Consumers’ own-label attitudes could pose a challenge to big brands November 30, 2016 Last week, Morrisons announced it was bringing back the Safeway brand. Originally a chain of supermarkets that the retailer absorbed in the mid-2000s, Morrisons has decided to launch a new range of own-label goods under the Safeway banner. An analysis of YouGov Profiles data shows that there are notable divergences among customers of certain supermarkets. [...]
Lidl becomes first supermarket to pay the voluntary living wage November 24, 2016 German discounter Lidl has become the first supermarket to pay the voluntary living wage. From 1 March , it will pay hourly rates between £8.45 and £9.75 in London. The chancellor announced yesterday that the mandatory national living wage rate will increase to £7.50 an hour at the beginning of April next year, although this was [...]
Asda records ninth consecutive quarterly sales drop November 17, 2016 Asda has reported yet another sizeable drop in sales. The struggling retailer has posted a like-for-like sales drop of 5.8 per cent in the three months to the end of September. This is the the ninth quarterly fall in sales in a row for the company which is suffering due to intense price competition from discount [...]
Morrisons’ bounce back shapes up with same-day delivery Amazon tie-up (but it’s bad news for Ocado’s share price) November 16, 2016 The dream team is very much in business. Yes, that's right: Amazon and Morrisons have developed their tie-up to launch the aptly named Morrisons at Amazon service. But it's bad news for Ocado: shares were down 9.4 per cent by the early afternoon. Ouch. From today, Amazon Prime customers in selected areas can order a full [...]
Sales at Tesco are growing at their fastest rate in three years – but Morrisons and Asda are still suffering November 15, 2016 The supertanker that is Tesco continues to change its course, after new figures suggested its sales rose to their highest in three years in the last quarter. Data by Kantar Worldpanel showed Tesco sales rose 2.2 per cent in the 12 weeks to 6 November, putting its market share at 28.2 per cent – up from [...]
Aldi wants to lure craft beer fans with… craft wine November 4, 2016 You can see Aldi's thinking. "Craft beer's still doing well: what next?" And it's landed on… craft wine. The discount supermarket is cracking open a range of "craft-beer-style wines" this month which it says will turn traditional wines "on their head". It's betting on the "Whole Foods generation and millennial drinkers" toasting the new beverages as many [...]
The Aldi fightback is on: Morrisons records fourth consecutive quarter of growth November 3, 2016 After the devastating news that Morrisons was hiking the price of Marmite, it needed a good third quarter. And it has delivered the fourth consecutive quarter of growth, with sales up 1.6 per cent. Potentially a sign of, whisper it quietly, momentum building? The figures The 13 weeks to 30 October, like-for-like sales were up [...]
How one buccaneering family dominated the UK scampi market October 20, 2016 "At the tender age of 32, I got involved in buying assets from the receivership of what was the Whitby Shellfish Company”, says Graham Whittle, founder of Whitby Seafoods. From relatively humble beginnings, in just over thirty years, the business has gone from one that was sinking to the biggest producer of scampi in the UK, [...]
HSBC marks out the winners and losers from the national living wage October 19, 2016 HSBC has today outlined how businesses can combat the cost pressures of the national living wage – and the kind of companies that will be the winners and losers from the legislation. The best way to offset the new costs is to find productivity growth, HSBC analysts said in a note, although "this would require a [...]
Take that, Aldi: Tesco gains market share for the first time in years but Morrisons, Sainsbury’s and Asda decline further October 18, 2016 It looks like Tesco is beginning to win the battle of the supermarkets, after new figures showed it won supermarket share in the last three months – for the first time in five years. Figures by Kantar Worldpanel showed Tesco increased sales by 1.3 per cent in the 12 weeks to 9 October, which pushed its [...]