News and Trends

Waitrose is reportedly exploring a partnership with Amazon in a deal that would see the supermarket’s groceries sold on the platform. The potential deal comes as Waitrose “battles to regain market share lost in the cost-of-living crisis”, after losing sales to some of its discount rivals, according to  The Telegraph . Waitrose is said to be eyeing the third-party deal following the end of its 20-year partnership with Ocado three years ago. An arrangement with Waitrose would extend Amazon’s third-party portfolio, which also includes Morrisons and The Co-op, and involves selling the supermarkets’ products online and delivering them to shoppers from local branches. Neither Waitrose nor Amazon provided comment. The deal would potentially mirror Iceland’s recently launched trial partnership with Amazon. Iceland food launched on Amazon, exclusively for Prime members, in a trial that was initially rolled out in some areas of Greater Manchester. Waitrose currently sells on i...

On the 2nd of March 2022, Amazon opened its   first checkout-free grocery store of the year  in Southwark, London. The previous year had seen an aggressive roll out, with 17 Amazon Fresh stores opening their doors in the capital, all utilising the company’s white-label Just Walk Out technology. In June, the first non-London Fresh store opened in Sevenoaks in Kent, with many believing it was a sign Amazon was ready to expand its bricks-and-mortar grocery footprint beyond the capital. Just a few months later, and Amazon’s push onto the high street has ground to a halt, with the company  walking away from plans for dozens of potential sites  after disappointing sales figures amid the cost-of-living crisis. So what went wrong? Amazon’s infamous Just Walk Out technology has  undoubtedly changed the game for the grocery industry , with hundreds of cameras and sensors monitoring products and charging customers’ Amazon accounts automatically, removing some of the bigges...

Namnews, 3rd August 2022 New research from TWC shows that there is a high awareness of the Amazon Fresh concept, at 55% nationally, rising to 68% in London. Just over 1 in 10 shoppers surveyed said they have shopped at an Amazon Fresh store, renowned for its lack of checkouts and automated payment process. Amazon now operates 19 of the ‘just walk out’ grocery stores in the UK, all in London, except its latest opening in Sevenoaks, Kent.  Reports last year  said the online giant wants to have over 260 of the hi-tech sites operating in the UK before the end of 2024 to challenge the established players in the sector. Meanwhile, the  latest TWC Trends figures  suggest that total online grocery penetration is plateauing following rapid growth through the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns. The research was conducted in June and showed that whilst 14% of shoppers claim to have used the online channel more in the last six months, a higher proportion (16%) have used it less –...

Translated from Retail In Detail, July 21, 2022 by José Miguel Flavián Erlac     Amazon joins the countless initiatives that are already in the British mass market to ensure that you have the same prices as your competitors.  It has just launched the “Tesco Clubcard Price Match” for a group of references that it sells in its Amazon Fresh online store, where it promises that a selection of branded products and its own MDD will have the same price as in Tesco. The novelty is that it has chosen the products that Tesco already has within a promotion, that of the Clubcard Prices, and that they are cheaper products for customers who scan the loyalty card when going to pay.  The mechanics is that they will check Tesco's prices every week, and they will put the references they have in the program at the same price.  Prices will be held for at least 4 weeks.  The products in this promotion are of all kinds: fresh, packaged, environment, personal care, cleaning,...

Namnews, 22nd June 2022 As flagged  in May , Amazon has opened its first ‘just walk out’ grocery store outside London in Sevenoaks, Kent. Today’s opening marks the 19th Amazon Fresh store in the UK, just over a year after the hi-tech format made its debut in Ealing. Like other Amazon Fresh stores, the Sevenoaks outlet in Blighs Court sells branded products and the group’s own-label ranges – ‘by Amazon’ and ‘Our Selection’. Hot food items are also on sale throughout the day, with on-the-go meals for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Matt Birch, director of Amazon Fresh Stores, commented: “We’re delighted to open our new Amazon Fresh store in Sevenoaks, the first store to be located outside of London. “We’ve heard from customers that they appreciate the seamless shopping experience the Just Walk Out technology enables, as well as the wide selection of food. Customers will also find our dedicated store team ready to help as they shop.” Reports last year  said Amazon wants to have over...

