanwhile, overall adjusted income attributable to Safeway was 30 cents a share.
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Costco comps up for the fourth quarter 09 October, 2013 | Retailing Today http://www.retailingtoday.com/article/costco-comps-fourth-quarter?ad=news Changes in foreign exchange rates had a negative impact on Costco’s comparable store sales for the fourth quarter ended Sept. 1, but the wholesaler still reported increases in both its U.S. and international markets. The company’s comparable sales for the quarter increased 5%. U.S. comparable store sales increased 5% for the quarter, while international comparable store sales increased 4%. Excluding the impact of changes in foreign exchange rates, the company’s comparable sales for the quarter increased 5%. U.S. comparable store sales for the quarter increased 5%, while international comparable store sales increased 7%. Net sales for the 16-week fourth quarter were $31.77 billion, an increase of one percent from $31.52 billion in the 17-week fourth quarter of fiscal 2012 ended September 2, 2012. Net sales for the 52week fiscal year 2013 were $102.87 billion, an increase of six percent from $97.06 billion in the prior 53-week fiscal year. Net income for the quarter was $617 million, or $1.40 per diluted share, compared to $609 million, or $1.39 per diluted share, during the prior-year quarter. Costco currently operates 638 warehouses, including 454 in the United States and Puerto Rico, 85 in Canada, 34 in Mexico, 25 in the United Kingdom, 18 in Japan, 10 in Taiwan, 9 in Korea and 3 in Australia. The company plans to open an additional 11 new warehouses before the end of calendar year 2013.
Damaging performance persists for YUM! BRANDS 09 October, 2013 | Planet Retail http://www.planetretail.net/News/Article/0/86218?WTrss_f=Daily%20News%20Summary&WTrs s_a=Damaging%2Bperformance%2Bpersists%2Bfor%2BYUM!%2BBRANDS&WTrss_ev=a Yum! Brands have announced a massive 68% decline in worldwide net income to USD152 million in its third quarter ended 7 September. Revenue declined 3% to USD3.47 billion and EBIT declined an enormous 48% to USD350 million. The poor results are largely linked to adverse publicity surrounding the December poultry supply incident and the Avian flu outbreak in the US foodservice giant’s China Division.
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Same-store sales declined 11% in China, including a 14% fall at KFC and 5% growth at Pizza Hut. The China Division opened 132 new units. Same-store sales grew 1% at Yum! Restaurants International and emerging markets’ system sales grew 11%. Yum! Restaurants International opened 215 new units in 50 countries, including 139 in emerging markets. In its domestic US market same-store sales were flat, consisting of 2% growth at Taco Bell, a 1% decline at Pizza Hut and a 4% drop at KFC. David Novak, Chairman & CEO, said: “Despite the disappointing third-quarter performance, I remain as confident as ever in our ability to deliver strong, sustainable growth in the years to come.” Novak went on to say that KFC’s recovery in China was taking longer than expected.
ASDA confirms solid profit growth in 2012 03 October, 2013 | Planet Retail http://www.planetretail.net/News/Article/0/86153?WTrss_f=Daily%20News%20Summary&WTrs s_a=ASDA%2Bconfirms%2Bsolid%2Bprofit%2Bgrowth%2Bin%2B2012&WTrss_ev=a Official accounts filed at Companies House confirmed that Asda achieved an increase in underlying operating profits of 7.6% to GBP1.1 billion (USD1.8 billion) in the year to 31 December 2012. The business attributed the increase primarily to its ‘We Operate for Less’ programme. It also cited costcutting in supply chain and store operations, primarily driven by advances in technology. The company had previously only indicated that profit growth had outstripped sales growth. As previously reported, group revenues increased 4.6% to GBP22.8 billion (USD36.9 billion). Like-forlike sales (excluding petrol and VAT) rose 1% during 2012. Since the year-end, the Walmart-owned business has reported a 1.3% rise in like-for-likes in Q1, decelerating to a 0.7% increase in Q2. Commenting on current trading, CFO Richard Mayfield stated: “The market as a whole has got weaker the last couple of months. The biggest shift competitively has been Tesco which has launched a lot of new things and done a lot more vouchering. It’s a diluted investment from their perspective although I understand why they do it. That has impacted us but we stick to a long-term low price strategy.”
