Discount Retail Chain MERE owned by Svetofor Group, which operates a chain of grocers in Russia and across Europe is planning to make its entry into Malaysia, possibly its first Southeast Asian destination. The group, known for its hard discount stores/budget supermarkets, is understood to be awaiting the green light from the Ministry of Domestic Trade and Cost of Living to commence operations, sources say. The Edge understands that Svetofor Group, founded by Sergey Shnayder, had been eyeing the Malaysian retail market for more than a year now and the plan is to open stores in Ipoh, Perak, and the Klang Valley. Typically, these hard discount stores, which are similar to Germany’s Aldi and Lidl grocers, offer goods that are 20% to 30% cheaper than those sold by the competitors. As at May 23, Sergey and his family’s net worth was an estimated US$1.4 billion, making them the 2,281st richest in the world. Svetofor’s expansion into Southeast Asia is thought to have been prompted by the Russia-Ukraine conflict that resulted in the retailer shutting down stores in Europe, the UK, Belgium and Spain. It is worth pointing out that Malaysia has not imposed any sanctions on Russia. According to a source, the ministry may decide on the group’s application “by the end of May”. The Edge did not receive a response to questions sent to the ministry. Under Malaysia’s domestic rules governing foreign participation in the distribution trade, all foreign grocers are required to obtain government approval to operate. The rules also impose a minimum and maximum floor size requirement and for 30% of the products on the shelves to be sourced from bumiputera small and medium enterprises. Large format stores, such as hypermarkets, need to either have a 30% bumiputera equity partner or comply with another set of rules that includes contributing 0.1% of annual revenue to a bumiputera Retail Development Trust Fund for 10 years. It remains unclear what store category this new foreign group plans to open in Malaysia, whether as a supermarket, superstore or speciality store, and what brand name it will use here. Apart from the brand Svetofor, which translates into traffic lights, the group also operates hypermarkets under the brand Mayak and hard discount stores under the brand name MERE in Europe. Forbes says the group operates more than 2,000 stores globally. Based on available videos and articles online, it appears that Svetofor operates warehouse-type supermarkets. Items appear to be left in boxes/carts and are not organised on shelves. This hard discount store concept is also referred to as a budget supermarket or poor people’s supermarket. MERE on its website, under the topic “requirement for suppliers and delivery conditions” says the price of goods, including the cost of delivery to the store should be 20% to 30% lower than in competitors’ stores. This is achieved by reducing packaging costs as they do not need colourful, eye-catching packaging. MERE stores are typically located in large and medium-sized cities in close proximity to roads with heavy traffic. They are placed on the ground floor and allow 30 to 40 cars to park. The sales area ranges from 800 to 1,200m2. For comparison, a shop lot is about 150m2.  A source tells The Edge that a company called Partner Retail Sdn Bhd has approached potential suppliers to deliver goods to its stores. A search on the Companies Commission of Malaysia website describes Partner Retail’s nature of business as “retail trade in a chain of supermarkets”. The shareholders of the company are Sergey Shnayder (79%), Andrey Shnayder (15%) and Iakovlev Valeriy (6%). All three are also directors of the company. There are two other directors, Korchagin Denis and a local Aizad Saman. Sergey and Andrey are siblings. Another company registered to the Shnayder siblings and Valeriy is Trade Project Sdn Bhd, whose shareholding is divided in a similar fashion to that of Partner Retail. Aizad and Korchagin are listed as directors of the company whose nature of business is described as “supermarket, other retail sale in non-specialised stores and activities of holding companies”. Based on Partner Retail’s company registration number, The Edge was able to find a Jobstreet advertisement placed last month for the position of category manager in Ipoh. The responsibility of the category manager, the advertisement said, would include identifying new suppliers, coordinating with suppliers on assortment, terms, price, discounts and payment terms. Should Svetofor’s entry be approved, it would mark the entry of the first foreign grocery player since the exit of Hong Kong’s Dairy Farm International Ltd (DFI) from the grocery retail scene. Last February, DFI, which operated a chain of hypermarkets and supermarkets, including Giant, Mercato and Giant Mini brands, sold its business to a local group led by Datuk Andrew Lim