Namnews, 10th May 2022 Amazon looks set to begin a wider rollout in the UK of its ‘just walk out’ grocery stores. The online giant currently operates 17 Amazon Fresh stores in London, a year on from when the format made its debut in the country. According to council planning documents, Amazon has been granted permission to open a store in Sevenoaks, Kent – situated in a former Baby Gap outlet in Bligh’s Meadow. Job listings have also been posted for retail staff to work at its first store outside of London. Reports last year  said Amazon wants to have over 260 of the hi-tech grocery stores operating in the UK before the end of 2024 to challenge the established players in the sector. Amazon has also offered its ‘just walk out’ technology to other retailers, including Sainsbury’s and WHSmith. NAM Implications: Having refined the model in London… …anticipate a fast rollout. And even other retailers buying the tech. (Faster than DIY…)

Namnews, 15th November 2021 Amazon is reported to have developed detailed plans to open hundreds of its hi-tech checkout-free grocery stores across the UK over the next three years. Last week , the sites for the next three ‘just walk out’ Amazon Fresh stores were revealed that will take the total opened since the format’s debut in March to nine. According to internal documents seen by Business Insider, Amazon wants to have over 260 high street supermarkets operating in the UK before the end of 2024 to challenge the established players in the sector. The internal Amazon documents said: “In 2022, we assume a broader rollout of 2 store launches per week by the end of [the] year, targeting 60 total openings. “In 2023 and 2024, we are planning 100 store launches per year, in line with more aggressive opening programmes achieved by convenience stores in the UK in the last five years, Tesco’s, Sainsbury’s and Co-op have all exceeded 100 openings per year.” According to the report, Amazon is a...

Namnews, 12th November 2021 Amazon has revealed the locations for two more of its hi-tech ‘Fresh’ grocery stores in the UK that will take the total to nine. Following last week’s news that its seventh ‘just walk out’ store will open in Holborn, London, just yards from Tesco’s new checkout-free outlet, the next two sites will be in East Sheen and Chingford. Following the opening of the online retailer’s first physical grocery store outside North America in Ealing in March, Amazon Fresh stores have been opened in Chalk Farm, Dalston, White City, Canary Wharf, and Wembley Park. If the three stores currently being outfitted open in the coming weeks, Amazon will have opened an average of one every four weeks. Amazon said: “We look forward to opening additional stores in the Greater London area”. Analysts have suggested that the online giant will want up to 30 outlets in the first phase of its expansion in the UK, before deciding on a wider roll-out to other cities. Amazon continued to expan...

Some 10,000 Co-op SKUs are now available on Amazon. But will the venture pay dividends, with Morrisons offering cheaper alternatives? Co-op  and  Amazon  are hardly obvious bedfellows. One is a local community-minded network of UK stores, owned by millions of members and underpinned by an avowed ethical approach to trading. The other is a global online behemoth whose practices on everything from tax to worker conditions are regularly called into question. Yet both have high hopes for their online grocery partnership,  announced last week . About 10,000 Co-op SKUs are now available to buy on Amazon, giving Prime members the ability to order a basket of goods to arrive the same day, in two-hour scheduled slots. Although only available in Glasgow and the surrounding area for now, Co-op has a nationwide ambition for the service. “Our commercial strategy is focused on getting closer to where they are to provide what they need, however and wherever they choose to shop with...

Source: Retail in Detail In what is still a surprise, the discounter advances in its line of offering new services and formats to consumers ... It has been said for a long time that they cannot be called discounters, and I suppose that in the end we will end up paying attention! The German chain has just announced that it has opened an “Amazon Go” style store in London today, in which shoppers log in when they enter, take what they need from the shelves and leave the store without going through the box or scanning anything.  In a few minutes they receive an email with the ticket of their purchase, which is loaded on the card with which they register.  For now, it is a pilot store for Aldi employees, and it is expected to open to the public shortly.  They've gotten ahead of Tesco, which has been setting up one of its Express stores in London for this for a while.  Amazon already has six stores with this technology in London (they have been called Amazon Fresh here). B...

Co-op today launched a partnership with Amazon that will allow customers to do their full grocery shop online. Co-op Amazon is being offered to Amazon Prime customers in Glasgow first before being expanded across the UK. The move has attracted some criticism from those arguing that the Co-op’s ethical heritage made it disappointing to see a partnership with a company that the GMB union characterised as “a tax evading multinational”. The Co-op announced the news on the same day that it published its first half financial results for 2021, which saw food sales jump 6.5% on pre-pandemic levels. Jo Whitfield, chief executive of Co-op Food, said: “With convenience at the core of our approach we are committed to finding new ways to expand access to our products and services, and we are delighted to be able to share our products on Amazon.co.uk. “Co-op on Amazon will offer shoppers a shopping experience with ease, speed and, choice of great value products, conveniently.” John Boumphrey, Amazon...

