Amazon disrupting small and big grocers - Amazon interrumpiendo pequeñas y grandes tiendas de alimentos frescos

16 million Americans buy their groceries at either Costco or Sam's Club. Now Amazon is using Prime to disrupt groceries as well, businessinsider.in reports. The cost and complexity of delivering groceries is what ultimately led to the downfall of Webvan and other startups that have tried to disrupt the $600B-a-year grocery industry.

Membership grocery services help secure consumers as repeat customers and allow companies to lower individual shipping fees on every order. Shipping fees are typically a big barrier for grocery delivery because orders must be delivered fast to guarantee freshness. The grocery delivery model is attractive because it guarantees that customers are getting fresh food straight from their local supermarket.

UK: buying vegetables cheaper at UK's supermarkets The cost of a weekly grocery shop fell by 1% in the last month and 7% in the last year, an analysis has found, mirror.co.uk reports. The cost of a basket of 35 items now costs £87.70, down from £88.59 in March, the mySupermarket Groceries Tracker shows. The average weekly shop from the main UK supermarkets has fallen 7% since March last year, when the same basket cost £93.95. Products that dropped in price the most were carrots, down 7.49% since March last year.

US: "Walmart should be a pleasant place"
Wal-Mart U.S. President Greg Foran added a new strategic push to the retailer’s revitalization efforts: Its stores, Foran said, simply have to be more pleasant places to shop, The Washington Post reports. “We want this year to be the year of improving our stores, so by the time we hit holiday season, our stores are clean, tidy, well-merchandised and run by engaged associates,” Foran said. “Today, for the most part, they’re not.”

German REWE poised for acquisitions after strong 2014
The strong finances of Germany's second-biggest supermarket group REWE mean it is well positioned to pounce on potential acquisitions, its CEO said on Tuesday after profit grew faster than it expected in 2014. It reported a 3% rise in sales to €42.5B and a 29% jump in earnings before interest, taxation and amortisation (EBITA) to €468M, Reuters reports. He said that REWE was continuing to grow faster than the stagnant German supermarket sector in 2015, with sales at its stores up 4.6% in January and February.

Emart to open first store in Vietnam
The Korean retailer has announced that its first mall and hypermarket in Vietnam will open in Ho Chi Minh City by October this year, retailanalysis.igd.com reports. Emart’s general director in Vietnam, Choi Kwang Ho, said that the retailer is investing up to US$ 60M in the new development at Go Vap, whilst it is also planning another four shopping malls over the next three years.

Study: multi-channel grocery shopping on the rise worldwide
Multi-channel grocery shopping is surging across the globe, according to a major new study by customer-science company Dunnhumby, nationmultimedia.com reports. The survey analysed the shopping habits of 7 million people in 14 countries in Europe, Asia and the Americas. The report revealed that huge growth was taking place across the full spectrum of multi-channel market development, with nascent markets such as Thailand growing by more than four times year on year. Even the most established online grocery categories were still enjoying significant growth globally.

AU groceries boost online sales
Online sales are estimated to have grown by 8.7% year on year after strong growth in February, especially in homewares and groceries, according to the NAB online retail sales index, canberratimes.com.au reports. The bank estimates Australians spent $16.7B on online retail in the 12 months up to February 2015.

AU: Woolworths' on your wrist
Woolworths is set to be one of the first apps available for Apple Watch when it launches in Australia later this month, smh.com.au reports. The supermarket giant's "Woolies Shop" Apple Watch app is designed to help customers with their supermarket shopping and provides quick access to information to find the nearest Woolies store and to shop quickly and easily.

Amazon India to be fast at grocery delivery
Amazon's new 'Kirana Now' programme, which promises to deliver orders from small neighbourhood stores in two to four hours, was launched as India's budding online grocery retailers increase focus on timely delivery instead of building warehouses, indiatimes.com reports. The service offers convenience to customers and increases business for local stores.

Tesco's on April Fools' day
In the UK, Tesco announced that it would be introducing "bouncy aisles" so that customers could jump to hard-to-reach upper shelves and have fun while grocery shopping, supermarketnews.com reporst.

Tesco UK changing the ways it charges suppliers
Tesco is changing the way it charges its suppliers by cutting the number of ways it can seek payment from 24 to three, Dave Lewis the CEO of the company has said, agriland.ie reports. In an interview with the Grocer recently, Lewis said that Tesco plans to make the cut from 24 to three by 2017.

Ireland: Dunnes staff strike
Thousands of staff at Dunnes Stores are staging a one-day strike in a dispute over low-hour contracts, job and income security and the right to trade union representation, bizjournals.com reports. More than 6,000 of the union's members at Dunnes Stores are taking part in the strike. While Dunnes management has not issued any formal comment, in a recent letter to staff they warned that the strike could harm the company and lead to redundancies.

US: Kroger buys former Nash Finch facility
The Kroger Co. has bought the former Nash Finch Co. distribution facility and land in Blue Ash, cincinnati.com reports. Cincinnati-based Kroger closed on a deal Friday to buy the property spanning more than 25 acres for $9.3M, according to the Hamilton County auditor's office.

PNC funds Haggen's supermarket conversion
PNC Financial Services Group Inc. on Wednesday said it led a $210M financing round for a Pacific Northwest grocery retailer to fund conversions of 146 acquired stores, bizjournals.com reports.

German competition watchdog blocks Edeka's bid for Kaiser's
Germany's competition watchdog has decided to prohibit a plan by the country's biggest supermarket group Edeka to buy grocery chain Kaiser's, despite concessions it made, it said on Wednesday, Reuters reports. Andreas Mundt, who heads the competition watchdog, said the takeover would further limit competition in big cities like Berlin and Munich, giving Edeka a market share of more than 10% in some places, potentially leading to price rises.

7-Eleven and FamilyMart developing e-payment
In Taiwan, leading convenience players 7-Eleven and FamilyMart are developing new mobile solutions including e-payment and iBeacon technology in order to create a seamless shopping experience, retailanalysis.igd.com reports.
Top developments in UK grocery
What are the key developments in UK food and grocery retailing that businesses need to know about? Steve Jones, head of retail insight at IGD Retail Analysis, explores four highlights that should be on your radar during April and beyond:



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