General

(content provided by EuroCommerce) In an initial response to the Commission Communication: A European retail sector fit for the 21st century, published today, EuroCommerce approves of the Commission's stance against overregulation.

Ecommerce giant Amazon surpassed the 100 million Prime subscriber mark, just one of the many milestones CEO Jeff Bezos mentioned in his annual shareholder briefing.

35 companies, including Colruyt, Carrefour and Ikea have asked Europe to force truck manufacturers to lower their emissions 25 % by 2025. “Totally unrealistic”, the manufacturers’ spokesperson said.

JD.com has announced plans to open some 1,000 convenience stores per day across China. With this impressive target, the country’s second-largest e-commerce company is giving speed to its ambitions of expanding into the offline market.

Dutch optician chain Hans Anders’ turnover grew 6 % last year, to 203.7 million euro, but it also announced it would divest from the French market.

Ahold Delhaize CEO Dick Boer’s final general assembly was rather tumultuous, because of the “protection wall” that should guard the supermarket giant from hostile takeovers.

After years of losses, Hema now experienced its second profitable quarter in a row. The department store chain is also happy with its annual turnover: it published a 1,235.5 million euro record turnover, a 3.5 % increase.

Dutch department store chain Hema, on sale since September, is not attracting much attention, because interested parties feel it is overpriced. Previous attempts to sell the company have also failed. 

French Casino Guichard and Auchan Retail are considering an alliance to help both retail chains negotiate better prices with major consumer-goods makers and thus withstand competition from international players on the French supermarket sector.

Walmart has filed a patent to get drones to fly in stores. The American retail giant wants drones to help customers in its stores: shoppers can ask them for directions or to get something checked in the shelves.

French retail group Carrefour is launching a mobile payment app which will allow for easy in-store payment. Carrefour Pay, which will be linked to all bank cards by the end of 2018, is available in all stores using contactless NFC technology.

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Belgian music store chain Keymusic will go to France, with a first store in Valenciennes across the French border. Previously, the chain also entered the Dutch market.

RetailDetail has a new CEO: e-commerce entrepreneur and former bpost board member Peter Somers has major growth ambitions for the company.

Trade wars and discrimination within the single market create growing pressures on retailers in Europe. EuroCommerce Director-General Christian Verschueren is concerned, but looks forward confidently to the future.

Online commerce is becoming increasingly popular, in Belgium as well. Online turnover in the country rose to 10.05 billion euro last year, reaching the ten billion milestone for the first time. However, there is still a lot of growth potential online.

American chain Claire’s has now officially filed for bankruptcy, although it only relates to the company’s American division.

Amazon wants to cut costs and that is why it will charge manufacturers with logistical fees more quickly. Up until now, the American online retailer often took it upon itself, but that move no longer seems profitable.