According to PMR’s estimates, in 2012 the grocery market in Poland reached the value of over PLN 230bn (€54.9bn), 2.5% more than last year . This growth has been generated primarily in the discount segment, against the background of still rising prices, as demonstrated by PMR’s latest report on the “Grocery retail in Poland 2012.
Market analysis and development forecasts for 2013-2015″. The situation on the labour market and the economic slowdown are not conducive to a consumption increase. Additionally, the cost of living, including food prices, keeps growing, which translates into a stagnation of the consumers’ real revenue and, consequently, into the continued tendency to spend money in a possibly rational manner. “In our survey conducted in September 2012 over 70% respondents subjectively described their spending on food as higher than last year. This growth largely results from the continued price rises as households take a lot of actions aimed at compensating for their impact. The largest group of 23% interviewees stated that compared to last year they tried to buy the same quantity of products, but paying more attention to prices. However, interestingly, in 2012 over half of the respondents did not change significantly their grocery buying habits developed in the previous years”, says Dominika Kubacka, PMR’s analysts and the author of the report. Shopping in discount stores increasingly popular among Poles This has been another year in the retail sector to witness the growing significance of discount stores, representing now the strongest segment among the large-area grocery stores. Thanks to the intensified expansion efforts, strategy changes and costly advertising campaigns, the saturation and popularity of discount stores in Poland are on the rise.
According to PMR’s initial estimates for 2012, their share reaches 17% and there are already nearly 80 discount stores per one million Poles. Over the last five years their number has surged by almost 80%, to nearly 3,000 outlets, with their market share doubling in the same period. In the medium term the discount segment will remain the market leader as regards the growth rate. Forecasts indicate that in three years there will be about 4,000 discount stores in Poland, or over 100 per one million Poles, and by then they might account for already nearly a quarter of the grocery market. Hypermarkets, in turn, years ago doomed to succeed and now struggling to stabilise their market position at best, are not giving ground easily, although their expansion has lost its pace and in the period 2011-2012 clearly fewer new outlets were opened than in the previous years – on the average six hypermarkets fewer (or a quarter less) than in the period 2008-2010. “Although the chains which have been refraining from investing over the last years now announce their intention to resume the process, the market necessitates reviewing the plans for constructing large-area facilities and such projects are very often delayed. Moreover, due to Auchan’s acquisition of Real the picture of this segment will change considerably”, adds Dominika Kubacka.
Reshuffle among the key players on the grocery marketIn 2011 the potential of the ten biggest retail groups, including their partner chains, amounted to nearly PLN 100bn (€23.6bn), representing 44% of the entire market value. The acquisition of most of the Emperia Group’s companies by Eurocash in 2011 as well as the insolvency of three of the Bomi Group’s companies in the middle of 2012 will strongly contribute to an alteration in the balance of power among the top ten players on the grocery market in the years 2012-2013.Taking into account only the operators having their own stores, in turn, the big tree of the grocery retail in Poland is made up of the Polish branch of Jeronimo Martins running the Biedronka discount stores, the chains owned by the Schwarz Group – Lidl and Kaufland, and Tesco, which together accounted for over a fifth of the market in 2011 and, according to PMR’s estimates, control nearly 24% in 2012. In 2013 the Auchan Group, strengthened by its recent acquisition of Real, will contend for a place among the leaders.Market shares are reflected in the findings from PMR’s survey of September 2012, in which the stores owned by the top three players were also indicated as the most frequently chosen ones by the highest number of interviewees.
This press release is based on information contained in the latest PMR report entitled ”Grocery retail in Poland 2012. Market analysis and development forecasts for 2013-2015”.
You are welcome to contact the author of the report:Dominika Kubacka, Senior Retail Analysttel.: +48 12 618 90 58e-mail: dominika.kubacka@pmrpublications.com
For more information about the report please contact:Marketing Departmenttel.: +48 12 618 90 00 e-mail: marketing@pmrcorporate.com.
Source: PMR
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