Did you know… the annual expenditure on Visa cards was more than €21 billion last year? According to Visa Europe, this is an 83% increase on expenditure on Visa cards in 2012. Of every €4 spent by Irish shoppers last year, €1 was paid for by a Visa card (debit, credit and prepaid). This also accounts for a 45.3% rise of the average number of transactions per card according to the results for the year ending September 30, 2013, which is a total of 358,173,000 transactions by card made in Ireland. Visa Europe believes the increase is due to people becoming more comfortable to everyday purchases with cards and new payment technology like contactless payment makes it easier for small payments.
Did you know… Lidl Breaks deals at hotels around Ireland generated €10 million for the Irish Tourism industry? Nearly 10,000 people used the deal last year, with a sales increase of 50% in the second half of last year according to Lidl Ireland. The most popular destination visited with the Lidl breaks offer was Dublin, with revenue approaching €2 million, while Cork generated €1.5million and Galway over €1 million as a destination. The Lidl Breaks offer is a direct online service that offers customers seals on holidays across Ireland, and allows customers to buy their breaks with no booking fees, bank charges or the requirement to collect points or tokens to avail of the special offers. Lidl said 2014 will see further expansion of Lidl-breaks.ie into the international market giving Irish customers access to 220,000 worldwide hotels with destinations including New York, Dubai, Florida, Spain and Portugal among others.
Did you know… Metro AG (Germany’s largest retailer) plans to sell off 25% of its shareholding in its Russian Cash & Carry business later this year? The sale will be made through an initial public offering (IPO) on the London Stock Exchange and is expected to give the Russian business further opportunity to grow. Metro’s supervisory board chief Markus Haniel said that the transaction will also provide Metro Group with additional strategic flexibility for investments and create further deleveraging potential. Metro Group, based in Dusseldorf, is the world’s fifth largest retailer which runs cash and carries, Europe's biggest consumer electronics chain, hypermarkets and department stores. The group has over 2,200 business outlets in 32 countries in Europe, Africa and Asia and has around 265,000 employees. In 2012, it reported revenue of €66.7 billion.
Did you know… Pepsico Ireland is reportedly looking to outsource financial roles at its Carrigaline plant in Cork? The move could impact as many as 24 jobs at the premises. Pepsico said that “some transaction processing and certain accounting work” had been noted as not serving a “core business” function at the plant. The company is currently proposing that the work be transferred to IBM to enable a more efficient service. Pepsico said, “These are never easy decisions, and we recognise that this will be disappointing news for our employees. However, we are committed to providing those potentially impacted with our full support and assistance.”
Did you know… 100,000 counterfeit cigarettes were seized in Limerick last week? Revenue Commissioners and Gardai seized the illegal products on the Limerick-Tipperary border near Castleconnell last Tuesday, which had a retail value of €47,000 and a potential loss to the Exchequer of €37,000. Gardai stopped a Ford Transit van driven by a male in his 30s and discovered the haul in unmarked brown boxes. The van was seized and the man was taken for questioning at Nenagh Garda station.
Did you know… Subway plans to create 1,800 new jobs in Ireland over the next six years? The company aims to open over 180 new stores, adding to its 117 stores in Ireland. Already there are 16 new stores planned to open in 2014, with a further 40 proposed. These stores will create about 400 new jobs with an investment of €5 million. Subway has over 1,700 stores in the UK and Ireland, which are independently owned and operated by franchisees.
Did you know… Cadbury Dairy Milk and Ritz crackers are being combined to make a new snack product? Mondelez, owner of the two brands plans to launch the snack on February 4, following the success of other combinations such as Dairy Milk with Oreo, and Dairy Milk with Daim. The 35g bars comprise of four pieces of Dairy Milk sandwiched between the Ritz crackers. There will also be another combination of Dairy Milk with French sweet biscuit brand Lu. The snack innovation will be supported by a £7.5 million marketing campaign which includes a TV advert. Mondelez marketing activation director Matthew Williams said, “We asked consumers where they would expect to find this product and they said on the confectionery fixture."
Did you know… The Tesco Fairview retail unit is up for sale? The Dublin 3 store was listed on property website MyHome.ie, advertising the space with “storage and ancillary staff accommodation to include toilets, kitchen and staff lockers.” The property comprises a ground floor retail unit in a three storey art deco style building. Internally the shop, comprising 2,873 sq.ft., is laid out in a typical super market fashion with individual product aisles and wall shelving throughout with checkout desks located adjacent to the entrance/exit. The Tesco Express store continues to operate despite the impending sale. The tenant is listed as Tesco Ireland Ltd, who hold a 25 year IRI lease, with lease reviews every five years. The lease commenced on December 1, 2010. Property agents Knight Frank are dealing with the sale.
Did you know…There has been a fall in trimming razor sales due to the growing fashion for facial hair? Procter & Gamble revealed a 7.8% decline in sales of non-disposable razors and blades in the 12 weeks ending December 31, 2013. A spokesperson for P&G attributed the fall in sales to the charity event 'Movember', which has become popular in recent years, to raise awareness of male prostate cancer. However, P&G still generated €1.54 billion in revenue during the same time period on sales of shaving cream, razor blades and deodorant.
© 2013 - Checkout Magazine by Genna Patterson
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