Edeka Group-owned discounter Netto is testing Wanzl’s Hybridloc app-based shopping trolley system. According to the manufacturer, it is the first system in the world that makes it possible to unlock the shopping trolley either as before with a coin as a deposit or through the retailer’s app. Shoppers who have downloaded the Netto app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store just need to activate the automated store locator in the settings in order to use the system. As soon as they hold their smartphone up to a shopping trolley, it is unlocked through NFC communication with the phone. The Hybridloc electronic deposit lock is integrated into Wanzl’s EvoGrip handle system. The functions of the Hybridloc can be integrated into the respective retailer and store apps via Software Development Kit (SDK) and combined with additional features for the customer. Source: The Retail Optimiser

Some Aldi stores in the UK are ensuring that checkout staff check shopping bags for theft, as shoplifting rates increase amid the cost-of-living crisis. Customers will now be required to put shopping bags on the checkout belt along with their shopping, to show they are empty – or to show staff the contents of any full shopping bags. However, if customers do not prove this, they will be refused service. It is understood the checks at the German discounter are only carried out in a small number of stores and as a short-term measure. It is not national policy for the Aldi, meaning it does not state how individual stores should carry them out. An Aldi shopworker told The Grocer the policy was introduced at their store last week, and the checks were separate to any carried out by security guards. “We are asking that they allow us to look in the bags to see they are empty,” the shopworker said. If a bag is not empty, “we have been asking to look in the bags to make sure none of our items are in there”. Aldi is one of a number of retailers to have introduced new measures in stores in recent months, as shoplifting rates soar as UK families feel the squeeze on their household budgets. For example, Sainsbury’s and Morrisons have introduced exit barriers at the self-checkout areas in some of their stores recently. Co-op Food MD, Matt Hood, this week blamed a growing sense that shoplifting is being justified, on accusations of profiteering aimed at retailers by politicians. “I was reading some of the comments when we’ve spoken about shoplifting being on the rise and people were saying ‘well, they are making so much money, so what difference does it make?” he told the Telegraph. It comes days after the Co-op recorded over 175,000 incidents of crime, shoplifting and anti-social behaviour in the first six months of 2023, which equates to almost 1,000 incidents a day – a 35% year-on-year increase. Source: Grocery Gazette

The prices of our groceries will remain at a high level in the coming months. As a result, consumers are buying more and more creatively. They more often opt for private labels and buy their products from discounters or other low-cost carriers. "At the beginning of this year, there was still a slight decrease. But if we look at the period from January to June, the prices of our groceries remain at a stable high level," says Eric Harmsen of research firm GfK. "That means that on balance prices are 11 to 12 percent higher than last year." Food prices rose by 11.6 percent in July, making them the main drivers of inflation in the Netherlands, according to figures from statistics agency CBS. Supermarkets benefited from this and saw their turnover increase by 12 percent. According to Harmsen, due to the rise in raw material and energy prices, we will continue to pay more for food and drink in the coming months. "As a result, certain products have become more expensive, such as pasta. They also notice this in Italy, for example. Energy prices are now falling, but suppliers have contracts for a longer period of time." Economist Jan-Paul van de Kerke of ABN AMRO agrees. "Energy and raw material costs have risen sharply and that is being passed on throughout the chain. That ultimately affects the consumer." Van de Kerke also notes that the increased wage costs play an increasingly important role. Wages in the supermarket sector have also risen by around 10 percent. "That ultimately drives up prices a bit." Consumers opt for private labels GfK researcher Harmsen says that since the beginning of this year, consumers have more often opted for private labels. "For the first time, the turnover of these products is higher than that of A-brands." Trade association Centraal Bureau Levensmiddelenhandel (CBL) emphasizes that supermarkets do everything they can to keep prices for consumers as low as possible. "The food that supermarkets buy and resell to consumers has often come a long way. From the raw materials for animal feed to grain for biscuits and breakfast products and the tomatoes for pizza. Many products also need to be packaged, cooled, heated and transported," explains a spokesperson. In the end, everything is connected "The many hundreds of thousands of companies involved in the production and distribution of food worldwide have recently had to deal with sharply rising costs for energy, rent, logistics and production. Personnel costs have also risen sharply. At the end of the day, everything is interrelated and that is reflected in the price that a consumer pays in the store for his shopping basket." CBL expects the geopolitical turmoil to continue and markets to remain disrupted for an extended period of time. The trade association for supermarkets calls on all parties in the food chain to bear part of the increased costs themselves, so that not everything ends up on the consumer's plate. Source. NU.NL

