2016 will see total retail sails across the globe increasing 6.0 per cent to 22.049 trillion and retail sails are expected to take up 8.7 per cent of the total, with 1.915 trillion in 2016 as well.

Sales through digital platforms is seeing a consistent increase, with 23.7 per cent growth rate forecast for 2016 and taking up 14.6 per cent of total retail sales by 2020.

As companies work to improve their logistics and infrastructure, ecommerce sales will continue to see more popularity. A large portion of ecommerce sales are expected to come from China, who is responsible for 47.0 per cent of sales worldwide this year and while North America is at 15.6 percent.

Economists expected a 0.5 per cent gain in retail sales, instead the economic sectore hit an unexpected decline in June or 0.1 per cent. This strengthens the idea that constricted growth in the second quarter took a toll on consumers.

“It just suggests that maybe the Canadian consumer is growing a bit tired of carrying the burden of growth,” said David Watt, chief economist at HSBC. Regardless economists are staying hopeful for the consumer, “With Ottawa sending out the first of the Child Care Benefit checks in July, there’s reason to be optimistic on the second half of the year,” mentions Nick Exarhos, economist at CIBC.

The Alberta wildfires, and oil production are still looking to possible be the reason for the struggle in grown lately, but things expected to look more positive in third quarter.

Amazon.com is rumoured to be looking to open a drive-up grocery store in the San Francisco and Seattle and join the growing drive-thru industry.

Geekwire has reported a 9,759 square foot space in Seattle undergoing construction where customers can place orders online and pick them up at the store. Retail Wire repors that the plans for this construction project are the same as the drive-up grocery store expected to be build in California.

If this is the case they will be joining grocery industry dominant Walmart, who already runs a pickup that began operating in September 2014. Doug McMillon, president and CEO of Walmart Stores sais that increased growth can be credited to “the continued rollout of online grocery and growth of pick-up in stores and clubs.”

Loblaw Comapanies Ltd next move is looking to acquiring Kelowna’s QHR Corp, a developer of electronic medical record technology. The company is looking to put forth $170 million cash to compliment their 2014 Shoppers Drug Mart purchase.

In October, QHR’s shareholder meeting will take place to approve the deal, though the deal has already been approved by QHR’s board of directors. QHR CEO Mike Checkley said “We weren’t out to sell the company,” sharing that “What came across the table we felt was very fair and we feel this is absolutely the right arrangement for us and our customers.”

Having the deal go through would mean Loblaws would gain 7,000 healthcare providers, along with a suite of electronic medical records technology, all worth approximately $350 million per year, according to Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Ralph Garcea.

The company is hopeful the acquisition will in the long term make its patient care more efficient, and allow it to work with more health care providers beyond the pharmacy niche
says Loblaw spokesperson Tammy Smitham.

The Shoppers acquisition gave Loblaw the opportunity to find a place in areas big-box retailers can’t access, like urban neighbourhoods. The company’s overall revenue has grown by two per cent to 10.7 billion with a year.

Walmart’s new Fresh Angle program, which seeks to give its grocery section more of a farmers’ market look, is beginning to see positive results.

“When you walk into our store today, you’re intentionally greeted with a farmers’ market vibe,” said Travis Moore, a Walmart store manager, on the company blog. To achieve this, his location—and all others participating in the Fresh Angle initiative—places fresh, unpackaged vegetables at the entrance of the grocery department.

The retailer has also lowered the profile of its fixtures so customers can easily see across the entire produce department. Moreover, while it has kept its broad assortment, it has redone its fixtures to look fuller while holding fewer products.
“By reducing the depth of our fixtures, we’ve reduced the volume of product we’re holding on the sales floor at any given time,” added Moore. “And, given the clock on freshness begins ticking the moment fresh fruit and vegetables are picked, we’re essentially passing increased freshness on to our customers – and working even harder to reduce food waste.”

According to Moore, the key to the Fresh Angle program is ensuring that fresh produce purchased by consumers looks and tastes the same when they take it out of the fridge to eat it later. Currently, the new approach has been rolled out at 180 stores to date, and more than 3,000 will have adopted it by the end of the year.

According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), July’s retail sales were essentially unchanged over June and held steady in July. That being said, retail sales did see a 1.7 per cent increase year-over-year, according to the organization’s calculations.