Tatt Keong. ExaStrata Solutions Sdn Bhd CEO and chief real estate consultant Adzman Shah Mohd Ariffin views the entry of Svetofor positively given the benefits from a new investment. “Naturally, having a new player in the market will bring positive indications for the country in terms of investment, employment opportunities and downstream services.” “Svetofor carries a concept of discount supermarket format. Presently in Malaysia, supermarkets tend to be offering higher priced products in a high-end ambiance. If the prices can be lower given its discount nature, Svetofor could be giving the local chains a run for their money, especially in the current high inflation situation,” says Adzman who is also the former director of expansion for Carrefour Malaysia and ex-CEO of Hektar Property Services Sdn Bhd in charge of Hektar REIT retail portfolio management. Etiqa Insurance and Takaful chief strategy officer Chris Eng says, “The fact that there are foreign retailers still keen on entering what others may deem a rather small and competitive market is positive for Malaysia. The country has often been tagged as a small consumer market given our smaller population in relation to that of our neighbours such as Thailand, the Philippines, Vietnam and, of course, Indonesia.” He adds that should the retailer be aiming for the lower-income group via hard discounts, it makes its decision surprising given the closure and departure of hypermarkets from Malaysia over the last few years due to the intense competition in the market. Eng observes that while competition is tougher with players like 99 Speed Mart and KK Mart already in the field, competition is less intense outside the Klang Valley and Penang. In another development early last week, KK Supermart Group and the government of Samarkand region in Uzbekistan signed a memorandum of understanding aimed at strengthening ties and collaboration between the two countries and to enhance trade and investment activities. Uzbekistan was a Soviet socialist republic from 1924 to 1991 and Russian is widely spoken there. Read more: Russian grocery retailer Svetofor gears up for Malaysian debut ( theedgemalaysia.com ) #smartdiscount #mere #malaysia #svetofor #development #business #growth #drc #discount #retail #consulting #discountretail #discountretailconsulting #retailconsulting #google

Discount Retail Chain MERE (owned by the Russian Schneider family) is one of the Russian companies operating in Serbia, for a little over a year. They arrived on the Serbian market at the end of 2020, and in a very short time they managed to attract a large number of customers. This retail chain operates under the Svetofor brand and is owned by the Torgservis Group, which, before the war, operated in more than 2,000 locations in 25 countries and which has existed since 2009. However, the current situation has made business difficult for this Russian company as well, so, at the very beginning of this situation, as the media report, they had to close their store in Great Britain. According to the website RetailDetail.eu, Great Britain is not an isolated case, and in Spain the company had to close its eight stores, while in Germany, according to the allegations, the stores of the Russian retail chain were not closed. The advantages of this retail chain are that, as stated on their website, the prices are 20 to 30 percent lower than the market ones. "This can be achieved by reducing packaging costs, we do not need colorful and attractive packaging. In the case of well-known brands that have a reputation, that difference should be up to 50 percent, "the website states. We talked with the director of development for Serbia, BiH, Macedonia, Croatia of the retail chain about the situation in Ukraine and how it complicates the business of the Russian company in Serbia and the world, but also about the import of goods and how the citizens of Serbia accepted this trade chain. Russian retail chain Russian trade chain Mere, Development Director Mladen Milojica How has the situation in Ukraine affected your business in Serbia? The situation in Ukraine does not bring good to anyone, not even to us. However, at the moment, it has not significantly affected our business. First of all, because we were founded as a company that operates in accordance with Serbian legislation, in which our people are mostly employed, only the owners of the company are people from Russia. Given that your range mainly includes imported products, do you have any challenges when it comes to providing products for stores and how is the process being done now? Our range is based on the best prices. Currently, most of the assortment is Serbian production, goods from Russia are just a supplement. As for the import itself for this period since the beginning of the crisis in Ukraine, we have not had any difficulties, we believe that only