Asia

Offline expansion ▪ Alibaba said it would add 30 Hema locations in Beijing, which means that customers can have their groceries delivered in 30 minutes. Reinventing China's neighbourhood stores, the online giant is set to open 2,000 stores across the country in the next years.

Ambitious goals ▪ Vietnam’s Son Kim Group and South Korea’s GS Retail will open their first convenience store in Ho Chi Minh City. Both companies expect to operate more than 2,000 outlets. Meanwhile, Chinese discounter Miniso is set to grow its global network to 10,000 stores in 100 countries by 2019.

Poor performance ▪ Department stores are also struggling in Japan, where Isetan Mitsukoshi considers closing more underperforming stores. Furthermore, the company's president has indicated to cancel the opening of a new airport-style duty-free concept in Tokyo’s bustling Shinjuku district.

Europe

Deal or no deal ▪ French dairy giant Lactalis expands its yoghurt platform with the purchase of Siggi‘s, the US-based maker of Icelandic style yoghurts. Belgium's fresh produce multinational Greenyard, on the other hand, walked away from talks to acquire US company Dole.

Spanish pilots ▪ Retailer Dia Group is adding forecourts to its multiformat presence in Spain and partners with BP for a test in Madrid. Its collaboration with Samsung on mobile payment has been proven popular for department store operator El Corte Inglés with as many as 100,000 transactions since its launch in 2017.

Vending tower ▪ After a successful trial by parent company Walmart in the US, Asda has become the first UK retailer to install an automated parcel vending machine, where customers can collect their online orders and also drop-off returns. The tower can hold up to 500 parcels at a time.

USA & Brazil

Magic mirror ▪ Amazon will give shoppers the option to see how clothes would look on them by filing a patent for a virtual mirror technology that allows users to create “blended” images of themselves wearing virtual outfits. The online steamroller claimed an estimated 44% of all US e-commerce sales in 2017.

Aggressive push ▪ Sprouts Farmers Market is set to expand to the fast-growing Charlotte market in April, followed by its first South Carolina location in June. Later in 2018, the Phoenix-based supermarket chain plans store debuts in Pennsylvania and Maryland.

Highlighting freshness ▪ Brazilian supermarket chain Pão de Açúcar has launched a new store concept in five of its outlets. Fruits, vegetables and organic products are grouped together in a 'Fresh' section at the entrance. The concept also includes a café as well as several options for healthy meals.

What to watch

Great expectations ▪ The Consumer Electronics Show, the first major global event of the year, is about to kick off in Las Vegas with preview events in advance. Expect voice assistants, robots and cars galore. News portal Quartz has compiled everything you need to know about the CES.

More predictions ▪ Seven trends will most likely reshape retail this year. Some of them rather unexpected, like a new interest in brick-and-mortar stores, others less surprising, like a growing number of acquisitions. Check out what will disrupt and define our industry in 2018.