News and articles
Lidl invests 1 million euros in solar energy in Ireland
Until the end of 2019 Lidl is investing EUR 1 million in the installation of solar panels at eight stores. The announcement came after the group’s store in Nenagh switched...
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The problems with cashless payment
A British study calls attention to the problems with cashless payment: ‘Access to Cash’ informs that in the United Kingdom the proportion of cash payments is 34 percent at the...
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New Nestlé coffee factory in Egypt
Nestlé opened a new 12,740m² Bonjorno coffee production plant in Egypt. There are 240 people working in the factory, which was built from CHF 13.9 million. It was in January...
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Mobile payment platforms are spreading in Europe
After the US launch four years ago, Apple Pay is now available in Germany too. Partner companies already included Deutsche Bank, HypoVereinsbank, Bunq and Boon, Comdirect, N26 and O2 banking....
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Colruyt Group tests smart lockers for parcel delivery
Belgian retailer Colruyt Group is testing smart lockers for parcel delivery in 6 stores, which are called Bringme Box. The lockers – developed by intelligent logistics solutions provider Bringme –...
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Amazon sends free samples
As part of Amazon Sampling, the online retailer sends free samples of new and established brands’ products to shoppers. It is Amazon that selects the customers who receive the free...
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Starbucks: 10 new cafés instead of the planned 1,000
Instead of the formerly planned 1,000 new units, Starbucks has decided to launch between just 6 and 10 new cafés. The decision comes as the competition for a cup of...
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Lidl: less salt, sugar and fat in private label products
Lidl had made a pledge already in January 2017 to optimise the composition of several private label products: they cut the sugar content of Crownfield breakfast cereals by 35 percent;...
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Taco Bell tests a vegetarian menu
Taco Bell is testing a vegetarian menu that combines the chain’s old and new vegetarian offerings. With this step Taco Bell is trying to reach out to younger consumers who...
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Zewa Project reloaded
In the Zewa Designer Competition 16 in-store display designs, created by students of the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, were competing. The brand celebrated the winners with a press...
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Portugal plans to make PET bottles returnable
The Portuguese government has launched a programme to encourage the return of non-reusable plastic bottles: a new bill states that from 1 January 2022 a system for the storage of...
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GKI: 2018 was probably the best year of the decade for Hungary
GKI estimates that Hungary’s GDP expanded by 4.6 per cent in 2018 and this rate was remarkably high in the EU. The growth cycle is likely to have reached its...
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Wrangling about the profit
At the end of January the European Commission (EC) decided to go to court about the Hungarian rules for the retail sales of agricultural and food products – the EC’s...
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Turkey: EBRD loan for developing Migros
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) has announced granting an EUR 60-million loan for modernising Migros stores in Turkey. Not only stores will be revamped from this sum,...
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Retail Decoded continues
Shop!’s podcast series already has six episodes: in the latest one Jean-Pierre Lacroix, president of the Toronto-based agency Shikatani Lacroix gives an insight into how artificial intelligence technology can be...
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nIm – milk in Klingonese
Fozzy Group, one of the biggest food retailers in Ukraine has opened a 1,170m² Star Trek-themed supermarket in Kharkiv. In the store product categories are also indicated in the Klingon...
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Lidl-Müller partnership in the United Kingdom
Lidl’s strategy heavily builds on British farmers, so two thirds of their products in UK stores come from local suppliers. Last year Lidl entered into a partnership with Müller Milk&Ingredients:...
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Unilever buys ‘Vegetarian Butcher’
Unilever has acquired Dutch ‘vegetarian butcher’ company De Vegatarische Slager. The Utrecht-based ambitious manufacturer of meat substitutes established 4,000 points of sale in 17 countries in 11 years. Their products...
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Continente launches electronic invoice in Portugal
Continente is the first food retailer in Portugal to have introduced e-invoicing: by using this service shoppers receive invoices via e-mail in real time, at the time of purchase. The...
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Magazine: Blockchain is waiting for retail to discover it
On 16 October the Budapest Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BKIK) organised a conference about the not yet utilised opportunities offered to retail by the blockchain technology. Zoltán Házi, the...
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Walmart tests self-driving cars
Walmart plans to speed up the home delivery of FMCG products by using self-driving cars – the model is being tested in Arizona, in cooperation with Udelv. In the current...
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Alibaba buys Berlin-based company data Artisans
Chinese e-commerce giant Alibaba Group paid USD 103.3 million for data processing and streaming company data Artisans, which has customers such as Uber, Lyft, eBay, Comcast, a Huawei and Kin....
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Two from three British shoppers chose Aldi or Lidl at Christmas
Two thirds of British households bought food and drinks in an Aldi or Lidl store before Christmas. According to the latest data from Kantar Worldpanel, almost all retail chains saw...
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Carrefour: new store format in Italy and Belgium
In Portogruaro Carrefour Italia debuts with a new hypermarket that aims at making shopping simpler: they sell organic fruits and vegetables supplied by local farmers, ready meals to go, there...
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British Co-op to open 100 new stores in 2019
Co-op is investing GBP 200 million in opening 100 new stores in the United Kingdom in 2019. The development programme will create 1,500 new jobs. These shops will open at...
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Leclerc and Carrefour: new pick-up locations for pedestrians
‘E.Leclerc Relais’ is the name of Leclerc’s latest, 7th pick-up location for pedestrians in Paris, which opened on 9 January. Carrefour has also announced that before the end of January...
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Tesco uses robots for home delivery
Teaming up with Starship Technologies, Tesco started using robots for home delivery in the United Kingdom: from a Tesco Extra store 1,000 products can be ordered, which are delivered in...
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Alibaba to build a trade hub in Belgium
Alibaba, the biggest Chinese online retailer is to build its own 220,000m² base in Belgium, close to the Liége airport – reported Handelsblatt. The company will invest at least EUR...
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More young people bought Christmas presents using apps
The latest report by Selectivv has revealed that more and more consumers are using some kind of smartphone app to buy gifts. In the last quarter of 2018 the number...
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Good performance from Amazon Web Services
Last year more than half of e-commerce giant Amazon’s revenue came from Amazon Web Services (AWS). Amazon launched this in 2006 to provide businesses with cloud-based IT services. In the...
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