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Retailer News

Store Closures Impact Ceconomy Q2 Results

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Store Closures Impact Ceconomy Q2 Results

The coronavirus hits Ceconomy, as the MediaMarkt and Saturn owner sees fiscal Q2 (ending March 2020) sales drop by -6.6% to €4.6 billion, mainly due to to store closures brought about pandemic lockdown measures.

The retailer also reports adjusted EBIT for the quarter is down by €157 million to -€131m, while earnings before tax total -€391m, a massive drop from the €33m of the previous year. Profit is down from €20m to a loss of -€309m.

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Dixons Carphone Plans Zero Contact Retail

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Dixons Carphone Plans Zero Contact Retail

Dixons Carphone prepares for zero-contact retail in the age of the coronavirus (aka Covid-19) pandemic with the launch of ShopLive, a personal shopping service to connect customers with employees in Currys PC World outlets.

ShopLive allows customers browsing the currys.co.uk website to chat with store employees via popup video link on select webpages. The service provides advice on laptops, TVs, washing machines and refrigerators, and the retailer says everyone, including vulnerable customers, can benefit from in-store expertise remotely. The dedicated shopping experience will be available within stores once the government eases restrictions on shop closures.

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Media Markt Parent Asks for State Aid

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Media Markt Parent Asks for State Aid

Ceconomy, the parent company of Media Markt and Saturn, is in talks with the German state-owned KfW development bank for government aid, as the coronavirus (aka Covid-19) leads to store closures, Bloomberg reports.

According to the news story, the German retailer is looking for no less than €2 billion in financing. One potential scenario has KfW provide around 80% of the loans, with commercial banks providing the rest as part of a special program. Another source suggests Ceconomy may need to top only part of the credit line. Negotiations are reportedly still ongoing, and as such the structure and timing of the financial package are not finalised.

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Dixons Carphone Closes UK Carphone Warehouse Stores

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Dixons Carphone Closes UK Carphone Warehouse Stores

Dixons Carphone closes all 531 standalone Carphone Warehouse stores in the UK, making 8% of the retailer's total UK selling space, from 3 April 2020, a move bringing the loss of 2900 jobs.

Part of a move the retailer describes as "the next step in its transformation," all Dixons Carphone mobile retail will take place through shop-in-shops in 305 big Currys PCWorld outlets, as well as online. The retailer adds it managed to save the employment of 1800 people as it switches them to work in other, larger outlets, but as mentioned earlier the rest will be made redundant.

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DISTREE Takes on the Cloud Gaming Opportunity

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DISTREE Takes on the Cloud Gaming Opportunity

Stefan Lampinen, Managing Director at Game Advisor and game industry veteran, talks about cloud gaming at DISTREE 2020-- an opportunity he describes as nothing less than "growing like crazy," be it in terms of revenues, geographies and user demographics.

As one might know, the gaming industry is evolving. Whereas previously you simply had game consoles, with releases staggered according to region, now you have simultaneous launches across all machines, as well as PCs, mobile devices and the cloud. Games are also further enhanced by the internet, with online titles such as the incredibly popular Roblox and Minecraft creating their own communities while game streamers become powerful influencers, making or breaking a game. One such streamer is Ninja, a top eSports player with YouTube views clocking at over 22 million.

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Target Concept Store Aims at Gaming

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Target Concept Store Aims at Gaming

Target takes on the lucrative digital gaming market with the "Game Room," a concept store inside the San Francisco Target Open House location allowing customers to get hands-on with the gaming fun.

Described by the retailer as a "play space for tomorrow's gamer," the Game Room is located in what was previously a smart home technology and product showcase. The redone store offers devices ranging from smartphones hooked up with Apple Arcade and Google Play Pass to Google Stadia systems and multiple VR/AR areas, and customers are encouraged to check out multiple experiences. In addition, Target plans to hold events such as meets-and-greets, tournaments and talks in the space.

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Amazon Licenses Checkout-Free Retail Tech

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Amazon Licenses Checkout-Free Retail Tech

Back in 2016 Amazon debuted "Amazon Go," a futuristic challenge to traditional brick-and-mortar retail featuring no cash registers and associated queues. Now the technology is available for licensing, and the online giant has already signed deals with "several" retailers.

Dubbed Just Walk Out, the service brings all the capabilities of the checkout-free Amazon Go retail chain to any retailer-- for a price, of course. As the company tells Reuters, the technology has "broad applicability across store sizes, across industries," since it brings convenience to customers hard-pressed for time. Amazon will also install all technology, such as ceiling cameras and shelf weight sensors, in the retail location, and offers a 24-7 support line.

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Protests Affect Fnac Darty Results

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Protests Affect Fnac Darty Results

Fnac Darty reports revenue growth of 0.7% to €7.35 billion (excluding the Netherlands) for 2019, with "exceptional events" and ongoing protests such as those by the yellow vest movement affecting holiday revenues.

In total, the retailer says protests taking place both on Q1 and Q4 2019 resulted in a loss in revenues worth €70 million. France and Switzerland see turnover rise by 3.4%, but operational margin is down to 4.3% as the aforementioned protests offset the successful integration of Nature & Découvertes. Belgium and Luxembourg turnover is up by 03% to €596m, a -0.4% drop on comparable base. Operational margins are also down in the region, from 2.5% to 1.9%.

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The Rise of the Robots, in Retail!

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The Rise of the Robots, in Retail!

According to Gartner, by 2025 at least two of the top 10 global retailers will establish robot resource organisations to manage nonhuman workers, as new digital technologies and ever-changing customer expectations force the introduction of technologies such as AI, automation and robotics.

The analyst says 77% of retailers plan to deploy AI by 2021, with the top use case being the deployment of robotics for warehouse picking. Warehouse picking involves smart robots working independently or alongside humans. In the future, retailers will establish units within the organisation to procure, maintain, train, tax, decommission and dispose of robot resources, as well as create the governance required to ensure people and robots collaborate effectively.

Many retail workers want to use AI as an on-demand or predictive assistance, meaning robots will need to work alongside-- or "mesh"-- with the human team. In other words, both humans and robots will need to learn how to "collaborate" in order to operate effectively together. For example, an autonomous robotic kitchen worker must learn the specific recipes of the operator, and prepare them accordingly. In turn, the operators are adapting to changing consumer tastes.

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