Lower order frequency and constrained spending drove the sales decline despite a larger user base versus the prior year. The U.S. online grocery market posted $7.2 billion in total sales, down 7.0% compared to last year, according to the latest monthly Mercatus Grocery Shopping Survey fielded in July. This month’s downtrend was seen across all three receiving methods and was driven by a pullback in order frequency plus constrained spending per order, despite a larger base of monthly active users (MAUs) than the prior year. For July, the overall MAU base continued to grow as the total number of U.S. HHs that bought groceries online increased nearly 5% versus last year. This growth was driven by a more than 7% increase in the Pickup MAU base, while Ship-to-Home’s base remained flat and Delivery’s contracted 1% compared to July 2022. Order frequency, which dropped 10% versus last year, was the main contributor to the monthly sales decline, reducing the total number of online orders by nearly 6% for July 2023. Delivery, which plummeted 13% versus the prior year, accounted for almost three-quarters of the drop in online orders, while Pickup dipped by 3% and Ship-to-Home by 2%. Constrained spending in July was the other major factor impacting overall sales results. The average order value (AOV) slipped approximately 1.5% versus July 2022. Delivery climbed less than one-half a percent, and Ship-to-Home, with the smallest AOV, posted a 1% gain year-over-year; however, neither of these gains was large enough to significantly offset the 2% dip in Pickup’s AOV. “July’s results reflect the growing financial challenges many consumers are facing today,” said David Bishop, partner at Brick Meets Click. “These challenges along with evolving expectations, driven by experience engaging with Mass, are contributing to the growing gap between conventional grocers and their Mass rivals.” The share of sales shifted versus last year. Pickup and Ship-to-Home expanded, while Delivery contracted. Pickup finished the month with a 45% share of eGrocery sales, up more than one point compared to July 2022 as its sales slipped 4.5%. Ship-to-Home gained over one share point in July, ending with a 19% sales share and a 1.0% dip in sales. And delivery ceded nearly 2 and one-half points, completing the month with just under a 36% share as its sales fell 12.8%. The Mass and Grocery formats continue to perform very differently. Mass experienced a surge in customers while Grocery experienced only a modest gain in MAUs during July, similar to the trend observed last month. Order frequency also declined for both formats, although the drop for Grocery was much greater than for Mass. In addition, the average order value for Grocery dipped by more than 5% while Mass finished up very slightly. Although the overall repeat intent rate of 63% was down just 50 basis points (bps) for July versus the prior year, the repeat intent rate for Mass was nearly 18 points higher than for Grocery. The gap between the two widened by 730 bps resulting in the largest gap since the surveys started tracking this metric in January 2021. Much of the monthly gain for Mass can be attributed to a strong The U.S. online grocery market posted $7.2 billion in total sales, down 7.0% compared to last year, according to the latest monthly Brick Meets Click/Mercatus Grocery Shopping Survey fielded July 29-30. This month’s downtrend was seen across all three receiving methods and was driven by a pullback in order frequency plus constrained spending per order, despite a larger base of monthly active users (MAUs) than the prior year. For July, the overall MAU base continued to grow as the total number of U.S. HHs that bought groceries online increased nearly 5% versus last year. This growth was driven by a more than 7% increase in the Pickup MAU base, while Ship-to-Home’s base remained flat and Delivery’s contracted 1% compared to July 2022. Order frequency, which dropped 10% versus last year, was the main contributor to the monthly sales decline, reducing the total number of online orders by nearly 6% for July 2023. Delivery, which plummeted 13% versus the prior year, accounted for almost three-quarters of the drop in online orders, while Pickup dipped by 3% and Ship-to-Home by 2%. Constrained spending in July was the other major factor impacting overall sales results. The average order value (AOV) slipped approximately 1.5% versus July 2022. Delivery climbed less than one-half a percent, and Ship-to-Home, with the smallest AOV, posted a 1% gain year-over-year; however, neither of these gains was large enough to significantly offset the 2% dip in Pickup’s AOV. “July’s results reflect the growing financial challenges many consumers are facing today,” said David Bishop, partner at Brick Meets Click. “These challenges along with evolving expectations, driven by experience engaging with Mass, are contributing to the growing gap between conventional grocers and their Mass rivals.” The share of sales shifted versus last year. Pickup and Ship-to-Home expanded, while Delivery contracted. Pickup finished the month with a 45% share of eGrocery sales, up more than one point compared to July 2022 as its sales slipped 4.5%. Ship-to-Home gained over one share point in July, ending with a 19% sales share and a 1.0% dip in sales. And delivery ceded nearly 2 and one-half points, completing the month with just under a 36% share as its sales fell 12.8%. Online’s share of total grocery spending declined 130 basis points in July to 13.2% versus last year. Excluding Ship-to-Home, since most conventional supermarkets don’t offer it, the adjusted contribution from Pickup and Delivery finished at 10.7%, down 120 basis points compared to a year ago, due to Delivery’s dramatically weaker performance for the month. “To drive continued engagement, regional grocers need to offer their customers value for their money and more convenient ways they can save, such as encouraging repeat purchases with promotional offers and easy-to-use digital coupons,” said Sylvain Perrier, president and CEO, Mercatus. “Loyalty programs should be thoughtfully integrated so that rewards are easily accessed and prominently positioned to remind customers of the monetary value they’re receiving.” Source: Mercatus