Namnews, 12th July 2021 Amazon has hired long-serving Tesco executive Tony Hoggett to run its physical stores as it expands further into the grocery sector. Tony Hoggett Hoggett started his career at Tesco as a 16-year-old trolley boy. Over three decades he rose to become CEO Asia and then Group Chief Operating Officer, before starting his latest role in April this year as Group Chief Strategy & Innovation Officer. He will join Amazon in January 2022 as Senior VP of Physical Stores, reporting to Dave Clark, Chief Executive of its worldwide consumer business. “It was a big decision to move on from Tesco but after meeting members of the Amazon leadership team and hearing the ambitions for the business and physical stores, I know it’s a journey and an opportunity that I want to be part of,” said Hoggett, who will work from the online retailer’s headquarters in Seattle. The move comes amid recent speculation that Amazon may enter the race to acquire Morrisons, with who it has a product...

Namnews, 14th June 2021 Amazon is set to open its fifth hi-tech ‘Fresh’ store in the UK in Camden, London. The ‘just walk out’ supermarket will join sites in Canary Wharf, White City and Wembley Park sites that have opened in recent months. They followed the launch of the online retailer’s first physical grocery store outside North America in Ealing  in March . The latest outlet will operate from a former Evans Cycles shop in Chalk Farm Road, close to where Morrisons recently revamped its long-standing supermarket in the area. The new Amazon site is currently being refurbished and an opening date has not been confirmed. It will feature the same cutting-edge sensor and camera technology that allows shoppers to simply place items in their bag and then be automatically billed when they leave. Amazon has previously said it plans to open more of the hi-tech grocery stores in heavy footfall areas across London and look at other city centre locations. Analysts have suggested that the onli...

Namnews, 2nd June 2021 Amazon is on track to overtake Tesco as the UK’s largest retailer within the next four years, with its gross merchandise value (GMV) sales expected to reach £77.1bn by 2025, according to a new report forecasting the future performance of key retailers. The study by Edge by Ascential’s research arm, Edge Retail Insight, shows Amazon’s total sales (incl. marketplace) in the UK were £36.3bn in 2020, compared to Tesco’s £64bn. By 2025, Edge predicts that Tesco’s total sales will rise to £76.1bn, representing CAGR growth of 3.5%, but just behind the US online giant. Amazon is expected to account for a third of all UK chain retail sales added between 2020 and 2025, with compound annual sales growth (CAGR) of 16.3% for the five-year period. The e-commerce giant is also forecast to account for 15% of UK chain retail sales in 2025, up from 9.1% in 2020. In the edible grocery category, Amazon is still a relatively small player in the UK, despite growth of 17.6% in 2020 at ...

Namnews, 19th May 2021 Amazon has continued the roll-out of its ‘just walk out’ grocery store format in the UK with the opening of its fourth outlet in London today. The Amazon Fresh supermarket in Canary Wharf joins the White City and Wembley Park sites that have opened in recent weeks following the launch of the online retailer’s first physical grocery store outside North America in Ealing in March. At the current opening rate, Amazon would have around 16 sites by the end of the year. The latest store is situated in Wood Wharf, an office, retail and residential complex. At 2,500 sq. ft., it is similar in size to the first three sites. It features the same cutting-edge sensor and camera technology that allows shoppers to simply place items in their bag and then be automatically billed when they leave. The stores stock hundreds of new ‘By Amazon’ own label items such as milk and bread, and ‘Our Selection’ premium lines, sourced from UK suppliers. There are also branded products and ite...

Namnews, 16th April 2021 New consumer research suggests that Amazon could be the 6th largest supermarket in the UK if current shoppers swapped just one grocery shop per month to the online giant. The new  Trends Spring 2021 Report , from intelligence and technology consultancy TWC, examines how Amazon could steal a substantial share of the UK grocery market and predicts that traditional supermarkets may start to lose dominance especially with the younger generation and more affluent shoppers. It also highlights that the online delivery trend is here to stay and will only get bigger with convenience stores needing to increase their participation in order to combat Amazon’s growth. The report reveals the latest perceptions, thoughts and behaviours of 1,200 consumers in Retail Convenience, Hospitality, Foodservice and Wholesale. TVC states that it was put together in response to a market gap for straightforward sentiment research and opinion mining on current and future trends. As par...