Starting April 19, some of Walmart’s online-only items will cost less if buyers pick them up in-store. This move comes as a bid to make shopping there more appealing than at Amazon.

Their new program is called Pickup Discount. Walmart says that by relying on its existing fleet of delivery trucks, it can save money and pass savings onto customers.

This method of good delivery rivals Amazon’s Pickup option, which is currently unavailable for the general public. With this new service, Walmart puts itself squarely above its e-tail competitor. Free 2-day shipping is also available, making this an extremely attractive option for individuals that live close to a Walmart store.

When the program launches, it will cover around 10,000 items. That number will expand to cover one million items in June.

From April 10-16, homeopaths and supporters around the world will celebrate World Homeopathy Awareness Week.

The celebration begins on Dr. Samuel Hahnemann’s birthday, as he is the founder of the practice. Over the course of the week, free public events such as lectures, media interviews, volunteer first-aid at sports events, free & reduced clinics, written materials, pieces on Twitter and Facebook, publication articles and much more will be shared in over 40 countries.

With this event, the World Homeopathy Awareness Organization hopes to educate the public about homeopathic medicine, resulting in wider acceptance for the practice. The theme of this year’s event is “Homeopathy for Seniors.”

This year is the 13th edition of the week-long celebration. For more information about this week’s international events, visit http://www.worldhomeopathy.org/index.php.

Moreover, across Canada, Canadian Society of Homeopaths (CSH) members are available to share information and answer questions about homeopathy at a variety of Homeopathy Awareness Month events. To view the list of Canadian events, click here.

CIBC and Deloitte have named Vince’s Market one of Canada’s 45 Best Managed Companies.

This recognition is the country’s leading business awards program. It celebrates excellence in privately-owned Canadian companies with revenues over $15 million.

“It was quite an intense application, but with the amount of planning and effort our team has put into our stores over the last few years, we felt it was time to benchmark our organizational goals with the rest of the country,” says Giancarlo Trimarchi, partner, CFO and controller of Vince’s Market.

Vince’s Market started as a small roadside fruit and vegetable stand, and has now grown to a small chain of community-oriented grocery stores. The company focuses on offering a personal, fresh shopping experience.

Currently, the company has three locations in Sharon, Uxbridge, and Newmarket, Ontario. This fall, it will open a fourth location in Tottenham, Ontario.

Walmart has announced that it is one of nine corporations joining in a collaborative effort to source from women-owned businesses (WOBs). Over the course of the next five years, the company will track and report sourcing from self-identified and certified WOBs.

This marks the first time the Women’s Business Enterprise National Council (WBENC), the largest third-party certifier of businesses owned, controlled, and operated by women in the U.S., will launch a formal initiative to publicly report aggregated spending on WOBs. Walmart helped form this unified front of major corporations, including Campbell Soup Company, The Coca-Cola Company, ExxonMobil, General Mills, Johnson & Johnson, Mondelēz International, PepsiCo and Procter & Gamble, in order to create a more visible movement and raise awareness for the importance of sourcing from WOBs.

“We are proud to be part of this important initiative, and together we can make an even bigger impact in elevating these successful women-owned businesses,” says Doug McMillon, president and CEO of Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. “Our customers care where products are sourced, and we believe supporting women-owned businesses helps us put innovative products on our shelves while helping these businesses thrive and grow.”

The initiative comes at a critical time when female entrepreneurs report having smaller and less diverse networks, leaving them at a disadvantage for growth, innovation and global relevance.

“By participating in this initiative, these companies will help fuel innovation and growth for women-owned businesses across the U.S.,” says Pamela Prince-Eason, president and CEO of WBENC. “With women-owned businesses currently supporting the creation or maintenance of 23 million American jobs, investing in their growth means investing in more opportunities for the workforce overall.”

This announcement comes on the heels of the culmination of Walmart’s five-year Global WEE Initiative, which included a set of goals to help empower women around the world through sourcing, training and supporting diversity and inclusion. As part of the WEE Initiative, Walmart sourced $20 billion from women-owned businesses in the U.S. and increased sourcing from women-owned businesses internationally. Additionally, in 2014, working with WBENC and WEConnect International, Walmart helped fund the creation of the “Women-Owned” logo. This can be used by any woman-owned supplier certified by those organizations at any retailer to highlight their products to consumers. Today, Walmart has more than 1,500 suppliers who identify as women-owned businesses, producing everything from apparel to produce.