Discount Retail Chain Grocery Outlet (listed on the US Nasdaq: GO) is the fast-growing West Coast discounter. It's net sales increased by 12.5% to $1.01 billion. The grocer raised its fiscal 2023 outlook and is now predicting same-store sales to jump 7% to 8%, up from 5% to 6%. Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. achieved record-setting results during its second quarter, reporting Tuesday that net sales topped $1 billion for the first time. For the quarter ended July 1, net sales increased 12.5% to $1.01 billion, the Emeryville, California-based retailer reported. Comparable-store sales rose 9.2% during the period, driven almost entirely by traffic growth, while average transaction size remained flat. Net income jumped 21.8% to $24.5 million, or $0.24 per diluted share. The discounter has held onto its upward trajectory even as grocery prices moderate nationwide. "Our second-quarter results came in ahead of our expectations and were driven by strong same-store sales growth and gross margin expansion,” CEO RJ Sheedy said in a statement. The company continued its rapid expansion, opening four new locations during the quarter, bringing its total to 447 grocery stores nationwide. Grocery Outlet reported it is still on track to open 25 to 28 new stores this year, with eight of those in the third quarter and the remainder in the fourth quarter. Grocery Outlet, which touts big discounts on brand-name products, reported its adjusted EBITDA increased by 22.7% to $70.5 million or 7.0% of net sales. Adjusted net income also jumped to $31.9 million, or $0.27 per adjusted diluted share. The retailer expressed confidence in its current momentum and raised its fiscal 2023 outlook for comparable-store sales to 7% to 8%, up from 5% to 6%. Grocery Outlet also raised its guidance during the first quarter, after reporting same-store sales growth of 12.1% for the quarter ended April 1. “Our differentiated model and compelling value proposition are resonating with both new and existing customers, and our performance is being driven by strong transaction growth,” Sheedy said in a statement. “Looking forward, we are pleased to be raising guidance for the year and we are well positioned for future growth.” Read more: Grocery Outlet reaches milestone: 1st quarter to hit $1B in net sales (winsightgrocerybusiness.com)