Profits plummet 23.5 per cent at Tesco 02 October, 2013 | Retail Gazette http://www.retailgazette.co.uk/articles/30310-profits-plummet-235-per-cent-at-tesco Supermarket giant Tesco have announced a 23.5 per cent fall in profits for the first half of the year as like-for-like sales in the UK dipped 0.5 per cent.
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The group, which made sweeping changes to its senior management team this August, said group trading profit in the UK rose 1.5 per cent ‘despite continuing challenges.’ The supermarket took heavy losses in European markets where profits fell 67.8 per cent to £55m. Rivals Sainsbury’s announced a 2.1 per cent rise in like-for-like sales for the second quarter as it continues to perform strongly in the UK. Despite the sharp drop in overall profit, Philip Clarke, Chief Executive, Tesco said the company have made further progress to grow its online offering and have strengthened its UK business. “We have continued our focus on becoming the leading multichannel retailer. Our online grocery businesses have continued to perform well across the Group, and we are now offering the service in over 50 cities across nine markets outside the UK.” The results come as Tesco sold the majority of its US Fresh & Easy business to investment company Yucaipa, and announced a joint venture with leading food retailer China Resource Enterprises (CRE.) The supermarket will take a 20 per cent stake across 3,000 Chinese stores. Neil Saunders from Retail analysis agency Conlumino said that Tesco’s strategy of switching its emphasis away from aggressive expansion was a sensible one. “Over the medium term this will pay dividends and, we believe, will translate into genuine and sustainable sales growth,” he said. “Tesco knows what its issues are and is actively addressing them. It will have to work increasingly hard to get the whole group back firing on all cylinders but the management capability, resources and focus are all in place to meet that challenge.”
SAINSBURY’S posts healthy Q2 numbers 02 October, 2013 | Planet Retail http://www.planetretail.net/News/Article/0/86103?WTrss_f=Daily%20News%20Summary&WTrs s_a=SAINSBURY%25e2%2580%2599S%2Bposts%2Bhealthy%2BQ2%2Bnumbers&WTrss_ev=a Sainsbury’s reported a strong second quarter with like-for-like sales rising 2% excluding fuel in the 16 weeks to 28 September. Total sales rose 4.6% excluding fuel and 5% including fuel. Total sales for the first half rose 4% excluding fuel with like-for-likes up 1.4%. Highlights for the quarter included the strong growth of Sainsbury’s online grocery business which grew sales by over 15%. Convenience grew sales 20% year-on-year as customers topped up more frequently during the warm summer weather.
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Sainsbury’s general merchandise and clothing business continues to grow at over twice the rate of food – with the TU clothing brand successfully relaunched during the quarter across almost 400 stores. Sainsbury’s opened 31 convenience stores and five new supermarkets, adding 307,000 square feet (28.500 square metres) to the estate.
Burlington has blowout first day 02 October, 2013 | Retailing Today http://www.retailingtoday.com/article/burlington-has-blowout-first-day?ad=news Shares of Burlington Stores surged more than 40% in their first day of trading as the company executed an initial public offering on Wednesday. The retailer operates 503 stores primarily under the name Burlington Coat Factory and sold 13.3 million shares that were priced at $17, slightly above an earlier range of $14 to $16. The limited number of shares contributed to strong demand and at the open the stock price popped more than 40% and closed at $25.13. Proceeds from the sale were estimated to total roughly $205 million which the company planned to use to repay debt. The offering followed a strong financial showing by the company during the first half of the year with sales up 9.9% to slightly more than $2 billion and same store sales up 5.5%. Net income on an adjusted basis for the six month period totaled $3 million, versus a loss during the comparable period the prior year of $21.1 million.
WALGREENS reports strong Q4 and FY earnings 01 October, 2013 | Planet Retail http://www.planetretail.net/News/Article/0/86100?WTrss_f=Daily%20News%20Summary&WTrs s_a=WALGREENS%2Breports%2Bstrong%2BQ4%2Band%2BFY%2Bearnings&WTrss_ev=a Walgreens is reporting a net earnings increase of 86.4% to USD657 million for its fourth quarter ended 31 August. Fourth-quarter sales totaled USD17.9 billion. This represented a 5.1% increase from the year-earlier period. Front-end comparable store sales at the US drugstore operator increased 1.6%, while customer traffic in comparable stores decreased 1.9% and basket size increased 3.6%. Total sales in comparable stores increased 4.6%. Prescription sales, which accounted for 63.9% of fourth-quarter sales, increased 6.1%. Prescription sales in comparable stores rose 6.4%. The company filled 203 million prescriptions in the quarter, an 8.2% increase over last year. Prescriptions filled in comparable stores increased 7.1%.
