Toshiba has created a new scanner that recognizes any item in the store, meaning barcodes are not necessary. The object recognition system uses pattern and color recognition to identity the product, including fruits and vegetables.
In retail distribution, the relation between the retailers and the suppliers is always in high tension, the below sign was seen at a Leclerc store in France, saying that Danone is refusing to deliver them goods, because the later thinks the store is not selling their products at the right price. Which means that Leclerc is selling cheaper than the competition and this did put Danone under pressure from other retailers in France.
photo credit: Haroldparis.fr
Monoprix, the French retailer (www.monoprix.fr) is back to Lebanon after leaving the market for 3 years, following the deal of selling their previous point-of-sales (5 super and 1 hyper) to the Kuwaiti group, The Sultan Center.
The 1st come-back store is located in Jnah, between The Sultan Center and Spinneys, few meters from the old biggest Monoprix outlet and is much smaller in surface size from the previous one.
Once you enter the store, you definitely feel the “French retail touch”, which totally disappeared when TSC took over the previous stores. After strolling the aisles, you will certainly notice the strong presence of the Monoprix private label, almost in all categories with quite good visibility.
I am not sure about this private label presence policy, if it is a strategic move for the future or tactical, to put suppliers under pressure during the opening of the few coming stores in 2012?
Valet parking service is available at the location.
Next year will definitely bring lots of surprises on the Lebanese retail scene, specially if Carrefour will be ready with its 1st store scheduled for 2013, located at Beirut City Center, the $40 million USD super structure shopping mall on the outskirts of Beirut owned and operated by Majid Al Futtaim Holding.
Below are screenshots of the websites of major Lebanese supermarkets. Unfortunately there are lots of work to be done on their online presence compared to European and American retail distribution chains.
Monoprix will be back in town soon & Carrefour will open its 1st store in 2012, hopefully their websites will be more attractive.
Click on photos to see in full size
I’ve been traveling from the Middle East to the Gulf and North Africa and all over Europe for my daytime job which includes market visits and stores check of almost every known and unknown chain of supermarkets, hypermarkets and hard-discounters and all of these stores agree on a specific concept of in-store promotions and their neat presentation to attract traffic and initiate consumers take-offs.
During all these trips, I’ve never seen a promotion presented the way a Lebanese supermarket did in the below picture, maybe we are witnessing a new in-store marketing strategy!
The Nice! brand name, two years in the making, began to appear on Walgreens store shelves last month on food products from soup to nuts. The rollout of more than 400 items, mostly grocery and paper products, is scheduled to accelerate this month and wind up at all 7,742 Walgreens and Duane Reade drugstores nationwide by January 2012.
“You will see a lot of transition within Walgreens brand portfolio over the next 12 to 18 months,” said Maurice Alkemade, divisional vice president, general merchandise manager for private brands in an article for the trade publication Private Label magazine.
Graphics on Nice! are bold, clean, and designed to be easily recognizable and simple to shop. An integrated marketing campaign will build on the brand’s message around quality and savings compared with other national brands, as well as the wide variety of everyday essentials under the label accessible from neighborhood Walgreens stores.
AC Nielsen consumer research shows that 75% of Walgreens shoppers purchase store brands in Walgreens.
Carrefour has totally reinvented shopping for its customers, and the Carrefour planet concept offers them a new shopping experience centered around making purchases in comfort, friendliness and fun. The new stores boast a festive atmosphere of discovery, specialist offers organized into key areas, lower prices, brand new services and new technologies.
In a friendly and animated atmosphere, Carrefour planet has a range of products that has been completely rethought out and is better suited to the expectations of its customers, organized into key areas:
THE MARKET AREA, with a varied range of extremely fresh products, tastings held on a regular basis, cooking lessons, an expanded delicatessen area, freshly cut fruit and vegetables or sushi being prepared.
THE ORGANIC AREA, with a wide variety of Organic products, Carrefour brands as well as other specialist brands, tastings held on a regular basis and discounted prices so that everybody can enjoy organic products…
THE FROZEN FOOD AREA, with an extremely wide range of frozen products, reworked customer flows with an offering that is organized into different areas that follow the order of a traditional meal, closed freezers for greater comfort and cooking demonstrations.
THE BEAUTY AREA, in an environment that has been given a complete makeover for the well-being of its customers. They can purchase their beauty products at a leisurely pace and get expert advice, as well as enjoying services such as rapid make-up applications and express hairstyling. Among the other innovations is a virtual mirror which customers can use to test make-up products ‘live’ at interactive terminals.
THE FASHION AREA, which has been re-organized to include the whole world of fashion, showcase new collections and provide a new range of services, including free advice and alterations.
THE BABY AREA, which brings together everything new parents need under one roof, from food products to nappies, as well as pushchairs, clothing and furniture. Mothers are pampered and can enjoy access to a free birth list service and have their more bulky shopping carried for free, as well as benefit from the advice of a pediatric specialist.
THE HOUSE AREA, is split into 4 sections (“Kitchen and Table”, “Home Deco”, “Practical Home” and ”Home Accessories“), with a whole new selection and many color-coded ranges.
THE LEISURE – MULTIMEDIA AREA , brings together the Culture and multimedia areas, organized according to brand. All the latest technologies are showcased, including 3-D TV, touchscreen tablet computers and e-books. A whole new digital store has been created offering customers the opportunity to sign up for digital subscriptions and services, as well as a completely dedicated Apple area.
For certain categories, exclusive partnerships with major brands mean that customers can discover a new offer: for example, Virgin will have a wide selection of cultural products in the Vénissieux store, Réserves Naturelles will have its own dedicated area in the beauty world for make-up, accessories and costume jewelery.
Because the comfort of customers as they do their shopping is a priority for the new banner, specialist advisers will be available in each area to welcome and support customers as they make their choices.
Carrefour Planet stores have been implemented so far in France, Spain, Italy & Greece
The news is out, yesterday Groupon started partnering with a grocery chain to start a test program. But what value can this kind of partnership bring to groceries, supermarket and hypermarkets?
In my opinion, it will not add any value.
Why? Because food retailers all over the world and in partnership with brands, are into the “group buying” business without declaring it with these words, way before Groupon and all the rest and without any minimum quantity restrictions.
Supermarkets and hypermarkets, on any given day, have an average of 100 promotions and discounted products on their shelves, websites, printed leaflets, …
Brand owners, depending on the category, fight every 7 or 14 days to find a free space in the catalog of a retailer and most of these leaflets are showing only promoted products, price discounted items, buy1get1, value packs, etc… the promotion formats can be endless as brand owners can be very creative to push their sales.
Not forgetting that also some food retailers, keep on always offering loyal consumers who are part of their loyalty programs, additional discounts and promotions, to make them feel more special.
No matter what kind of promotion format Groupon or other group buying sites will use or offer their consumers, but surely it going to be déjà vu, specially that some retailers also started showing a countdown clock for promotions on their websites.