Aldi has partnered with Shell to introduce new Electric Vehicle (EV) chargers at 11 Aldi stores across the UK. Four 50kW rapid chargers will be installed in areas including Hinckley, Cambuslang, Chapel-en-le-Frith, Paignton, Ulverston, Welshpool, Deal and New Malden. Customers of the German discounter can access charger location, availability information and estimated cost of a charging session through the Shell Recharge app – and can pay for charging either via the app or by contactless card. Additionally, no subscription is required to use the chargers. Following the installation of EV chargers in the first 11 stores, Aldi is now planning to explore the expansion of the partnership across the UK, based on customer feedback. General manager of Shell Mobility UK, Bernie Williamson said: “Our ambition is for 90% of UK drivers to be within 10 minutes of a Shell rapid charger by 2030, whether on one of our forecourts or at other convenient destinations. He added: “Now Aldi customers will be able to charge up while they shop. Our 2023 EV drivers survey shows 63% of UK respondents say the availability of charge points influences where they shop and travel.” Real estate director at Aldi UK, George Brown commented: “We are committed to being an environmentally responsible retailer and we want to help our customers live more sustainably. “We are pleased to be partnering with Shell for this trial, to provide our customers with access to rapid charging while they shop our high-quality, affordable products in store.” Earlier this year, the supermarket announced that it will be reducing its carbon footprint through a series of new energy-saving measures, such as installing chiller doors, air source heat pumps and more efficient fridges and lights. Source: Grocery Gazett

Kazyon, the Egyptian discount retailer, has received a $165m equity investment from private equity company DPI. Co-investors include British International Investment (BII) and South Suez. DPI is an Africa specialist investor whose portfolio includes Nigerian QSR operator Food Concepts and Tunisian FMCG manufacturer SICAM. Kazyon is its only investment in a grocery retailer. The investment has actually been made in parent company Kazyon UK Ltd. DPI partner Ziad Abaza and Kazyon founder Hassan Heikal have both been board member directors of Kazyon UK since May 2022, i.e. almost a full year ago. Kazyon is the largest Egyptian discount supermarket chain founded in 2014 and has more than 600 stores across 18 governates in Egypt, employing more than 4,000 employees. A small format discounter, it competes directly against Turkish discounter BIM, which has 311 stores in Egypt. While BIM’s growth in Egypt has stalled – we believe because the company is focusing on improving profitability at the expense of growth. It has opened stores over the past year, up from a reported 300 stores in Q1 2022 to 311 in Q4 2022. However, in Q1 2020 it had 320 stores. By contrast, Kazyon consistently reported 450 stores across 17 governates in 2021/2022. As such, its enlarged store network of 600 stores represents substantial growth that outstrips the other high growth supermarket chain in Egypt, Carrefour (Majid al Futtaim). Bear in mind it opened its 200th store on July 5th 2017. Kazyon, whose corporate website stopped working in 2022, does not produce any publicly available information on its store network or network growth. The language around the investment is interesting. Kazyon is a modern supermarket chain, albeit a discounter. In 2022, the modern trade accounted for just 17% of grocery retail sales in Egypt and was strongly focused on the urban middle class. But Kazyon now talks of providing “access to affordable products to the underserved market in Egypt,” representing a shift in positioning, certainly against its competitors. We think its mission to target the underserved must be placed in the specific context of bringing modern retail to underserved middle income neighbourhoods in major towns and cities. It isn’t targeting the lowest income consumers or rural consumers right now. We note, however, that DPI has an investment in MNT-Halan, a new, disruptive lender to unbanked Egyptian consumers and therefore an area where it already has data and expertise. The news release accompanying the investment also talks of new markets (here meaning additional countries). It is customary for expansionist retailers to talk about new country markets but rarely materializes quickly. Perhaps the interest is DPI’s existing investment portfolio and experience: Morocco, Tunisia and Algeria as well as Nigerian and Botswana. Of those markets, the most obvious options are Morocco, where BIM also operates, and Tunisia, where there is no major small format discounter. $165m pays for a lot of expansion but we still expect the focus to be on Egypt, where Kazyon is already embedded and where restrictions on imported FMCG products to protect fx hand an advantage to a local retailer selling a limited range of SKUs, primarily sourced domestically and to a population undergoing a severe cost of living crisis. Source: Trendtype #smartdiscount #kazyon #dpi #egypt #discounters #growth #smartdiscount #discount #discountfoodretail #discounter #foodretail #retail #drc #consultancy #discountretailconsulting #retailconsulting #consulting

