Retailing

Value sales continued to be modest for vending in Turkey in 2023. There are a limited number of vending machines, mainly located in the underground stations in Istanbul and Ankara, with snacks and soft drinks being the most popular products sold…

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…

Grocery retailers are coming under pressure and have seen their turnover threatened by decreasing volume sales and increased competition from other grocery players and other players. As a result, they are looking for other ways to invest and increase…

Post-pandemic, consumers in Switzerland began to spend much more time outside of the home for work and leisure activities, boosting demand for on-the-go products sold through vending machines. In 2023, this trend continued, but growth was more…

Vending in Sweden was one the channels that was heavily hit by the mobility restrictions implemented to stem the spread of the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic in the country. When all of the COVID-19 restrictions were removed through 2022, the…

Sales were hard-hit by COVID-19 in 2020, as most vending machines are located in consumer foodservice establishments, at public transport hubs, and in petrol stations, and movement restrictions and closures limited foot traffic to such venues. As…

Vending in Portugal in 2023 saw strong retail value growth, fuelled by the positive performance of the tobacco industry. Vending is the most important channel for the tobacco industry and represented 35% of the total volume of cigarette sales in the…

Vending in Norway is dominated by Coca-Cola, which garners over one-third of value share in 2023. Vending sales rebounded strongly in 2023 as vending machines continued to gain popularity with locals. Sales were underpinned by the return of builders…

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…

Vending sales slumped in 2023 in Ireland, compared to a better performance seen in 2022. This is attributed to the inflationary environment leading to low consumer spending power, as well as a normalisation effect following the uptick seen in 2022 as…

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…

In 2023, vending in Germany experienced a stronger value sales decline, following a more modest fall the previous two years during the post-pandemic reopening. While vending locations, such as streets, transport hubs, and semi-captive environments…

In 2023, vending reached a valuation of EUR2 billion in France. A substantial proportion of that – amounting to EUR1.6 billion, was derived from machine operations. Meanwhile, the remaining EUR600 million stemmed from the procurement of a diverse…

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 continued to see positive growth in Denmark in 2023. However, this was largely a correction as the category saw a strong decline during the COVID-19 crisis. The fact that consumers are once again spending more time outside and exercising,…

Vending in Belgium saw a flat performance in current value terms in 2023, as inflationary pressures weighed on household spending. With wallets being squeezed, consumers switched to channels offering better value-for-money. This was in spite of an…

Vending saw good growth again in 2023, when Austria finally put the COVID-19 pandemic largely behind it and public life and consumer mobility finally returned to normal. During the pandemic and temporarily closed stores, there has been a lot of…

In the last two years of the review period, a noticeable trend in supermarket chains in Turkey involves a strategic reallocation of shelf space within their outlets. There has been a deliberate reduction in the variety of items related to clothing…

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…

Despite the increasing competition from hypermarkets and discounters, supermarkets remains by far the largest grocery retailers category in the Netherlands, with it continuing to expand its footprint in 2023. Competition in supermarkets is still…

Although supermarkets saw modest declines across all metrics in 2023, the channel remained Switzerland's leading grocery retail channel in current value terms due to the significant store network across the country. By comparison, the number of…

Supermarkets in Sweden were at the forefront of the battle against inflation surges in Sweden towards the end of the review period. This is unsurprising as supermarkets is the highest-value channel within grocery retailers in the country. In 2023,…

Maradona confirmed its position as the leading chain of Spanish supermarkets in value terms in 2023 despite ranking second in terms of the number of outlets. The company strengthened its brand equity through intensified promotional campaigns,…

In 2023, retail value growth was double-digit for supermarkets in Portugal. During the outbreak of COVID-19, supermarkets experienced a temporary increase in sales as consumers stockpiled goods – however, this placed pressure on retailers to ensure…

In 2023, grocery retailers engaged in price wars as they reacted to weaker consumer confidence and tried to support consumers facing higher costs of living. Food prices continued to increase significantly as costs soared across the value chain,…

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…

Supermarkets was facing some ongoing challenges in Ireland in 2023, following on from the change in consumer behaviour which was seen both during the era of the pandemic and also currently, due to the cost-of-living crisis. Similarly to hypermarkets,…

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…

Despite recording high single-digit current value growth in 2023, the solid performance by supermarkets in Germany was largely driven by the historically high inflation rate, especially for food and drinks. In comparison to discounters, the other…

During 2020 and into early 2021, supermarkets saw a surge in customer visits and sales in response to pandemic-era lockdowns and driven by the convenience of location, manageable store sizes, and the availability of click-and-collect services.…

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 continued to face strong competition from discounters in Denmark in 2023, as many consumers looked to save on their grocery shopping due to the financial impact of higher energy prices and increasing interest rates. On the other side,…

Supermarkets in Belgium recorded modest growth in current value terms in 2023. However, this was mainly due to inflationary pressures, with rising input costs leading to price rises increases across the channel. Such outlets also suffered from…

Just like grocery retailers as a whole, hypermarkets saw strong growth in value sales in 2023, although this was entirely price driven as inflation remained at unusually high levels for a second consecutive year. Demand was down as consumers…

There was a further contraction in outlets of small local grocers in Turkey in 2023, as increasing numbers of operators were unable to compete with other formats, in a climate of rising inflation and rising costs. It is extremely difficult for small…

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…

Small local grocers are increasingly trying to find ways to compete with supermarkets and other modern grocery retailers in what has been a tough economic environment. Small local grocers often struggle to achieve economies of scale with even many of…

Small local grocers recorded moderate current value growth in Switzerland in 2023, mainly driven by price increases as a result of energy, production and supply chain costs. These retailers are struggling to compete with larger retail chains that…

Small local grocers in Sweden form part of the very well-developed grocery retailing infrastructure in the market. However, grocery retailing continued to be dominated by major large modern retailers like ICA, Lidl, Coop and Axfood at the end of the…

Small local grocers saw only modest growth in current value terms in 2023 while the number of outlets continued to decline, following the pattern seen throughout the review period. During the first year of the pandemic, small local grocers benefited…

Small local grocers in Portugal continued to lose competitiveness in 2023; the consequence of strong inflation rates, increasing costs and the growing competition from larger players. For example, it is easier for supermarkets to implement deals,…

Small local grocers accounts for a negligible share of overall value sales within grocery retailers. Like most other grocery retail channels, small local grocers saw exceptional current value growth in 2020 in the first year of the pandemic, as…

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…

Sales in small local grocers start to creep up again in Ireland in 2023. However, some challenges remain, as this channel also faces competition from other retail options. Whilst small local grocers tend to offer proximity convenience to consumers,…

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…

Small local grocers in Germany recorded the lowest current value growth among all grocery retailing channels in 2023. This corresponded to a strong decline in constant terms due to the historically high inflation during the year; food and…

As the cost of groceries continued to increase in 2023, small independent grocery stores faced intensified competition from chained outlets. Small local grocers suffer from limited bargaining power and struggle to manage rising operational expenses…

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…

As life returned to normal in Denmark in 2023, consumers continued to shop more in stores and small local grocers benefited from this development. However, small local grocers also faced growing competition from the major chains and especially from…

Small local grocers in Belgium registered only modest growth current value terms in 2023. Moreover, this was largely due to inflationary pressures, with the number of outlets continuing to decline. With players facing rising operating costs, these…