The report also showed that most retail segments, including sporting goods, general merchandise and building materials, saw reduced spending. However, online and other non-store sales saw an increase of 1.3 per cent seasonally adjusted over the previous month and 10.1 per cent unadjusted year-over-year.

Additionally, sales at health and personal care stores increased 0.1 per cent seasonally adjusted month-to-month, and increased 4.8 per cent unadjusted year-over-year.

“While today’s release is weaker than expected, recent job and income gains support the notion that consumers do have the ability to spend, and I suspect that July’s flat performance is transitory and does not signal a slowdown,” says NRF chief economist Jack Kleinhenz. “July’s spending remained at June’s strong level, even though consumers appear to have taken a breather. Retailers continue to suffer from weak pricing, which could in part also explain today’s flat figure.”

While these results relate to the US market, keep them in mind for your business in the coming months. Online and non-store sales are increasing, so consider ramping up the e-commerce portion of your operations to take advantage of these sales. Moreover, with sales increasing at health and personal care stores, contemplate the ways in which you can capitalize on this trend. In-store promotions and sales are always an excellent idea when it comes to boosting traffic to your physical locations.

The Integrative Healthcare Symposium will once again educate, inspire and engage integrative practitioners with a presentation on yoga as a therapeutic in primary care.

The commonalities between yoga and medical science have been recognized but there is finally medical validation of yoga conforming to modern therapeutic interventions.

Using an interactive style of teaching, Zahra Bardai MD, BSC, CCFP (COE), MHSC, FCFP, RYT, plans to introduce key concepts, review physiology behind the concepts, explore how to apply the concepts, and discussing the practice of yoga therapeutics.

Bardai is published in many peer reviews articles, presented nationally and internationally on this topic, and is dedicated to promoting health literacy. The Woodbridge-based physician will be presenting her session on October 14. Don’t forget to use discount code IHP to save 15%.

United Natural Foods announced their fourth acquisition this year, with New York-based Gourmet Guru, a company that provides distribution and merchandising for up-and-coming fresh and organic brands.

This new business move will help UNFI become familiar with new fresh and organic brands and gain more attention in urban markets. According to Supermarket news, “the transaction is expected to be neutral to UNFI’s fiscal 2017 earnings and modestly accretive to UNFI’s earnings in Fiscal 2018.”

UNFI will take this opportunity to “strengthen [its] expertise in identifying new and fast-growing health and wellness brands with the strategic acquisition of Gourmet Guru,” Steven Spinner, UNFI’s president and CEO, said in a press release.

The CEO of Gourmet Guru, Jeff Lichtenstein, will remain in a leadership role. “UNFI recognizes the importance of helping exciting and new producers of fresh and organic foods and Gourmet Guru is proud to become a part of UNFI,” said Lichtenstein.

Both companies are excited to bring an inventive variety of products to the market.

This week in St. Paul, Minn., independent food retailers from cross the country learned how they can bring deals and ideas to their own stores at the Supervalu’s annual Expo. With more than 4,200 attendees there were plenty of “Monster Deals,” auctions and the Supervalu annual Master Marketer awards.

Check out photos from the event below.

“Giant Tiger is Canada’s best-kept secret,” says Thomas Haig, president and chief operating officer at the Ottawa-based company. Currently running 220 stores across the country, they have serious plans to grow more locations and revamp the ones that are already thriving.

The privately owned company sells a wide variety of items from groceries to big-screen TVs, and the new revamp will make room for more products—and a better shopping experience.

Giant Tiger has grown mostly in small towns and cities, because every location caters to the needs of the community at the help of each local franchise owner. “These store managers live in the area, (have) lived there for several years and understand the clientele and understand the needs and wants of the community,” says Haig.

While looking to expand to locations that are in demand, Giant Tiger has recently opened stores in Bathurst, New Brunswick, Sudbury, Ontario, and Wetaskiwin, Alberta. An additional Peterborough, Ontario location will open next April.

“(Our customers) are looking for a simplified shopping experience,” says Karen Sterling, vice-president of marketing at Giant Tiger. To achieve this, the company plans to reorganize store layouts for more efficient shopping. In addition to all of these adjustments, their online store will also be rebranded.

Retail analyst Sandy Silva adds that Giant Tiger finds its success in support from consumers who want to strengthen a Canadian-grown business.