Retail Ireland welcomed the statement made by Minister for Health Stephen Donnelly that he wanted shops selling children’s shoes added to the list of what is deemed "essential retail” immediately. The Ibec group that represents the retail sector said that the current distinction between what was deemed “essential” and “non-essential” did not reflect the crucial needs of consumers during these protracted COVID restrictions. “The delayed reopening of the wider retail sector has compounded the serious difficulties many retailers deemed non-essential are facing," said Arnold Dillon, director, Retail Ireland. "It is also leading to heightened frustration among consumers, who want ready access to the products they need, such as children’s shoes. A significant number of retailers will not survive the crisis without enhanced and prolonged Government support,” he added.
Ozon has reported a 144% jump in 2020 gross merchandise volume (GMV) to RUB197.4 billion (€2.2 billion) in the Russian online retailer's first results since listing on the Nasdaq, reports esmmagazine.com. The online marketplace, which uses couriers, pickup points and parcel lockers to run one of Russia's largest e-commerce platforms, said it handled 73.9 million orders, up 132%. It said it expects GMV - a measure of online transactions - to grow by around 90% this year with capital expenditure of RUB20 - RUB25 billion. "Ozon already had the opportunity to become profitable in 2020, but we decided to continue investing in logistics infrastructure, IT and new business initiatives," chief financial officer Igor Gerasimov was quoted as saying by the company's media service
Aldi has announced its plans to donate an additional €25,000 in retail value of non-surplus food to FoodCloud. Between March 2020, when the pandemic began, and February 2021, FoodCloud reportedly has increased the volumes of food donations to communities by 78% through their three hubs, it added. In 2020, over 3,022 tonnes of food, equating to more than 7.2 million meals, were distributed through retail partners and FoodCloud Hubs to charities across the country. “FoodCloud has seen a record year for demand on its services due to the hardships many people continue to face due to COVID-19," said Aoibheann O’Brien, co-founder of FoodCloud. "More and more charities and groups have been seeking our services and we are incredibly grateful for Aldi’s further donation of €25,000 of non-surplus food. We will continue to help charities and communities in need across the country, and we look forward to the extra support Aldi staff will be able to give us,” she added.
Royal Dutch Shell has proposed linking its directors' pay more closely to the group's climate performance and severing the link between bonuses and liquefied natural gas (LNG) production volumes, it recently said. The weighting of Shell's energy transition performance on its targeted path to net zero emissions by 2050 would double to 20% of the directors' long-term incentive plan calculation if shareholders vote for the plan at a meeting on 18 May. This places Shell's efforts to curb its planet-warming emissions on an equal footing with financial metrics such as free cash flow generation when it comes to remunerating directors in Shell shares.
© 2021 Checkout – your source for the latest Irish retail news. Article by Donna Ahern. Click sign up to subscribe to Checkout.