Discount Retail Chain Penny Germany (owned by the German REWE Group) have committed to setting short- and long-term company-wide reduction targets in line with the science-based net zero standard of the Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi). The SBTi is a coalition of partners CDP, the United Nations Global Compact, the World Resources Institute (WRI) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF) and works closely with scientific institutions to develop climate targets that are in line with the requirements of the Paris Agreement. SBTi targets are based on scientific principles, a long-term, holistic approach and are consistently geared towards drastically reducing the company's direct and indirect emissions. By opting for a net-zero target according to the SBTi standard, we are committing to comprehensive measures that effectively reduce our emissions and at the same time promote innovative solutions along the entire supply chain. Read more: Rewe and Penny join Science Based Targets initiative (SBTi) ‹ Fruchtportal

Discount Retail Chain BİM Birleşik Mağazalar A.Ş. (listed BIST: BIMAS) aims to meet 25% of its total electricity consumption with electricity generated from SPP projects by 2025. The report, prepared in compliance with the GRI Standards published by the Global Reporting Initiative (GRI), addressed all areas of sustainability and shared BİM's investments and targets set for a sustainable future. Acting in line with the principle of transparency, BİM openly shared its management approach, strategy and risk management regarding the risks and opportunities identified in connection with the climate crisis. While the ratio of BİM's sustainable product turnover to total turnover was 8.6% in 2022, this ratio is targeted to reach 10% by 2026. BİM is also working hard to minimise the environmental impact of its stores and warehouses. In this regard, BİM focused on energy efficiency and renewable energy. Thus, the aim is to prevent the use of fossil fuels and reduce greenhouse gas emissions. Started in 2021, the solar power plants project, which stands out as an exemplary practice in the sector, continued in 2022 and the installation of Solar Power Plants (SPP) on 7 more warehouse roofs was completed. A total of 10 warehouses of BİM generate electricity through SPPs. Thanks to the 12,220 MWh of electricity generated in 2022, 5.3 thousand tonnes of CO2 was saved. In 2022, the total installed capacity of the 10 SPP projects reached 15 MW, while the ongoing projects aim to reach a total installed capacity of 40 MW in 2023. In 2022, the electricity generated from SPP projects reached 2.2% of BİM's total electricity consumption. By 2025, this ratio is targeted to be 25%. Read more: https://english.bim.com.tr/Categories/677/sustainability.aspx

For the European grocery sector, 2022 was all about inflation and growing consumer price sensitivity. This led to the biggest decrease in the margins of grocers in five years. In real values, turnover dropped by 7.1 percent, driven by intensified downtrading across income brackets. While margins are decreasing, interest rates and capital costs are rising. As a result, many grocery retailers see the challenge is financing the investments both in sustainability and technology that are necessary to reduce emissions, build resilience, and drive future growth. This year’s Eurocommerce report takes a comprehensive look at the key trends shaping the grocery sector in the coming years. How will the fact that consumers plan to save more money on food affect different formats, channels, and categories? Will grocery retailers need to look for further economies of scale to better deal with rising costs and increased margin pressure? To what extent are grocers equipped and resolved to leverage analytics and automation to drive productivity? As e–grocery largely retains the uplift observed during the pandemic and meal delivery grows, will more online offerings reach break–even in 2023? Finally, will more grocers join the ranks of the pioneers who already engage their suppliers to reduce greenhouse–gas emissions that occur during food production? Read more: State-of-grocery-2023_Low-res.pdf (eurocommerce.eu)