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Fiscal year 2013 sales totaled a record USD72.2 billion, compared to USD71.6 billion in the prior year. Net earnings were USD2.5 billion, a 15.2% increase. The company filled a record 821 million prescriptions in fiscal 2013 and added 186 new drugstores, including 76 through acquisitions. Walgreens reported that its acquisition of a 45% stake in Alliance Boots last year resulted in firstyear net synergies of USD154 million. Walgreens President & CEO Greg Wasson stated: “We had a solid quarter across our entire business. We saw improvement in our daily living business resulting from the investments we made and enhanced execution. We also saw continued strength in our pharmacy business as we increased our retail pharmacy market share for the fiscal year to 19.1% and we continued to make great progress on controlling selling, general and administrative costs.�
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Technology AUCHAN begins contactless payment in Russia 15 October, 2013 | Planet Retail http://www.planetretail.net/News/Article/0/86296?WTrss_f=Daily%20News%20Summary&WTrs s_a=AUCHAN%2Bbegins%2Bcontactless%2Bpayment%2Bin%2BRussia&WTrss_ev=a Auchan in Russia has begun contactless payments in a hypermarket in Moscow Sokolniki, local press reports. The retailer has teamed up with Visa and Russian bank VTB 24 to offer the service. By 2014, payment with Visa payWave cards will be rolled out to all Russian Auchan stores. To offer contactless payment, the retailer invested in new NFC-enabled payment terminals from Ingenico last year.
NEIMAN MARCUS makes major multi-channel investment 14 October, 2013 | Planet Retail http://www.planetretail.net/News/Article/0/86269?WTrss_f=Daily%20News%20Summary&WTrs s_a=NEIMAN%2BMARCUS%2Bmakes%2Bmajor%2Bmulti-channel%2Binvestment&WTrss_ev=a Over the next three to five years Neiman Marcus will invest USD100 million to boost its multichannel capabilities. The goal is to develop a single merchandising platform across the luxury retailer’s banners and channels. It is hoped this will greatly enhance inventory visibility and delivery. Neiman Marcus expects to implement the new platform in fiscal year 2016. The investment follows an announcement in September that Ares Management and the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board would acquire Neiman Marcus for USD6 billion. The retailer – whose banners include Bergdorf Goodman, Horchow and Last Call – will see its debt increase nearly USD2 billion to USD4.6 billion after the buyout completes.
CARREFOUR "Nolim" e-reader due instore 11 October, 2013 | Planet Retail http://www.planetretail.net/News/Article/0/86256?WTrss_f=Daily%20News%20Summary&WTrs s_a=CARREFOUR%2B%2522Nolim%2522%2Be-reader%2Bdue%2Binstore&WTrss_ev=a On Monday (14 Oct) Carrefour will introduce a new e-reader called Nolim. The device has 100 titles pre-loaded, but shoppers can download choices from among 100,000 books available on the digital platform. A new dedicated area will be introduced in 215 hypermarkets and 15 supermarkets in France, sized between 10-20 square metres (107-214 square feet).
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The device comes in two versions, a standard model called Nolimbook and one with a backlit screen called Nolimbook+. Both are priced below EUR100 (USD131.77). Carrefour's e-readers have been designed in partnership with Bookeen, a French digital book specialist.