the price of certain goods from Russia can change, which means that for some period a particular item may not be. How will this situation affect the business of the Russian trade chain Mere in Serbia, but also in the rest of the world, in the future? Unfortunately, the situation in Ukraine is not, so to speak, "their" story. That is something that concerns all of us. As far as the company's business is concerned, when we talk about the Serbian market, if everything remains as it is now, we will not have major problems, difficulties or obstacles to work. Which does not apply to the rest of the world, even our immediate region. For now, new strategies are being considered, but the situation is also being monitored. Time will tell what to do. To what extent are the expectations of the Mere chain on the Serbian market fulfilled by coming to Serbia? The MERE discount retail chain operates in Russia, as well as throughout Europe and the world. By coming to Serbia, they opened the door to a new format of markets in Serbia, by opening more than 25 markets in a year, we have very much met the original expectations in the Balkans, specifically in Serbia. How does the Mere retail chain differ from other chains in Serbia? Our focus is price, so we can freely say that this is what sets us apart. Namely, at the expense of the number of products, we strive to get the cheapest ones here. All this entails the way of exposure, selection of suppliers, number of employees, etc. Russian retail chain Russian retail chain Mere, supermarket How do you work when it comes to suppliers? What standards apply to your suppliers, in general? Our task is difficult. Find the cheapest, best possible quality. This is made possible by our fixed significantly lower margins than others and direct cooperation with manufacturers and developing companies. I assume that your assortment includes exclusively imported goods. Do you have a plan to include home-made items in your range? The assumption that has accompanied us since our appearance on the Serbian market is that we sell exclusively, or mostly imported goods, and quite the opposite. Most of our range is goods of domestic, Serbian production, both well-known brands and small, still unknown brands and companies. Unfortunately, the crown really made import more difficult, and Serbian suppliers are not all ready for the quantities that MERE can sell, so we are not able to expand the range to the extent that we would like it to flow. However, we also have goods from Russia, Poland, Belarus, Greece, Estonia, etc. The procurement sector is working hard, so we expect everything new from them. The corona virus pandemic has caused major disruptions in both the domestic and global markets. Although research and analysis show that retail was at one point almost the only industry to record growth, retailers also faced a number of challenges. What was your biggest problem and how did you overcome it? There is no job that can be done without people. Or if there are, there are few. In a discount market that pays attention to the costs due to the price of the products we offer to the customer, it is difficult and challenging when our employees become infected. However, our employees are organized as a team, so we manage and jump on each other. Considering that the Mere trade chain is a Russian chain, how is it maintained on the Serbian market that Serbia has preferential treatment with Russia, when it comes to trade? Interest and benefit are mutual in every sense. There is no Serbian supplier who would not like to export his goods to Russia, and when there are no bureaucratic obstacles, when the state supports and facilitates it, we believe that we are also an interesting market for Russian producers. Apart from believing that we are proving it by buying Russian products in our markets. What are your plans for the future? What are the prospects for expansion in the next 10 years? The Balkans came after ten years of existence and hard work of discount markets in the former Soviet Union. We cannot say that we are not happy that we are going and developing in step with the markets that have been operating in Russia, Belarus and other countries for years. We are present on all continents except Australia, so wherever there are people willing to buy the cheapest for us, there are no borders. See here for more: RUSKI trgovinski lanac u Srbiji: Situacija u Ukrajini nije samo njihova priča (bizlife.rs)

