Market research on the retailing industry. Our reports feature a ...
Market research on the retailing industry. Our reports feature a wealth of standardised and cross-comparable statistics including total market sizes, market share and brand share data, distribution and industry trends.
Retail faced notable challenges in Greece in 2023. Inflation was - and continues to be - very high and prices were constantly rising. Retailers, regardless of industry, were forced to raise their prices as they could not absorb the increases in the…
While small local grocers saw current value growth in Greece in 2023, the channel’s expansion was less rapid than that seen in other areas of grocery retailing. Grocery stores that specialise in Asian, Mexican and other ethnic cuisines did see an…
Supermarkets saw value growth in Greece in 2023. Players in the channel expand their networks mainly through acquisitions, primarily focusing on the acquisition of small local chains in order to open stores all over Greece. Smaller chains were hit…
Vending saw dynamic current value growth in Greece in 2023, though sales remained far below the level seen in 2021. Vending in Greece declined dramatically after the closure of ThesGala-Pies Cooperative’s fresh milk vending machines, which had…
The slowdown in the economy has not hit apparel and footwear specialists in Finland as hard as grocery retailers. Pent-up demand for clothing purchases since the pandemic, especially to wear at parties and celebrations, has sustained sales growth in…
Apparel and footwear specialists continued to record single-digit growth in current value terms in 2023 as the category continued on the path to recovery. Despite this sales remained lower than pre-pandemic levels as elevated inflation and a sharp…
Appliances and electronics specialists in Finland witnessed further decline in 2023, in volume and current value terms, as the economy fell into recession. Sales of ovens, cooktops and furniture-covered appliances were most affected as consumers were…
It was another tough year for appliances and electronics specialists in Italy in 2023 with the category seeing a decline in current value terms for the second consecutive year. Sales slumped in 2020 due to the outbreak of COVID-19 before recording a…
In 2023, convenience retailers in Finland witnessed only marginal current value growth, with much of this fuelled by high levels of inflation. Sales have suffered from lower purchasing power caused by the rising cost of living, with consumers…
The geopolitical developments of 2022 and 2023 have had a big impact on retail in Italy. Russia's war in Ukraine continued in 2023 with no sign of resolution at the time of writing, while the emergence of further instability in other parts of the…
Direct selling has always been a marginal retail channel in Finland, and has in recent years seen a clear decrease – sales fell in 2023 for the seventh year in a row in current value terms. Even more worryingly, direct selling underperformed…
After two years of solid growth, direct selling experienced a decline in current value terms in 2023. However, performances varied within direct selling in 2023 with some categories continuing to perform well in 2023, but especially those with a…
Discounters in Finland registered stagnant current value growth in 2023, as inflation remained high and the Finnish economy weakened. Discounters proved a more attractive choice to consumers seeking affordable brands and private label. The location…
Despite the easing of inflationary pressures in Italy over 2023, price increases and thus inflation rates remained high in the country. Therefore, price and value remained the most pressing concerns for many consumers when choosing to shop for their…
Variety stores in Finland witnessed a stellar performance in 2023, with current value growth reaching double-digits. Providing a wide offering of cheap products, variety stores have proved attractive to consumers in the economic downturn, as these…
General merchandise stores recorded dynamic double-digit growth in current value terms in 2022 with department stores and variety stores both seeing elevated sales. This performance was backed by a renewed sense of optimism as concerns around the…
Health and beauty specialists in Finland is the second biggest non-grocery channel in Finland and is a category of growing importance. One of the main reasons for this growth is that pharmacy products are mostly essential. A high share of overall…
Health and beauty specialists saw moderate growth in current value terms in 2023, although this was largely the result of price inflation rather than an increase in demand. When it comes to pharmacies small and independent players account for most…
In 2023, current value sales slowed in home products specialists as consumer confidence weakened and Finland entered recession. Consumers cut back expenditure on home improvements and home furnishings as household budgets were allocated to more…
Home products specialists saw healthy growth in current value terms in 2023 albeit this was largely due to the impact of inflation rather than a significant increase in demand. Consumers continued to invest in their domestic spaces in 2023 with this…
Hypermarkets remains the leading retail (not only grocery retail) channel in Finland, with around a third of overall sales of grocery retailers in 2023. Hypermarkets has managed to maintain its extend its lead over supermarkets (the second biggest…
Although more stable than in the previous year, inflation rates still remained high in Italy in 2023 with the price of food and other grocery and non-grocery items continuing to rise. In the context of high inflation, hypermarkets continued to…
In 2023, e-commerce in Finland outperformed the overall retail category by a greater margin than in 2022. The move from offline to online continued to impact the sales of offline channels – blurring the boundaries between online and offline through…
Retail e-commerce in Italy posted a relatively moderate increase in current value terms in 2023, with growth largely driven by foods, beverages and beauty products. After a steep increase in market penetration of fast moving consumer goods sold…
