Global round-up: sustainability, AI transformation and fulfilment

Europe: food waste reduction and a new convenience format

Alcampo strengthens its commitment to reducing food waste

In Spain, Alcampo is reaffirming its food waste reduction strategy through the “Alcampo and You, Zero Waste” programme. The retailer trains employees on improving the process of handling and preserving fresh produce and it has an AI-powered tool that identifies products close to expiry and suggests actions, such as price reductions or donations. This is implemented in all its stores, saving more than 4.4m products in the first half of the year. Alcampo also holds flash sales on its website, offering 30% discounts on close to expiry products in an automated and personalised way based on shopper purchasing habits.

Rachel Sibson, IGD Senior Insight Analyst’s view:

Reducing food waste is a key sustainability strategy for retailers. We’ll likely see them become bolder and more ambitious about the ways they aim to reduce food waste. These initiatives from Alcampo, among others, mean that more than 100 of its stores have food waste rates below 1%. Three of its supermarkets in the city of Madrid have food waste levels close to 0%.

Carrefour opens first convenience store in Spanish airport

The store is located in Barcelona-El Prat airport and is tailored to the needs of travellers, with a quick and efficient experience and a 1,000 SKUs assortment dedicated to food-to-go, snacking, and essentials. It will also feature a selection of local Catalan products, tailored to tourists and returning locals alike.

Michela Pearson, IGD Insight Analyst’s view:

Many European retailers are expanding their presence of convenience stores at travel hubs, adapting to the ever-growing shopper demand for ease and convenience. Carrefour’s move to capitalise on this is part of its investment plan for Spain where it looks to reach 1,600 stores by the end of the year. We expect this format to be successful and rolled out to other airports in the country.

Asia-Pacific: AI transformation and community programme

Lotte partners with Naver to drive AI transformation

Naver is the largest search engine in South Korea. This partnership will bring in Naver’s technological expertise to empower four areas in Lotte’s business: AI, shopping, marketing, and ESG (environment, society, and governance). It will also deepen collaboration between Naver and the retailer’s app, Lotte Mart Zetta, by offering reward points and promotion services. Additionally, Lotte plans to expand Naver Pay across the wider Lotte network and pilot Naver’s quick commerce service in the 7-Eleven store network.

Sabrina Wong, IGD Analyst’s view:

The adoption of AI has been a strategic priority for Lotte in recent years. By partnering with the market-leading tech giant, Naver’s expertise will enable Lotte to build a robust database and ecosystem across its retail apps, which helps to transform the online retail experience for Lotte shoppers.

Coles partners with Planet Ark to support sustainability projects in schools

Coles is working with Planet Ark to give students across 20 schools a chance to win AUD5,000 to bring their sustainability projects to life. These initiatives can involve edible gardens, sewing clubs, wildlife habitat and recycling systems.

Tan Soo Eng, IGD Senior Insight Analyst’s view:

This is a very practical way to encourage students to lead programmes that are good for the environment. It’s great to see guidelines provided for these initiatives to be on the school grounds, with clear benefits to the world around us. Discover more of the best-in-class global sustainability initiatives in our Q2 update.

North America: health-focused products and Amazon’s fulfilment expansion

Kroger launches new protein-focused product line

The retailer has unveiled its new Simple Truth Protein range as an extension of its top-selling Simple Truth label. This will initially include over 80 high-protein products across meals, beverages, snacks and deserts. Kroger’s Our Brands (full private label assortment) generated over US$32m in sales in 2024 and this new launch will support its aim to bring over 900 new private label items to its portfolio this year.

Oliver Butterworth, IGD Senior Insight Analyst’s view:

Private label has been a hotspot of innovation in the US over the last couple of years. With this new range, Kroger responds to the growing popularity of high-protein products. The increased use of GLP-1 medication in the market has been a key factor in the sales growth of meat and high-protein products.

DoorDash Canada increases DashPass benefits

DoorDash has added three new updates to its DashPass benefits: an extended partnership with Amazon, a new Family Sharing feature and the launch of DashPass Deal Drops. Amazon now offers a free DashPass to those with Prime memberships, and there is a new DoorDash storefront on Amazon’s website. Family Sharing enables DashPass subscribers to share their subscription with another adult for free, while both will have separate logins and payment methods. DashPass Deal Drops offer a rotation of discounts until 13^th October across restaurants, groceries, pet, beauty and more, with exclusive savings of up to 40%.

Michaela Jay, IGD Insight Manager’s view:

DoorDash continues to push hard on growth plans, and these added benefits in Canada highlight untapped potential the business has to deliver benefits for its customers. DoorDash is currently in the process of acquiring Deliveroo; the £2.9 bn acquisition deal is expected be finalised on 2 October 2025; Will Shu, CEO and Co-Founder of Deliveroo, has announced he will step down after the takeover is completed. As a result of the acquisition, DoorDash will have a presence in over 40 markets globally.

Amazon adds Walmart, Shopify and SHEIN to its fulfilment model

Amazon recently announced the introduction of Walmart, Shopify and SHEIN to its Multi-Channel Fulfilment (MCF) operation. This builds on the success of other e-commerce businesses like Etsy and TikTok Shop using Amazon’s established fulfilment and logistics networks to deliver for customers. The introduction of Walmart is contrast to the other businesses in Amazon’s MCF due their size and presence in physical retail, but it will enable them to take advantage of Amazon’s fast and responsive fulfilment supply chain for their vast product assortment.

James Rothwell, IGD Head of Supply Chain Insight’s view:

This perfect combination of Walmart’s extensive and diverse product range with Amazon’s rapid fulfilment capability allows the retailer to reach customers quicker and more efficiently than their own undertaking. Building this into a true omnichannel approach would be a key enabler to ensuring they can meet changing customer needs on how they shop.

Middle East: developments from Carrefour

Carrefour brings changes to Middle East operations

The French retailer is rethinking  its strategy in the region, where it operates through a franchise model. The brand is operated by Majid Al Futtaim, which is rebranding the Carrefour stores in Kuwait and Bahrain to its HyperMax format. It had already done this in Jordan an Oman in the last 12 months, with 44 locations being rebranded.

Michela Pearson, IGD Insight Analyst’s view:

This is an interesting development for Majid Al Futtaim, as it will bring more complexity to its operations as it operates two brands across the region. The change will also impact Carrefour’s aim to drive capital-light growth through franchising.

Across the globe, the retailer has been gradually streamlining its operations, with a reported view to focus on the three markets where the biggest opportunity lies: France, Spain, and Brazil. It has recently sold its Italian operations, and is now looking to exit Poland and Argentina in the short term, and Belgium and Romania in the future.

Majid Al Futtaim launches supermarket for children

Located within a Carrefour hypermarket, the Bright Bites store is a supermarket designed specifically for little ones, where they can shop as they would in a regular shop. The retailer’s aim is to educate children on the shopping experience from an early age, inspiring healthy eating habits and a positive relationship with food.

Michela Pearson, IGD Insight Analyst’s view:

While we have seen many retailers move towards making the shopper experience better and more friendly for children, this is a real novelty. This initiative will likely foster lifelong relationships with the retailer, helping the children have a more positive and healthy experience. Inclusivity has been high on the agenda for retailers around the world, as they launch new initiatives to create accessible spaces.