Supermarkets: who did well, who did not and how they will be in 2017

2023 Author: Cody Thornton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-24 11:20

Large-scale distribution is experiencing moments of mixed fortunes, at least in Italy.

In fact, if things are going well for brands such as Esselunga, Lidl or Eurospin, groups from beyond the Alps such as Auchan and Carrefour are going through lackluster moments, as reported by the latest Mediobanca report.

The supermarket with the most revenue per square meter

Esselunga, Caprotti's creature, who will certainly not fail to be pleased with his current "high" position, recorded the highest revenues per square meter not only in Italy but also in Europe: his € 16,000 in revenues per square meterin fact, they are practically double the Italian average.

Coop, for example, instead recorded 6800 euros in revenues per square meter, Carrefour 5000, Auchan 4500 and, at European level, only Tesco, in the United Kingdom, manages to undermine, but from a distance, the primacy of Esselunga, with its 12,000 in revenues per square meter.

The supermarket with the most profits

In addition, from 2011 to 2015, the overall turnover of large-scale distribution in Italy rose by 4.5% but only Lidl and Eurospin reported double-digit increases, in the order of 43 and 42.9% respectively.

A result obtained thanks to lower labor costs, faster warehouse rotation (16 and 19 days respectively), and payment of suppliers in a short time (62 and 70 days respectively, against 83 for Carrefour, 66 for Esselunga and even the average 101 days of Auchan).

Thanks to these parameters, Esselunga was able to achieve net profits, from 2011 to 2015, of 1136 million euros, but Eurospin, Lidl and Coop also defended themselves well, with 635 million, 206 and 109 million in cumulative net profits.

In the red, however, Auchan and Carrefour, which recorded losses of 559 and 2477 million euros respectively.

The supermarket with the highest labor costs

If Esselunga, Lidl and Eurspin, therefore, can enjoy their excellent results, this is not the case for Auchan and Carrefour.

Carrefour, in particular, pointed out the higher cost of labor per employee, recorded at 43,000 euros per year against 40,000 for Esselunga, 32,000 for Lidl and 37,000 for Eurospin.

Carrefour cuts the staff

As if that weren't enough, Carrefour recently announced the cut of 500 redundancies, excess staff in three of its stores, two of which in Piedmont.

How supermarkets will change in 2017

In short, a composite panorama, that of large-scale distribution in Italy, which in general gives the picture of an efficient and productive sector.

But supermarkets are still able to improve their economic performance, especially with a more efficient use of technology, which helps them to be less and less anonymous food warehouses and more and more comfortable spaces to go to, not just for routine shopping.

In reality, they are already doing it, they are already sharpening their weapons to meet the needs of consumers and relieve them of everything unpleasant they may encounter when they go to the supermarket.

We anticipate how.

Amazon

Among the least pleasant moments of shopping at the supermarket there are undoubtedly the lines at the checkout. Already today, although it is still in the experimental phase, the Amazon Go store in Seattle is equipped to avoid unproductive queues.

Customers are free to shop and pay simply via their smartphone. They do not pass through the boxes at all.

Carrefour

But, remaining in Italy, we can think of Carrefour, which offers innovative formulas such as "Gourmet" spaces, where you can find real mountain pasture tomes, for example, as well as the Eat & Shop formula, which integrates fast food with sale of products such as Grom's ice creams or Gabriele Bonci's pizzas.

Or Carrefour Express Urban Life, recently inaugurated in Milan in the Brera area, a refreshment and meeting area where you can enjoy a coffee or even sushi prepared at the moment, allowing yourself a relaxing break while enjoying a meal on the spot or taking it home in take-away packages.

Conad

Or we can think of Conad, which is not only inspired by the Amazon Go model to avoid customers having to queue at the tills, but has also inaugurated the second edition of the "Itinerant Journey", an experiment created to tell Italy from a thousand Municipalities and which, in the last edition, touched 12 Italian cities scattered throughout the Peninsula.

Conad also opened 14 "pet stores" in just 8 months, including the one in Genoa that Dissapore has already talked about, destined to become 100 in the next three years, where you can find everything you need for pets, aiming for loyalty of the customer that go beyond the concepts of convenience, offers and promotions.

Vegè / Crai / Coralis

But we can also mention Vegè, the first chain to land on Amazon with its own brand "Delizie". Or Crai, which is carrying out a total and more usable renovation of its stores.

And again Coralis, which only last year launched its own selection, “Etichétto”, with a view to promoting made in Italy.

Coop

And Coop also proved to be at the forefront in offering customer services with the Milan supermarket "Bicocca Village" where, thanks to augmented reality technology, it is able to offer in real time all the information on the organoleptic properties of purchased products.

Simply, Auchan brand

Particularly attentive to social issues is the Simply supermarket chain, part of the Auchan group, which with the "City" project has also enabled the elderly to fulfill the need to shop by providing them with help and assistance.

But everywhere, the large-scale retail chains are expanding their range of services to meet modern needs: ranging from points of sale open seven days a week for 24 hours a day, to those that deliver home shopping on the same day, from the multiplication of internal signs dedicated to catering to dedicated apps such as Indigo which, through a virtual assistant, give real-time advice on products and personalized offers.

Or like Edo, now you know what you eat, the app which, by simply scanning the barcode, will provide all the nutritional information on the product that interests us.

This is the supermarket of 2017: less and less supermarket, more and more comfortable place to gather and relax. Where, among other things, you can also go shopping.