Amazon to take on Apple TV in time for Christmas 04 October, 2013 | Retail Gazette http://www.retailgazette.co.uk/articles/12220-amazon-to-take-on-apple-tv-in-time-for-christmas Amazon intend to sell a set-top box that can stream internet content to televisions in time for the Christmas holidays, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday. The box, which is code-named ‘Cinnamon,’ does not have a confirmed launch date. If it goes ahead with plans, Amazon would join a competitive market alongside Apple and Roku who sell boxes that stream content such as iPlayer and Netflix to living rooms. The internet retailer is hoping to secure content partners for the device by mid-October. New reports suggest Amazon is also working on a ‘superphone’ that uses four forward-facing cameras to track your face and eyes to create a 3D user interface. The retailer also announced it is hiring more than 15,000 seasonal staff across the UK to meet customer demand in the run-up to Christmas. Amazon did not immediately respond for comment
WALMART Asda equips Nottingham DC with TGW systems 04 October, 2013 | Planet Retail http://www.planetretail.net/News/Article/0/86163?WTrss_f=Daily%20News%20Summary&WTrs s_a=WALMART%2BAsda%2Bequips%2BNottingham%2BDC%2Bwith%2BTGW%2Bsystems&WTrss_ ev=a Asda in the UK has installed TGW’s Stingray material handling solutions at its Nottingham home delivery fulfilment centre. The solution includes a tote conveyor transportation and sorting system. In addition, Austrian TGW’s technology provides a buffer store for the order totes and the sequenced delivery of the order totes to the despatch vehicle loading operation. Besides picking and packing home delivery orders from individual stores, the Walmart-owned retailer has built dedicated fulfilment facilities in Leeds, Nottingham and North London.
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AUCHAN opts for Oracle merchandise management 01 October, 2013 | Planet Retail http://www.planetretail.net/News/Article/0/86077?WTrss_f=Daily%20News%20Summary&WTrs s_a=AUCHAN%2Bopts%2Bfor%2BOracle%2Bmerchandise%2Bmanagement&WTrss_ev=a Auchan is to implement Oracle’s Retail software suite across its European operations. The Francebased group has chosen the vendor’s Merchandising System, Price Management, Trade Management and Allocation modules. These will synchronise core retail and supply chain operations across the region. Following a failed SAP Retail trial, the retailer had used the Gold merchandise management software from Symphony EYC (formerly Aldata) for its supermarket and hypermarket operations in France and selected European countries in 2003 and 2004.
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Strategy Target Lays Off 150 Corporate Employees 14 October, 2013 | Kantar Retail http://www.kantarretailiq.com/ContentIndex/PublicNewsDisplay.aspx?id=598273&key=W89BGl G3gjO2FqXnvyUuvg%3d%3d Target announced it laid off 150 corporate staff members as part of an effort to eliminate areas of redundancy. The affected staff was from several locations, although the company declined to specify departments. They were asked to leave immediately but were given pay for 45 days. "This is about us transforming our business and our teams to remain competitive in the future," spokeswoman Amy Reilly said. "In order to do that effectively while also making fiscally responsible business decisions, we looked at a variety of business functions."
Sainsbury's set to open first dedicated online fulfilment centre 14 October, 2013 | The Retail Bulletin http://www.theretailbulletin.com/news/sainsburys_set_to_open_first_dedicated_online_fulfilme nt_centre_14-10-13/ Sainsbury's has announced plans to open its first dedicated online fulfilment centre to support its internet grocery business in London. The facility in Bromley-By-Bow in east London, which is set to open within “the next few years”, will help to meet what the retailer says is a growing demand in London and the South East. When fully operational, the 185,000 sq ft facility will enable the supermarket to serve an additional 20,000 customers each week, although the majority of online orders will continue to be picked and handled in the supermarkets. The new facility will create 375 jobs. The news follows Sainsbury’s online grocery business reaching the milestone of annualised sales of £1 billion in September. The supermarket’s online business now delivers to over 190,000 customers every week with sales growth of 15% per year. Jon Rudoe, Sainsbury’s director of online, digital & cross-channel, said: "We work hard to ensure we deliver the very best service to our customers and the opening of the new Centre will enable us to maintain this. The site will be purpose built with the Sainsbury’s customer in mind and will support our existing store based operation, something that will continue to be the foundation of our online grocery business.
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"I am confident that this new facility will take our online grocery operation to the next level and put us in a perfect position to meet the growing demand in London and the South East." Sainsbury’s first launched its online grocery business in 1999 and it has now grown to employ over 10,000 staff either in-store or as drivers, operating out of 214 stores across the UK.
