Retail News and Trends | 12th Feb 2019 (Originally posted on PipeCandy Blog)
Deliv and Walmart mutually terminate grocery partnership, Crate and Barrel partners to offer home installation services, UK’s subscription market set to touch £1 billion by 2022 and more…
1. Deliv and Walmart mutually terminate grocery delivery partnership
Deliv, one of Walmart’s earliest grocery delivery partners, served the retailer with a 90-day termination notice, and the two companies reportedly stopped working with each other since early January. According to Reuters, Deliv drivers frequently had to wait up to 40 minutes when they arrived for pickup as Walmart was not able to process online grocery orders fast enough. Walmart still has six partners in its delivery roster — Postmates, Doordash, AxelHire, Roadie, Point Pickup, Skipcart.
2. Chinese e-retailer Suning will acquire Wanda Department Store chain
Chinese e-retailer Suning.com will acquire Wanda Department Stores, to further expand its retail presence offline. Wanda group is one of China’s largest conglomerates and a legacy retailer that has been facing stiff competition from online retailers. Suning.com is one of among the top three B2C retailers in China, mainly focused on selling consumer electronics and appliances. This acquisition will add 37 stores to Suning.com’s already existing footprint of 1600+ stores.
3. Crate and Barrel announces home installation services
Furniture retailer Crate and Barrel announced that it was partnering with Handy, a home services platform to go the extra mile and offer shoppers furniture assembly and décor installation in over 90 locations in the United States. With this move, Crate and Barrel join the likes of IKEA, Walmart, and Wayfair that also offer assembly services.
4. Barneys New York, Simon Malls to sell Cannabis products
Barney’s New York on Monday announced that sometime in March it will open a Cannabis concept store called “The High End” in its Beverly Hills flagship. Simon Properties, the largest mall operator in the US also revealed today that it is partnering with Green Growth Brands to open 108 Cannabis shops within its malls that will sell CBD products. For Simon, landing non-retail and specialty retail tenants like Cannabis merchants will fill the empty space left by the store closures of anchor tenants like Macy’s, JCPenny, and Sears.
5. UK Subscription market will be worth £1 billion by 2022.
According to the UK Subscription Box Boom Report from the Royal Mail, the UK subscription market is forecasted to be worth £1 billion in the next three years. 90% of subscription businesses win sales from abroad, says the report, with popular markets including Ireland and France. Top brands such as Gillette and Sephora are hoping to move into the market, following in the footsteps of companies such as Dollar Shave Club — now bought by Unilever — and Birchbox.