For additional details on Walmart’s Global WEE Initiative, visit http://corporate.walmart.com/womensempowerment.

Health Canada is initiating a second set of public consultations about the regulation of self-care products, including natural health remedies, over-the-counter medications, and cosmetics. Public meetings to discuss these issues began this week, starting in Saskatoon and continuing across the country for the next three months.

Last fall, the agency conducted a web-based gathering of opinion. Health Canada received a lot of negative feedback from health providers, industry representatives, consumers, and public groups, who expressed concerns over the suggested overhaul.

With the new regulations, self-care products labelled as moderate- or high-risk would necessitate a science-based government review, while lower-risk products would not be reviewed by Health Canada. In addition, lower-risk products would no longer be able to make claims about efficacy for certain health issues.

“Health Canada is of the view that self-care products in general are lower risk and therefore will not be treated [like] prescription drugs,” says Manon Bombardier, director-general of Health Canada’s Natural and Non-Prescription Health Products Directorate.

The Canadian Health Food Association (CHFA) opposed last fall’s proposal, and is waiting to see what this round of consultations has in store.

“The initial proposal back in the fall lacked clarity and details, and we were concerned it could have negative implications for the 79 per cent of Canadians that are using natural health products,” says Long. “Once the next round of consultations actually begins, I expect that we we’ll get a bit more of a glimpse into where they’re proposing to go next.”

The remaining consultations will take place as follows:

April 20, 2017      1:00 pm – 4:30 pm           Yellowknife, NWT                    Register Now
April 24, 2017      1:00 pm – 4:30 pm           Montreal, QC                          Register Now
April 28, 2017      1:00 pm – 4:30 pm           Halifax, NS                              Register Now
May 2, 2017        1:00 pm – 4:30 pm           Toronto, ON – Downtown        Register Now
May 3, 2017        1:00 pm – 4:30 pm           Toronto, ON – Airport              Register Now
May 5, 2017         9:00 am – 12:20 pm         Web Consultation (English)    Register Now
May 5, 2017         1:00 pm – 4:30 pm           Web Consultation (French)    Register Now
If you are interested in making your voice heard, please attend one of these sessions.

Amazon has revealed the details of its grocery click-and-collect sites, AmazonFresh Pickup. The service, which will be debuted in Seattle, will provide a full array of grocery and household items, and will be free to Prime members.

The sites are currently located in Seattle’s Sodo and Ballard neighborhoods. However, industry experts expect the e-commerce giant to open as many as 30 outlets this year.

Amazon Pickup allows shoppers to make their purchases online and select a delivery time, which could be ready in as little as 15 minutes. Then, they may pull in to any of the store’s several drive-up spaces, where employees will load groceries into their cars within minutes.

This new service is Amazon’s second foray into physical food stores. Previously, it launched its Amazon Go convenience store, which allows shoppers carry out their purchases without stopping for checkout. However, that store has postponed its public opening, as the company must address remaining technical issues.

As this offering expands across the U.S. and into the Canadian market, independent grocers and retailers will have to up the ante. In order to compete with fast, automated services like this one, they will need to provide consumers with options that are otherwise unavailable. Offering in-store experiences, demos, and promotions will help to draw buyers back into the traditional shopping experience. One thing’s for sure: in order to compete, you’ll need to get creative.

Flash Beauté, the company behind cosmetics brand Kariderm, has announced the appointment of Nicolas Dupont as its new Export and Marketing Manager.

Prior to his work with Kariderm, Dupont worked with Chinese exporting trading houses in Shanghai.

“I am relatively new in the biocosmetic industry,” says Dupont. “Being new has some drawbacks, but also brings a lot of advantages. My previous experience gives me a unique perspective of the exporting business. Being able to see from both sides of the looking glass is definitely an advantage when you want to develop your brand at the international level.”

At Flash Beauté, Dupont is working to build new distribution channels both in Canada and internationally. Additionally, he manages the promotional activities of the company, including developing product offerings, visiting and exhibiting at national Expos, creating local and national marketing campaigns, and managing the social media/online presence of Kariderm.

“Flash Beauté is a great entrepreneurial story. It was born out of a simple idea and became a pioneer of the fair-trade biocosmetic industry,” says Dupont. “The company helps to change the way the average person sees its beauty and skin care routine. Obviously, it is of the upmost personal relationship between people and their skincare. We have the privilege to have a direct and positive impact on people’s daily life.”