Wal-Mart officially drops ambitious expansion plan for India 11 October, 2013 | Fresh Plaza http://www.freshplaza.com/article/114120/Wal-Mart-officially-drops-ambitious-expansion-planfor-India#SlideFrame_1 Wal-Mart announced that it was ending its joint effort with Bharti Enterprises of India to operate 20 wholesale “cash and carry” stores that sell to other businesses like retailers, hotels and restaurants. Wal-Mart plans to buy Bharti’s 50 percent stake in the venture, and the two companies will operate independent businesses in India. That Wal-Mart kept the wholesale business, long seen as a way to learn about India’s fragmented retailing sector, suggests it has not entirely ended its hopes of eventually selling at a retail level. Wal-Mart’s chief executive for Asia, Scott Price, said this week that the Indian government’s regulations requiring foreign retailers to buy 30 percent of products from local small and midsize businesses were the “critical stumbling block” to opening its trademark consumer stores. “I don’t understand how this 30 percent small and medium enterprise can be executed,” Mr. Price said in an interview on Monday at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation forum in Bali, Indonesia, The Associated Press reported. He said that Indian retailers were not required to follow the same rule, which made it too difficult for outsiders to make money, because no enterprise small enough to meet the government’s requirements had the capability to produce on the scale that a giant retailer requires. “For Wal-Mart, there has been frustration brewing for a long time about the obstacles to doing business in India and the changing configurations of what it could do and what it couldn’t do,” said Devangshu Dutta, chief executive of Third Eyesight, a retail consulting firm based in Bangalore. “To just continue to pump in money without reflecting on this would be pointless.” Only 4 percent of India’s $500 billion retail market is controlled by large, Western-style chain stores. In China, the share is about 20 percent and in Brazil 36 percent. India’s tiny operators have few of the inventory controls of their larger brethren, and much of the country’s food spoils before reaching consumers — an unfortunate reality in a nation in which nearly half of all children are malnourished. Many foreign companies have found India’s endemic corruption difficult to keep out of their operations. Since American law requires top executives to ensure that their international operations remain free of corruption, executives in the United States have taken an increasingly dim view of doing business in India, with its low profits and constant legal worries.
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Safeway to Exit Chicago Market 10 October, 2013 | Supermarket News http://supermarketnews.com/retail-amp-financial/safeway-exit-chicago-market PLEASANTON, Calif. — Safeway said Thursday it plans to dispose of its 72 Dominick's stores in Chicago and exit the market early in 2014. "The decision to sell Canada Safeway and to exit the Chicago market is consistent with Safeway's priority of maximizing shareholder value," Robert Edwards, president and chief executive officer, said. "These actions will allow us to focus on improving and strengthening our core grocery business. "We are continuing to review all of our businesses to optimize our allocation of resources, improve sales and grow operating profits." The company said Dominick's incurred a net loss of $8.4 million for the third quarter, compared with a loss of $6.2 million a year ago; and a loss of $21.5 million for the year to date, compared with $16.8 million for the 36-week period a year ago. For the fiscal year ended Dec. 29, 2012 Dominick's had a net loss of $31.5 million. The sale of Safeway's Canadian assets to Empire Co., corporate parent of Sobeys, which was announced in June, is expected to close during the fourth quarter. Safeway said the exit from Chicago will result in a cash-tax benefit of between $400 million and $450 million that it will use in the short term to offset cash tax expenses from the sale of its Canadian assets. Any other cash proceeds will be used to buy back stock and invest in growth opportunities, the company said. Because the decision to exit the Chicago market was reached after the end of its third quarter on Sept. 7, Safeway said Dominick's will not be accounted for as a discontinued operation until the fourth quarter.
MCDONALD'S India updates on McCafé roll-out 10 October, 2013 | Planet Retail http://www.planetretail.net/News/Article/0/86242?WTrss_f=Daily%20News%20Summary&WTrs s_a=MCDONALD%2527S%2BIndia%2Bupdates%2Bon%2BMcCaf%25c3%25a9%2Brollout&WTrss_ev=a Following an announcement in August, McDonald’s India has given more details on its McCafé launch, reports The Times of India. The first few McCafé outlets will be introduced in Mumbai, followed by Bangalore, Pune and Chennai over the next couple of years. The US-based hamburger chain aims to have 100-150 McCafés in operation over the next three-five years.
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The Indian McCafés will be sited within McDonald's outlets and will have their own look and feel, similar to that of the McCafé concept internationally. Typically, they will occupy around 500 square feet (46.5 square metres) within a standard 4,000 square feet (370 square metres) McDonald's restaurant.
