Ahold's Stop & Shop to acquire A&P

Swiss Coop tests controversial pricing policy
Switzerland’s biggest retailer, Coop, is testing out personalized pricing in its online store, offering some customers higher reductions than others on the same products, thelocal.ch reports. The test has been launched against the backdrop of falling sales as shoppers take advantage of lower euro prices over the Swiss border. August Harder, Coop’s head of IT, told the Schweiz am Sonntag that new software developed in Germany is being used to analyse individuals’ shopping orders. “We are still in the testing phase but hope to play a leading role in this area in Switzerland,” Harder said.

AU: It’s official — Aldi has the happiest customers.
Price-conscious Aussie shoppers have named Aldi the country’s best supermarket for the second year in a row in consumer research company Canstar Blue’s supermarket satisfaction awards, news.com.au reports. The German discount chain took five stars in four out of eight categories, including value for money, deals/specials available and private label products, and was the only supermarket to achieve top marks for overall satisfaction. The customer satisfaction ratings were achieved by asking survey respondents to score the supermarket chain they use for the bulk of their shopping across a range of criteria. After taking the top honour last year, Aldi went one up in 2015, increasing from four stars to five in overall satisfaction and three stars to four in customer service. Woolworths ranked lowest out of the five supermarkets, taking three stars in all categories except product variety, where it scored four stars. IGA scored three stars in all categories except customer service, where it increased from four stars to five.

US: Ahold's Stop & Shop division to acquire 25 A&P stores
Ahold today announced its Stop & Shop division has entered into an agreement with The Great Atlantic & Pacific Tea Company to acquire 25 A&P stores in Greater New York for $146m, finance.yahoo.com reports. Upon completion, Stop & Shop plans to convert the Waldbaums, Pathmark and A&P stores that are part of the agreement into Stop & Shop stores. The transaction is currently expected to close in the second half of 2015. The agreement is subject to further terms and conditions set forth therein and relating to A&P`s (chapter 11) bankruptcy proceedings filed on July 19, 2015, which include the potential of a subsequent auction under which other higher bid or bids could be received and accepted by A&P for these stores.

Merger of Piccadilly, Carrefour chains in Bulgaria falls through
A merger between the owner of Bulgarian supermarket chain Piccadilly and Carrefour’s franchisee in the country has been called off, dnevnik.bg reported on Monday. According to KMB BV, the company holding the Carrefour franchise in Bulgaria and owned by Greece’s Marinopoulos Group, the merger won’t proceed. "KMB BV will continue to manage its network autonomously with new experienced management team that will immediately put into force the action plan for the continued development of operations, setting customer needs at the center of the company's business ", dnevnik.bg quoted KMB BV as saying in a statement. (English source: novinite.com)

UK: Tesco data unit buyer faces contract overhaul
Bidders for Tesco's Clubcard data unit will be forced to negotiate a new contract with the supermarket giant within five years, a prospect which may further deflate its hopes of attracting a bumper price for the business, news.sky.com reports. Tesco, which is recovering from the most tumultuous year in its history, was initially expected to reap a £2bn windfall from the sale of Dunnhumby.

German supermarket Aldi switching fully to sustainable cocoa
German discount supermarket chain Aldi will increase its use of cocoa certified as coming from sustainable farming from 90% to 100% for production of its own-brand products, it said on Monday, Reuters reports.

US: 7-Eleven takes convenience shopping to the next level
7-Eleven has taken its mantra of "what customers want, when and where they want it" to the next level, piloting on-demand, one-hour delivery, risnews.edgl.com reports. Select stores in San Francisco and Oakland, Calif., now offer on-demand delivery through Postmates iOS, Android or web app. An assortment of 7-Eleven's products from hot foods and snacks to cold beverages and other convenience items is just a few taps away and will be delivered by Postmates to customers in an hour or less.

Retail sales in Russia fall for the eight month in the row
Retail trade turnover in Russia continues to fall for the eighth month in a row, reports gazeta.ru. This conclusion follows published data by the Federal State Statistics Service. Retail trade turnover from January to June 2015 fell by 8% to €209.22 trillion, at the end of June it increased by 9.4% on an annualised basis, to €36,13 trillion. In monthly terms, retail sales are rising for the second month: 0.4% in June and 2.1% in May. The share of food products, including beverages and tobacco, in retail trade turnover was 48.7%, whilst non-food products had 51.3%.

Retail sales in Ukraine collapse
Retail trade turnover in Ukraine (not including the Crimea and the Donetsk and Luhansk regions), in January-June 2015 decreased by 24.6% compared to the same period in 2014, (in comparable prices) - to €19,6bn, news.finance.ua reports. The biggest retail trade turnover decreases were seen in Luhansk and Donetsk regions - by 84.2% and 71.5%, to €170m and €710m, respectively. The smallest reduction in retail turnover in the first half of the year was observed in Lviv 10.3 %, Rivne 11.7 % and Chernivtsi by 12.6 %. Retail turnover in Kiev during the reported period decreased by 13.9 % - to €3bn. In 2014, retail turnover in Ukraine decreased by 8.6% compared with 2013 - to €378bn.

Portuguese Pingo Doce has been fined €500,000
Portuguese supermarket chain Pingo Doce has been fined €500,000 by the Economic, Food and Health Safety Agency (ASAE) for selling products under cost, esmmagazine.com reports. The fine relates to a promotional campaign conducted on 1 May 2014, when Pingo Doce provided a 50% discount on the bill for anyone spending over €10. The decision of ASAE is based on the Individual Restrictive Trade Practices laws of 2013, which regulates contracts between distributors and suppliers of agricultural and industrial products. According to the laws, “it is forbidden to offer for sale or to sell an asset to a company or to a consumer for a price below its actual purchase price, plus taxes applicable to that sale and, where applicable, the charges relating to transport."

AU: Woolies has self to blame, AFIC says
Woolworths “opened up the oxygen for competitors” by focusing on profit at the expense of customers in recent years, the head of Australia’s biggest listed investment company says, heraldsun.com.au reports. And the national economy will not be able to flourish again without taxation and labour market reform, Australian Foundation Investment Company managing director Ross Barker says. Speaking yesterday as the group posted its results for the year to June, Mr Barker said AFIC had been “disappointed” by the retailer’s performance. (Please, click here to read more.)

Italian Gruppo Pam focuses on local sourcing
Italian retailer Gruppo Pam has launched a campaign called Selezionamo da Italiani, promoting Italian products in its Pam and Panorama stores, igd.com reports. The campaign, whose title translates as 'We select from Italian [products]', consists of four videos featuring different suppliers: fruit & vegetables, fish, cheese and cured meats. Earlier this year, Pam launched an organic private label range, Veg&Veg, aimed at vegetarians and vegans. The range comprises 150 products.

Portugal's Amanhecer mini market surpasses 200 stores
Portuguese mini-market network Amanhecer has surpassed 200 franchised stores in continental Portugal and the island of Madeira, esmmagazine.com reports. Since the beginning of the year, with an average of two openings per week, Amanhecer opened 67 neighbourhood stores, in addition to the existing 150 at the end of 2014.