Breakfast Briefing: FMCG sales down, Aldi and Lidl to open 'more stores' than big four, 15m jobs at risk from robots

Welcome to Marketing's morning briefing, a daily shot of news and a recap of the best longer reads and videos. In the news today, FMCG sales across Europe have risen but fallen in the UK, Aldi and Lidl plan to open more stores than the big four and an the Bank of England warns up to 15m could be replaced by robots in future.

Aldi and Lidl to open five times as many stores than big four

Aldi and Lidl are plotting to open more than five times as many new supermarkets as their "Big Four" rivals combined, as the budget chains’ rampant UK expansion continues apace.

This year Aldi has filed 93 planning applications to open new stores, while Lidl has lodged 78.

In stark comparison, Tesco, Morrison’s, J Sainsbury and Asda have filed a total of just 29 planning applications.

Source: Telegraph

Future jobs at risk from robots

Policymakers must act now to ensure robots do not consign humans to the scrapheap, according to the chief economist of the Bank of England.

Andy Haldane warned 15 million British jobs could be made redundant by machines in the next two decades.

He urged policymakers to act quickly to ensure workers affected by automation did not become disillusioned. "We’ll have to think imaginatively," he said. "A lot of these trends are kicking in now."

Source: Telegraph

FMCG sales up across Europe but down in UK

The volume of FMCG products – such as soft drinks, toiletries and food – purchased across Europe increased year-on-year for the sixth consecutive quarter, according to the latest data from Nielsen.

In the third quarter of 2015, FMCG sales volume across Europe increased 1.3%. The growth in volumes was accompanied by a 1.7% rise in prices paid.

Only three European countries experienced a decline in nominal growth – Switzerland (-1.5%), Finland (-0.9%) and the UK (-0.3%).

Source: Nielsen

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