Discount Retail Chain Penny Germany (owned by the German REWE Group) raises price of products including wiener sausage, cheese and yoghurt in week-long experiment One of the 5 main discounters in Germany has raised the prices of a selection of its products to reflect their real cost on people’s health and the environment. In a week-long experiment in all 2,150 stores of the Penny chain, a range of nine products, mainly dairy and meat, will be priced at what experts from two universities have deemed to be their true cost, in relation to their effect on soil, climate, water use and health. The “wahre Kosten” or “real costs” campaign has seen the price of wiener sausages rise from €3.19 to €6.01, mozzarella go up by 74% to €1.55, and fruit yoghurt increase by 31% from €1.19 to €1.56. The awareness promotion week is taking place in conjunction with academics from the Nuremberg Institute of Technology and the University of Greifswald, and was triggered by the conviction among consumer researchers that price tags in supermarkets in no way reflect the true environmental or long-term health costs of producing the foodstuffs and getting them on to retailers’ shelves. Included are a range of foods from cheese and other dairy products to processed meats such as sausages, as well as vegan meat replacements such as vegan schnitzels (which were given a moderate 5% increase). Wiener sausages and the popular maasdamer cheese, which has risen by 94% to €4.84, are among the items to go up most in price. Regarding the cheese, the scientists calculated hidden costs of 85 cents for climate-harming emissions such as methane and CO2, as well as 76 cents for damage to the soil from intensive farming and animal feed production, 63 cents for the effect of pesticides used, including their impact on the health of farmers, as well as 10 cents for pollution of groundwater through the use of fertiliser. The discounter has said it will donate the excess proceeds it makes from the sales, without commenting on whether it was prepared to take a knock in profits. The charity Zukunftsbauer or Future Farmer, which supports family-run farms in Alpine regions, many of which are increasingly struggling to survive amid low returns or sometimes even making losses on their produce, will be the beneficiary. “We wish to create an awareness around the hidden environmental costs of groceries,” Penny’s chief operating officer, Stefan Görges, told German media. “We need to put out the uncomfortable message that the prices of our foodstuffs which are accrued along the supply chain in no way reflect the environmental on-costs.” Dr Amelie Michalke, an industrial engineer and sustainability expert from the University of Greifswald in northern Germany, said it was not yet possible to present the real cost to health and the environment for more than a select range of products. The experiment had therefore been limited to a smaller range for which it had been possible to make realistic calculations. “There is a lack of comprehensive scientific groundwork on this. But we hope this will give us a strong impulse to discuss and consider prices for groceries in a way that is user-friendly and fair,” she said. Read more: German supermarket trials charging true climate cost of foods | Germany | The Guardian

Discount Retail Chain Lidl North Macedonia (owned by the German Schwarz Group) enters the North Macedonian market with the construction of its first store. This will be the 33rd country in which Lidl is active with stores. The construction of the first Lidl store in North Macedonia started in Bitola, with August 3 as the start date of work on one of the two purchased plots. According to bitolanews.mk, the Lidl store will be located at the Dulie roundabout. According to the same source, construction crews these days cleaned the area that was fenced off and installed a construction board that says that the construction of the market will take a year. In addition to buying land for the construction of stores, the company is constantly looking for workers for the logistics center that will most likely be located in Kumanovo, according to the portal bankar.me. The store will most likely be supplied from Bulgaria at the start. The opening date of the first stores is unofficially mentioned in 2026. Read more: InStore