Discount Retail Chain Lidl (owned by the German Schwarz Group) and Kaufland, recorded revenues of EUR 125.3 billion (US$ 138Bn) in the financial year 2020/21, which is a 10% increase compared to the previous year (EUR 114.3 billion, US$ 126Bn). The group said Lidl achieved a 9.9% increase in sales to EUR 96.3 billion (US$ 106Bn), while Kaufland grew by 7.5% to EUR 25.5 billion (US$ 28Bn). Both signs have approximately 12,900 stores. On the other hand, the company PreZero dealing with, inter alia, In waste, its sales increased by 33.7% to around EUR 700 million (US$ 770Mn). PreZero recently expanded its circular economy by acquiring Suez's recycling operations in four European countries. Changes in the management board of the Schwarz Group The Schwarz Group recently announced the departure of longtime CEO Klaus Gehrig and company owner Dieter Schwarz entered the company temporarily before appointing an appointed successor, Gerd Chrzanowski. According to Lebensmittel Zeitung, the restructuring of the company's management team is already underway, with the recent appointment of Carsten Theurer as CEO of Schwarz Services, as well as new CEOs for digitization, IT, recycling management and manufacturing. The group also announced the appointment of a new CEO for its US operations, where growth was slower than expected due to the competitive nature of the market. In June, the former president of Lidl Polska, Michał Łagunionek, took over responsibility for Lidl US, which includes over 140 stores in nine states, mainly on the east coast. See here for more: https://www.dlahandlu.pl/detal-hurt/lidl-sprzedaje-prawie-4-razy-wiecej-niz-kaufland,106905.html?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=dlahandlu.pl

Discount Retail Chain Lidl (owned by the German Schwarz Group) increased turnover in Northern Ireland by almost a quarter in the period from March 2020 to February 2021 (Lidl's FY). The company recorded sales of more than £345m (US$460m), compared to £278m (US$371 m) in the previous year. Profit after tax increased by more than £4m (US$5.3m), to £5.5m.(US$7.3m) J.P. Scally, chief executive of Lidl Ireland and Lidl Northern Ireland, described the performance as "impressive". Lidl employs 1,000 people in Northern Ireland, across 41 stores and a distribution centre in County Antrim. Mr Scally said: "This substantial year-on-year sales growth is testament to our established business model which continues to deliver for us and for our more than 300,000 weekly customers across the region. "Despite unprecedented challenges, we've held our position as Northern Ireland's fastest-growing supermarket, achieving 24% sales growth in 2020, and we're focused now on growing that even further." The retailer has said it is well placed to reach its target of 50 stores in Northern Ireland by the end of this decade. Network of local suppliers Last year it announced an investment of £32m (US$43m) to open new stores in greater Belfast and improve existing stores. It is also planning a further £26m for stores in the north west. Mr Scally said Lidl would continue to develop its growing network of local suppliers. "We've worked to develop this over two decades and our approach to sourcing locally has helped to shield us from some of the supply issues that other retailers faced over this period. "Sourcing such a large volume of our products locally has meant that we haven't been as reliant on imports." Lidl has also said it would commit to a new entry hourly pay rate of £10.10 (US$13.50), which is above the rate of pay recommended by the Living Wage Foundation. See here for more: https://www-bbc-com.cdn.ampproject.org/c/s/www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-59395636.amp

Discount Retail Chain Aldi Spain (German family owned) is one of the main actors in the Spanish retail sector that continues to grow at a good pace. To know the lines of its strategy, we talk with its CEO in Spain, Valentín Lumbreras. What market positioning currently shows Aldi in Spain? We grew in the Spanish retail distribution, with a marketshare of 1.4%. Our goal is to continue growing and reach the largest number of stores with a relevant proposal for the client. We offer a comfortable and simple purchase, with own private label brand products (86% of the assortment), Spanish product (80% of the offer that the customer can find in Aldi are products bought from Spanish suppliers), high quality level, the best possible price and favoring that customers can make a purchase with quiet consciousness. This approach is positioning Aldi as a discount supermarket, responsible and close to the client. And more than 6 million customers already trust Aldi to make family purchase (according to Kantar Worldpanel). How do you plan to continue growing in the coming years in our country? Putting the client at the center of our activity. On the one hand, we will grow in number of stores to be closer to the client: more than 40 new stores for 2022 (similar objective for 2023). On the other hand, we work to demonstrate daily that Aldi is a good option to make the complete purchase for the home: quality, good price and a simple, responsible and satisfactory purchase experience. This year they have arrived for the first time to the Canary Islands, how do you value