Grocery deflation continues to tumble as Aldi and Lidl ramp up supermarket price war December 16, 2014 The supermarket sector has nudged back into growth after the surprise decline recorded last month. Figures out today from Kantar Worldpanel show that for the 12 weeks to December 7, the grocery market grew 0.1 per cent. The data company said this was down to “shoppers putting slightly more in their baskets compared with [...]
Thames Water releases updated 12 Days of Christmas video as an “anti-fatberg” message December 15, 2014 If you're the sort of person for whom jolly Christmas songs can all get a bit sickly then Thames Water might just have the festive message for you. The utilities company – which has spent much of the year battling fatbergs in the city's sewers – has recorded a reworked version of the 12 [...]
Lidl’s Lidl Surprises Christmas advert helps to keep discounter ahead of the game – Brand Index December 9, 2014 Budget supermarkets, and specifically Aldi and Lidl, have taken the British high street by storm, with consumers warmly embracing the German retailers’ “low price but high quality” message. All supermarkets have ramped up their advertising efforts in time for Christmas. However, Lidl’s Lidl Surprises displays a confidence that they can challenge the big brands not [...]
Blackstone mulls £1.5bn takeover of drinks bottler December 7, 2014 US PRIVATE equity giant Blackstone Group is considering a £1.5bn takeover bid for Refresco Gerber, Europe’s largest soft drinks bottler, it emerged yesterday. The US investment specialist is among several interested parties weighing up bids for the Anglo-Dutch company. Blackstone’s private equity rival KKR and CVC Partners are also rumoured to be circling, with bids [...]
YouTube ranking: John Lewis, Sainsbury’s, Burberry and Marks and Spencer have the best Christmas ads of 2014 December 2, 2014 It’s only the second day of December, but we've already been treated to a sneak peak of the joy ahead for the Christmas season via the medium of advertising. This year, retailers battled it out with penguins, soldiers and celebs in a bid to get the public into the festive spirit and spend their pennies- although [...]
Matthew Barnes takes the Aldi reins solo as Roman Heini returns to Germany November 21, 2014 Aldi is restructuring its top team in the UK and Ireland, with Matthew Barnes taking over as chief executive from April next year. Barnes has been joint group managing director for Aldi UK and Ireland, alongside Roman Heini, since 2010. Heini is stepping down from his, instead taking on the position of chairman [...]
Supermarket price war fails to save sector as it enters negative sales territory for first time on record November 18, 2014 The supermarket "price war" has failed to help kick-start sales, with the sector falling into negative territory for the first time since records began in 1994. Sales were down 0.2 per cent for the 12 weeks to November 9, according to Kantar Worldpanel. The average basket price of everyday goods such as milk, bread [...]
Are you a Waitrose Wendy or a Tesco Tracey: How do the UK’s supermarket shoppers look? November 17, 2014 What does a Waitrose shopper look like, and how would you tell them apart from a Sainsbury's regular? There's actually not much to choose between them, according to YouGov, which has just released the best visualisation tool we've seen for a while. What YouGov says is particular (as opposed to generally true) about [...]
Asda hits out at rivals for using price gimmicks November 13, 2014 Asda yesterday accused its supermarket rivals of resorting to “short-term gimmicks”, such as vouchers, to buy customer’s loyalty as the US-owned group reported a slump in third-quarter underlying sales. The UK’s second-largest food retailer, said like-for-like sales fell 1.6 per cent in the 13 weeks to 30 September compared with a 0.6 per cent rise [...]
John Lewis Christmas advert 2014: Monty the Penguin is likely to sell out and Tom Odell’s cover of John Lennon’s Real Love is a contender to top the festive charts November 6, 2014 Monty the penguin has been released into the wild… but it looks like he won’t be there for long. The cute character and star of John Lewis’ highly anticipated Christmas ad, which will either bring a tear to your eye or make you feel nauseous depending on your disposition, is proving popular already. Merchandise featuring [...]