United States: Walmart employees to return to office in early November
Walmart employees will return to the office starting the week of Nov. 8, the company said in a memo. The big box retailer is the country’s largest private employer, although most of the workers are based in stores and warehouses. Director of Human Resources Donna Morris said team leaders will inform employees of expectations to return to the office, depending on their role.
Source: cnbc.com

Amazon opens new robotics plant in US with more than 200 new manufacturing jobs
Amazon has announced the opening of a new, one-of-a-kind robotics manufacturing facility in Westborough, Massachusetts. The new facility will expand Amazon Robotics’ manufacturing capacity in the United States and Amazon’s growth in the region – and created more than 200 new jobs in Massachusetts.
Source: businesswire.com

GrubMarket Expands in Canada with Acquisition of Funtech Software
GrubMarket announced that it has completed the acquisition of Vancouver-based Funtech Software, a provider of complete e-commerce systems and online grocery software solutions for online grocery businesses and physical grocery stores, enabling them to manage their online business and reach more consumers. . This is the first acquisition of GrubMarket in Canada and the formation of GrubMarket’s first overseas software technology R&D center, leveraging the rich software engineering resources of the Vancouver area.
Source: prnewswire.com

PriceSmart Announces Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2021 Operating Results
PriceSmart, Inc., operator of 47 warehouse clubs in 12 countries and 1 US territory, announced its operating results for the 4th quarter and full year, which ended August 31, 2021. The figure of Total business for the 4th quarter of fiscal 2021 increased 12.2% to $ 909.6 million, compared to $ 810.6 million in the comparable period of the previous year. For the 4th quarter of fiscal 2021, net merchandise sales increased 12.7% to $ 871.2 million, from $ 772.9 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2020.
Source: prnewswire.com

UK: Tesco Says Online Services Reestablished After Interference ‘Attempt’
UK supermarket chain Tesco said its website and app were back after services were disrupted by an attempt to interfere with its systems. “Our website and online grocery app are now back up and running. Our teams have worked tirelessly to restore service, and we are very sorry for our customers for the inconvenience caused, ”said a spokesperson for Tesco.
Source: Reuters.com

Switzerland: Coop to increase minimum wage in 2022
Coop Suisse has announced that it will increase lower incomes and the minimum wage by 0.8% in total in 2022. In addition, Coop Suisse and its social partners have agreed on a new collective labor agreement (CLA) and ‘have been extended by 4 years. The new contract, which will come into effect in early 2022, will cover around 37,000 employees across the country.
Source: esmmagazine.com

UK: Iceland to offer free food to shoppers to reduce food waste
Iceland is preparing to offer food products free of charge to online customers on the last day of their shelf life in an effort to reduce food waste. The frozen food retailer has said its ‘Free on Last Day of Life’ program is expected to deliver more than 1.3 million items worth £ 500,000 per year to customers. All food products ordered and delivered by Iceland have already had a shelf life of at least 2 days.
Source: retailgazette.co.uk

Auchan completely withdraws from Asia
Auchan Retail sells its 64.83% stake in Taiwanese distributor RT-Mart to local supermarket group PX-Mart. The Ruentex group also sold its stake in RT-Mart, which allowed PX-Mart to own 95.97% of the company after the transaction. This sale is part of the plan to dispose of non-strategic assets and confirms the geographic reorientation of Auchan Retail.
Source: retaildetail.eu

Russian supermarket chains “Svetofor” and “Dobrocen” expected to enter Uzbek market
Uzbekistan continues to be the center of attention of retailers around the world. According to EastFruit experts, 2 Russian chains from the discount segment are entering the country’s retail market: Svetofor and Dobrocen. This means that the “supermarketization” of Uzbekistan continues!
Source: east-fruit.com

UK households are unaware of the impact of their food waste on the planet, Waitrose study finds
British adults estimate that almost a third of what they buy ends up in the trash, although 3 in 4 try to use more of the products that end up in their refrigerators and cupboards. Top 20 Foods Most Often Thrown Out For Dying According to British Adults: 1. Salad leaves; 2. Bread; 3. Milk; 4. Bananas; 5. Cucumber; 6. Strawberries; 7. Potatoes; 8. Eggs; 9. Tomatoes; 10. Carrots; 11. Cheese; 12. Yogurt; 13. Mushrooms; 14. Cream; 15. Apples; 16. Fresh meat; 17. Oranges; 18. Onions; 19. Fresh fish; 20. Blueberries.
Source: retailtimes.co.uk

United Kingdom: Tesco makes its “quiet hour” a permanent event
Tesco has confirmed that its “hour of silence” program will now become a permanent part of making the shopping experience more comfortable for customers. The supermarket giant initially launched an Hour of Silence recognizing that stores can be full of loud noises, bright lights or strong smells that are stressful for some customers.
Source: retailgazette.co.uk

Union calls on European authorities to expand Amazon’s antitrust investigation: here’s why
The UNI Global Union has called on European authorities to expand their antitrust investigation on Amazon.com to examine whether the company is engaged in the manufacture of counterfeit products and the manipulation of search results to promote its own brands on its platform. The global services union’s appeal follows a Reuters report accusing the e-commerce company of using internal data to reproduce products and alter search results in favor of its private labels.
Source: forbesmiddleeast.com

Germany: Gerd Chrzanowski takes the helm of the Schwarz group
Dieter Schwarz will hand over his position of general partner of the parent company of Lidl Schwarz Group to Gerd Chrzanowski on December 1, 2021. The former deputy general partner and CEO of Lidl Stiftung & Co. KG will take up his duties as planned after completing his integration , the company announced. . Gerd Chrzanowski will hand over the presidency of Lidl to his successor, Kenneth McGrath, on December 1, 2021.
Source: esmmagazine.com

Belgium: Colruyt launches crowdshipping service for its Collect & Go online store
From now on, the customers of Collect & Go, the online shopping service of Colruyt Group, can have their home delivered. The retailer uses private drivers for the delivery: a form of crowdshipping.
Source: retaildetail.eu

Concerns over the new grocery shopping alliance in Europe
AIM, the European Brand Association, said it was increasingly concerned about reports of the behavior of the new retail alliance “Epic Partners” which covers markets from Portugal to Russia. . Incorporated in Geneva in March of this year, Epic Partners brings together some of the largest grocery retailers in Europe: Edeka, the # 1 retailer in Germany (26% market share); Magnit, number 2 in distribution in Russia (20% market share); ICA, No. 1 in Swedish distribution (48% market share); Jerónimo Martins, distributor n ° 1 in Poland and n ° 2 in Portugal; and Migros, Switzerland’s # 1 retailer.
Source: kamcity.com