International Retailers Domo Arigato, Mr Roboto.
In the US and A, Walmart has teamed up with online grocery delivery service Instacart to bring Walmart goodies to those blighted geographies where the Big Feller doesn’t have any stores., including Los Angeles, San Francisco, and, as of very recently, parts of New York City – but not Manhattan, which will have to go without. In the UK, in the meantime, Winner of All Lockdowns Ocado now has to earn a crust in a world that can go to the shops again, leaving its regiments of killer robots with a worrying amount of time on their hands. The plan is to sell its pioneering robot warehouse technology to other grocers around the world, through its Ocado Solutions business, which has already struck deals with Kroger in the US, Aeon in Japan and now Auchan in Spain. Also in the UK, Tesco has launched a trial of reusable packaging for food, drink, household and beauty products as part of its drive to cut single-use plastics from its supply chain. Products include Persil laundry detergent, Coca-Cola, and Tetley Tea, as well as 35 Tesco private label lines, such as pasta, rice, sugar and oil.
Comment: Essential and ground-breaking stuff from Tesco. Which major South African retailer will be the first to jump in?