Walmart making major shopping cart change in 11 states

Instacart focuses on diversifying tech, brand partners to fuel growth
The company is expanding its advertising base to include emerging brands and growing its retail partnerships by providing more services, CEO Fidji Simo said at a conference.

Instacart built its reputation on being a third-party e-commerce provider. But now the company’s growth is based on diversifying the range of services it offers its retail clients as well as broadening its base of ad partners, Fidji Simo, the company’s CEO and chair, said Tuesday during the Goldman Sachs Communacopia & Technology Conference.

With its advertising base, Instacart initially relied on serving large brands but is now focusing on bringing on more small and emerging brands, Simo said.

Source: GroceryDive

Walmart making major shopping cart change in 11 states
Caroline’s Carts, a grocery cart for kids with special needs invented by Alabaster mom Drew Ann Long, is being introduced in multiple states to allow caregivers of children and adults with disabilities to navigate shopping more easily. The carts feature larger seats front buggy seats capable of holding individuals up to 250 pounds.

“Equipping our stores with Caroline’s Carts provides some relief to parents and caregivers who need this tool and know it’s available at their Walmart. Whether they’re caring for someone with a disability or a temporary injury, the carts support our customers when and how they need it every time they come through our doors,” Cedric Clark, executive vice president of store operations at Walmart, said in a statement.

Source: AL.com

Saskatoon Superstore employees to wear body cameras as crime increases
When someone mentions body cameras, it’s normal to think of police officers. Well, it appears retail workers might be next in line to wear cameras at work. The grocery giant Loblaws said two stores in Saskatoon will be trialing body cams for managers and security.

The two locations include the Confederation Superstore and Shoppers Drug Mart on 22nd Street. Two Loblaws stores in Calgary also have staff wearing body cameras. The company said trials are part of a pilot project to increase safety for customers and staff where crime is a concern.

“Our asset protection/security team and the on-duty store manager will be trained to use the cameras effectively in their roles,” Loblaws said in a statement.

Source: Globalnews.ca

Target to hire 100,000 seasonal employees, launches early holiday promotions
Target, said on Monday it would employ about 100,000 seasonal workers this holiday season, in line with the last three years, even as inflation-weary shoppers are expected to stay frugal during the key shopping period. Holiday retail sales are expected to grow at their slowest pace in six years, according to data from Deloitte last week. Target said the seasonal hires were for its stores and supply chain facilities, with majority of them working at its stores.

Walmart said its holiday hiring plans would be consistent with the past few years, where the company first offered more hours to existing employees and hired additional workers if needed. The retail bellwether had hired about 40,000 seasonal workers in 2022.

Source: Reuters

UK: Supermarket crowned as cheapest after 15% price cut and it’s not Aldi or Lidl
A supermarket which was once accused of ‘laughing at customers’ with their increased prices has beaten Aldi and Lidl for its deals in a second week. Although it was named amongst the most expensive retailers last year, Morrisons has been given the crown of ‘cheapest’ supermarket, the Manchester Evening News reports. The chain cut the price of chicken breasts by 15% as part of its More Card scheme, a loyalty system giving exclusive prices of a number of products and allowing customers to collect points for vouchers. As this offer will remain until September 22, Morrisons is still working out as the cheapest of all main supermarkets.

Every week since March 2022, the Manchester Evening News compares the price of the basket at Morrisons, Sainsbury’s Tesco, Asda, Aldi and Lidl. In April, Morrisons actually worked out as the most expensive and in July, it was accused of hiking prices.

Source: Manchester Evening News

France/India: Carrefour to re-enter Indian market
French retailer Carrefour is set to re-enter the Indian market after a decade, this time through a franchise agreement with Dubai- based Apparel Group. Carrefour, a leading global food retailer, had previously exited India in 2014 after four years of operating as a wholesaler. The company struggled to scale up and achieve profitability due to India’s restrictive retail laws, which were designed to protect small neighborhood stores, known as Kirana shops, from direct competition.