Retail in Finland witnessed positive development in current value terms in 2023, although this was largely underpinned by retail price inflation. Grocery retailers saw a decline after a couple of years of solid growth, while non-grocery retailers…
High inflation rates continued to negatively affect producers, distributors, and most importantly consumers in 2023, despite inflation being slightly more stable than in the previous year. Indeed, as issues in the supply chain, logistical space, and…
Small local grocers in Finland remained the smallest grocery retail channel in Finland in 2023. Its significance within grocery retailers has been on a slow decline for a long time, although there was a slight increase in value sales in 2022/2023 due…
Smal local grocers continued to suffer from fierce competition from other retailers in 2023, including larger format grocery retailers, but especially discounters. Despite this, small local grocers maintained a positive growth trajectory in current…
In 2023, high inflation rates led to a second year of higher prices in supermarkets, which meant consumers in Finland had to be more careful regarding what they purchased. Even with inflation, current value sales declined in 2023, as consumers made…
Supermarkets is the grocery retailers channel with the highest penetration in Italy and it saw moderate growth in current value terms in 2023 as inflation started to show signs of stabilising, albeit prices continued to rise. Aside from the impact of…
In 2023, consumers in Finland returned to normal lifestyles, with more citizens working in offices and travelling, and with more mobility, vending witnessed solid value growth to surpass pre-pandemic levels. Also, local “vending hubs” and their…
Vending saw strong growth in current value terms in 2023 for the third straight year with sales seeing an almost full recovery to pre-pandemic levels. Drinks and tobacco vending, the most important category, also saw strong growth in 2023. The return…
After a year of strong double-digit value growth in 2022 for apparel and footwear specialists in the UK, the channel maintained its positive trajectory in 2023 to outperform all other non-grocery retailers, except for leisure and personal goods…
In 2022, appliances and electronics specialists in the UK was the only non-grocery retail channel to experience a decline in sales. Due to the cost-of-living crisis and the squeeze on discretionary budgets, many consumers were forced to be…
Despite price increases as a result of inflation that continued to drive the local population to adopt more conscious spending patterns in 2023, convenience retailers in the UK maintained a positive trajectory during the year as proximity and…
Amid the ongoing cost-of-living crisis, local consumers turned to direct selling in the UK as a way to augment their household earnings. Data released by the UK’s Direct Selling Association (DSA) revealed a significant surge in the number of people…
Due to high inflation towards the end of the review period, resulting in elevated prices of goods and services, consumers became increasingly price conscious, supporting the second consecutive year of value growth for discounters in the UK. As…
In 2023, a year characterised by the ongoing cost-of-living crisis and high inflation, Poundland was one of the more active players in general merchandise stores in the UK, placing a strong focus on pricing and expanding its product range. In March…
In 2023, health and beauty specialists in the UK maintained its positive trajectory despite rising price sensitivity among consumers and a significant squeeze on disposable incomes. Pricing strategies, and discounted offers in particular, played an…
Home products specialists witnessed a surge in value sales in 2021, following declines due to pandemic-related restrictions. However, the channel did not return to 2019 sales levels until 2022. The cost-of-living crisis that began in 2022 and…
Despite increased competition from discounters and warehouse clubs, which offer low-cost products appealing to the elevated number of price-sensitive consumers in 2023, hypermarkets in the UK maintained positive sales growth. Amid the cost-of-living…
After a challenging 2022 due to high inflation, the emergence of the cost-of-living crisis, and additional pressure on operators due to a surge in utility prices, all of which affected the disposable incomes of local consumers and subsequently led to…
In 2023, soaring inflation rates, an ongoing cost-of-living crisis, low consumer confidence and limited spending subdued the retail industry in the UK. Consumers continued to downgrade product purchases to mitigate the negative effects of the…
Unlike larger store formats within grocery retailers, such as warehouse clubs, discounters, and hypermarkets, which have a strong focus on lower-priced products as well as the ability to limit the transfer of increased costs on to consumers, small…
Supermarkets in the UK was the only grocery retail channel in 2022 to witness value sales decline, in a year characterised by soaring food prices, skyrocketing cost of utilities, high inflation, and a cost-of-living crisis, which all contributed to a…
Vending in the UK was significantly disrupted by the pandemic as vending machines predominantly target closed sites such as academic institutions, hospitals and businesses, which also experienced a substantial decrease in footfall. The channel fully…
Apparel and footwear specialists maintained double-digit value growth in 2023, following a significant sales boom the previous year. The 2022 sales boost was attributed to this being the first full year without pandemic-related restrictions, driven…
Appliances and electronics specialists saw sales plummet in Ireland in 2023, following positive growth in 2022. This slump is attributed to consumers seeing lower spending power due to inflationary pressures and the cost-of-living crisis, whereas in…
Inflationary pressures, notably in food, drove value growth in convenience retailers in 2023. Here we note the cost of everyday essentials, such as butter, milk, flour, and eggs. While this supports value sales due to the higher prices, retailers in…
Direct selling remained in a relatively steep slump in Ireland in 2023, due to strong competition from a variety of other shopping channels which offer wider ranges of goods at lower prices – both online and offline. Added to which, inflationary…