General
Mondial Relay, a company distributing parcels through pick-up points, strengthens its position in the Netherlands, Belgium, France and Spain. The company will also start operating in Portugal.
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Sainsbury's is going to close 420 branches of non-food subsidiary Argos and remove all its service counters for meat and fish from supermarkets. The operation threatens 3,500 jobs.
Food
Amazon has opened a first pop-up store in the United Kingdom and intends to open a small dozen more. Their aim will be to help small online companies grow, and to function as pick-up location.
Turmoil has erupted in France when Carrefour's plans to save its ailing hypermarkets were leaked. Several non-food departments will be closed and more stores will be franchised.
Carrefour has opened its first automatic pick-up point in Waterloo. According to the French chain, the pick-up point - that is meant to temporarily replace a store that is undergoing renovation - is a first for Belgium.
The French e-commerce market has seemingly opened up a new area of competition: Carrefour and E.Leclerc have both opened so-called “drives piéton”, pick-up locations for pedestrians in urban centers.
Following a 2-month testing period, Seattle’s two Amazon Fresh PickUp locations are now also available to Prime subscribers. The formula is focused on speed and also puts the pressure on Walmart even more.
