Welcome to the May-June issue of Grocery Trader. Ahead of its latest biannual ‘FMCG Demand Signals’ report which covers Total Store Data, Circana (formerly IRI and The NPD Group), has revealed softening of demand in unit sales across the six largest markets in Europe (France, Italy, Germany, Spain, UK and Netherlands) – a decline of -1.1% on an annual basis, deepening further by -1.4% in Q4 2022. This is the fifth consecutive quarter of decline and is not forecast to return to normalcy until the end of 2023.
READ THE MAY / JUNE ISSUE HERE
The Co-op Windermere Row fundraising event for GroceryAid celebrated its 40th year with 200+ rowers taking to the stunning waters of Lake Windermere to compete in a 10-mile row, raising a record total of more than £165,000 in the process. This year’s Co-op Row included 44 teams from 35 companies, 75% of which were taking part for the first time, making it the most successful row to date.
Food banks across the country have received thousands of items of food to help meet the soaring levels of need they are experiencing, thanks to an emergency support scheme from Tesco. Working in partnership with the Trussell Trust, Tesco has supported the 29 food banks across the UK most in need of food donations providing more than 730,000 meals.
Augmented reality (AR) and virtual reality are perhaps the best known of the “Immersive Technologies” promising to revolutionise the world of retail. Big name brands are already investing in and implementing new technologies aimed at creating unique customer experiences, and although some of the associated legal issues are becoming clearer, much remains to be worked out, writes Patrick Wheeler, partner and head of intellectual property and data protection, and Zoe Deckker, trainee solicitor at Collyer Bristow, in an exclusive article for Grocery Trader.
The balancing act between business costs and customer experience is a tightrope that businesses have long walked. In times of financial pressure, leaders in retail must ask themselves: where should the line be drawn between necessary cost cutting and protecting customer experience and engagement? And the balance isn’t easily struck, writes Rahul Arora, SVP and Head of Emerging Business Unit UK & Europe at EXL.
Since the rollout of ChatGPT late last year, it seems like every day brings a new story about the latest breakthrough in generative AI. GenAI will impact all industries with task specific use cases, and in the grocery world as well. This is already changing the way grocers operate and resulting in drastically better customer experiences while doubling profits for retailers that are aggressive on adoption, writes Francois Chaubard, CEO & founder of Focal Systems.
Enjoy reading the issue.
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