MCKESSON and CELESIO deal looking likely 09 October, 2013 | Planet Retail http://www.planetretail.net/News/Article/0/86227?WTrss_f=Daily%20News%20Summary&WTrs s_a=MCKESSON%2Band%2BCELESIO%2Bdeal%2Blooking%2Blikely&WTrss_ev=a US pharmaceutical distributor McKesson is reported to be in advanced negotiations about taking a majority stake in Germany-based competitor Celesio, sources close to the matter say. McKesson is said to have obtained access to the Celesio’s books. Should it decide to go ahead with a takeover, it may announce a bid as early as this month, according to the Wall Street Journal. Neither McKesson nor Celesio, including its controlling owner Haniel, have commented on the talks.
Walgreens announces plans to launch financial services 07 October, 2013 | Retailing Today http://www.retailingtoday.com/article/walgreens-announces-plans-launch-financialservices?ad=news Walgreens plans to launch a full suite of integrated financial services, Balance Financial, in phases throughout the next few months. The services are all built around the chain’s new Balance Financial Prepaid MasterCard. Balance Financial is currently offered to customers of more than 250 Walgreens locations in Detroit, Milwaukee and Nashville, with a nationwide card rollout expected before year end and additional financial services in 2014. Balance Financial is powered by Galileo, a leader in advanced payment processing solutions. “Millions of Americans do not have — or want alternatives to — traditional checking accounts and debit cards,” said Jason Dubinsky, Walgreens VP and treasurer. “For them, Balance Financial will represent safety, convenience, value and rewards. With Balance Financial as our platform, over time we plan to add more features and functionality that give our customers even more powerful financial tools to get, stay and live well.” Balance Financial is a collaboration of Walgreens, MasterCard, Galileo and FIS. In addition, Western Union services are expected to be available in 2014.
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STAPLES acquires online personalisation specialist 03 October, 2013 | Planet Retail http://www.planetretail.net/News/Article/0/86148?WTrss_f=Daily%20News%20Summary&WTrs s_a=STAPLES%2Bacquires%2Bonline%2Bpersonalisation%2Bspecialist&WTrss_ev=a Staples has announced the acquisition of shopping experience personalisation software company Runa. Staples plans to use Runa to offer customers personalised items, offers and delivery estimates, all in real-time. The office supplies specialist has recently been increasing investment in its ecommerce capabilities with an emphasis on improving the online shopping experience.
Harris Teeter shareholders greenlight merger agreement with Kroger 03 October, 2013 | Retailing Today http://www.retailingtoday.com/article/harris-teeter-shareholders-greenlight-merger-agreementkroger?ad=news Harris Teeter’s shareholders voted to approve the previously announced merger agreement among Harris Teeter, Hornet Acquisition and Kroger. Approximately 98.6% of the votes cast were in favor of the agreement, representing approximately 82.5% of Harris Teeter’s outstanding common stock as of Aug. 22. Under the terms of the merger agreement, Harris Teeter shareholders will receive $49.38 per share in cash for each share of Harris Teeter common stock that they own. Upon closing of the transaction, Harris Teeter’s common stock will no longer be publicly traded and Harris Teeter will be a wholly owned subsidiary of Kroger. The transaction remains subject to customary closing conditions, including the expiration or termination of the waiting period under the Hart-Scott-Rodino Antitrust Improvements Act of 1976, as amended. Harris Teeter continues to expect that the transaction will close in the fourth calendar quarter of 2013. Harris Teeter operates a leading regional supermarket chain in eight states primarily in the southeastern and mid-Atlantic United States and the District of Columbia.
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SAKS takes Off Fifth online 01 October, 2013 | Planet Retail http://www.planetretail.net/News/Article/0/86073?WTrss_f=Daily%20News%20Summary&WTrs s_a=SAKS%2Btakes%2BOff%2BFifth%2Bonline&WTrss_ev=a Saks has launched an e-commerce site for its off-price brand Off Fifth. The site, saksoff5th.com, began trading on 30 September. The site is also available on mobile and tablet. In addition to stock sold in Saks stores, the site features Salon Z, a plus-size women’s offer not available in all stores. “This is a significant milestone for Saks as the company rounds out our omni-channel offerings. In addition to our 70 nationwide stores, the e-commerce site is yet another platform through which we can provide our curated off-price shopping experience. We want it to be the Saks of the off-price world, a true extension of the brand,” said Robert Wallstrom, President of Off Fifth. Online promotions for saksoff5th.com mirror instore promotions with new product offerings daily. Additionally, the site will include FashionFix events, which will migrate from Saks.com to saksoff5th.com.
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