Carrefours re-entry into the Indian market will involve a retail format with store sizes ranging from 8,000 to 30,000 square feet. The company will start by focusing on North India, with plans to expand nationwide over time. The first store is scheduled to open in the National Capital Region (NCR) in 2025,

Source: Propnewstime

UK: Ocado customers left fuming as online grocery retailer says sorry and cancels deliveries at last minute
Ocado customers have taken to social media to vent spleen after the online grocery retailer cancelled deliveries at late notice yesterday. In an email sent to customers, Laura Harricks, Chief Customer Officer, Ocado Retail, said: “We’re very sorry, but we’re unable to deliver your Ocado order. Of course, you won’t be charged for this order.”

She added: “You can rebook the same order if you like. Just log in to ocado.com as normal and select ‘Rebook’ to choose a new date and time. To make it up to you, here’s a £20.00 voucher. It’s valid until 16/12/2024. Thank you for your understanding. Sincerest apologies.”

Harricks did not give a reason for the cancellations, but on X, Ocado’s customer service peeps told one disgruntled customer: “There is an operational reason preventing us from picking and packing the order, which is why the order has been cancelled. If you’d like to discuss this further, please DM us.”

The aforementioned email, somewhat unsurprisingly, resulted in an onslaught of unhappy shoppers. Karen Garner said on X: “Order cancelled at short notice tonight for 6am delivery. Not much notice.”

Source: Retail Tech Innovation Hub

UK: Major supermarkets make huge closure announcement affecting over 300 stores
The John Lewis Group – which owns Waitrose – has confirmed that it will be closing its over 300 stores for two days over Christmas. All Waitrose and John Lewis stores will close on Christmas Day, however, it will also be closing stores on Boxing Day too. The only two stores which will be open the day after Christmas will be the John Lewis store in Trafford and Stratford shopping centre.

Source: Mirror

UK: Aldi announces 23-store expansion
The retailer is investing £800 million to accelerate growth across the region before the end of the year. Aldi has announced its largest ever package of annual investment to accelerate its expansion across the UK. The retailer is focusing on lowering prices and opening stores, as it aims to expand across 23 new locations before the end of the year. The new stores will be established across different areas of the region, including Muswell Hill, London and Mere Green, Birmingham.

The chain will also refurbish 100 existing stores this year as well as expanding its network of distribution centers and updating technology infrastructure to support its growth.

Source: MobilityPlaza

Australia: Woolworths at Goonellabah spend $2.8 million to increase grocery pickup and home delivery
Woolworths has submitted a DA (development application) with Lismore City Council for ‘Proposed alterations and additions to an existing shopping centre to provide Direct To Boot services & additional Home Delivery services, including the construction of a roof canopy, relocation of Tomra recycling container, storage area, loading docks and associated signage, along with an extension of the loading hours.

The changes are estimated to cost $2.8 million. The proposed changes are at the front of the Woolworths building outside Anytime Fitness. Six new ‘direct to boot’ rear parking bays will be developed to service the increased need for online shopping.

Source: Lismore App

Japan: 7-Eleven parent’s new security rating won’t affect a buyout, Japan minister says
The new classification of 7-Eleven’s parent company as “core” to Japanese national security will not raise hurdles to a potential buyout, Japan’s finance minister said on Tuesday, comments that appeared aimed at easing investor concerns about the move.

“We can’t say the core classification makes a buyout more difficult,” Suzuki told reporters, days after Seven & i Holdings became one of 88 companies added to the government’s list of companies regarded as crucial to national security.

The change prompted speculation among some market participants that Seven & i, which was previously designated as “non-core” was attempting to better defend itself from a potential takeover by Canada’s Alimentation Couche-Tard.

Source: Reuters

Australia: Coles rolls out compostable fresh produce bags
Coles has rolled out new fresh produce bags that can be reused to collect kitchen food scraps, in line with the next stage of Western Australia’s plastic ban which came into effect September 1. Made from compostable materials including natural plant starch, the new clear bags carry the Australasian seedling logo which certifies their ‘compostability’ as per the Australian Standard.

The bags can either be added to home compost heaps or disposed of in green council bins for those in participating Local Government Areas (LGA).

Matt Swindells, Coles Group Chief Operations and Sustainability Officer, said the change introduced across the retailer’s 101 Western Australian stores will help reduce the number of conventional plastic bags in circulation and help encourage home composting.

Source: Wastemanagement review