the reception received? We have inaugurated 1 distribution center and 7 supermarkets on the islands, with a forecast to continue growing. And we are very excited about the good reception Aldi has had. According to Kantar Worldpanel data, 15% of the Canaries have already bought in an Aldi supermarket in the Canary Islands during these first weeks. Our goal is now to continue convincing the customer with our offer, the quality-price ratio of our products, a satisfactory purchase experience and become its confidence supermarket to make a usual purchase. What is the recipe for Aldi's success in Spain, with such a competitive market and with a very high offer? The success of our discount model in Spain is based on four factors: low prices in quality products, a responsible approach to the environment and with people, the will to support customers favoring a simple purchase, and have a team professional and very demanding. Thanks to these ingredients, we have achieved that 1 in 3 Spaniards have bought in Aldi for 2021, and we know that maintaining their trust will allow us to continue expanding our market share. We are in a complex context where the price is, more and more, a determining factor in the purchase decision. How does Aldi face this challenge? Aldi's commitment to quality and low prices remains unchanged. In this context, we are making the greatest efforts so that the increase in costs affects the minimum as possible to the customer, without the quality of the product and always respecting the entire value chain. The effort to contain prices throughout the assortment is complemented by a series of promotions in basic products of the purchase basket and other favorite items of Aldi customers that allow them to find basic products (among these, the frescoes) at the price at lower in the market. In this way, every week our customers can make a purchase of basic products at the lowest possible price, quality and for the whole family. The most recent data indicate that we are one of the great tabs of the distribution that, since April, greater pricing containment has maintained, with price increases below the sector average. Most of its assortment comes from local producers, what kind of relationship do they establish with suppliers in Spain? Part of our assortment is made up of products elaborated and cultivated in Spain, by more than 400 Spanish suppliers with which we establish lasting and trustworthy relationships to develop our own brand products. Next to them, we work to ensure that the customer can make a complete purchase, of basic quality products, at the lowest possible prices every day, in addition to offering attractive offers. Growth in our market is also accompanied by job creation. What are Aldi's plans in this area for the coming years? In the last 3 years, the Aldi team has increased by 54%, until more than 6,000 professionals are. We have the commitment to continue generating employment in a sustained way, supporting the expected growth for the coming years. To do this, we are reinforcing the formation of our teams, ensuring internal talent and current and future employability of our teams, as well as working on a competitive value proposal. We want to guarantee quality and relevant work for our teams and for potential workers, who will ensure the necessary talent to remain relevant to the Spanish consumer. What were Aldi's results in Spain in 2021 and how to anticipate 2022? The first years have been marked by a strong investment for the implementation, growth and consolidation in the territory. In 2021 we grew in number of stores, in number of workers, in market share and in penetration in Spanish homes and we close exercise fulfilling our business goals and a growth. By 2022 and for the next few years, we maintain the commitment to continue investing and growing to be closer to Spanish homes every day with a competitive proposal. See here for more: https://www.eleconomista.es/branded-content/noticias/11968186/09/22/Valentin-Lumbreras-CEO-de-ALDI-Nos-hemos-posicionado-como-un-supermercado-de-descuento-responsable-y-cercano-al-cliente.html #smartdiscount #aldi #spain #growth #expansion #drc #discount #retail #consulting #discountretail #discountretailconsulting #retailconsulting #google #twitter

Discount Retail Chain Lidl's owning Schwarz Group CEO Gerd Chrzanowski was personally interviewed by Florian Kolf, a respected German Handelblatt retail journalist. DRC was asked by Handelsblatt to provide comments on the developments at Lidl. "Lidl bremst gerade etwas die Expansion. Das Unternehmen ist in einer Konsolidierungs-phase“, beobachtet Marc Houppermans, Discount-Expert der Branchenberatung DRC Discount Retail Consulting GmbH . Investiert werde eher in Logistikeffizienz, um die operativen Kosten zu senken. "In vielen Ländern war das Wachstum so stark, dass die Prozesse nicht hinterhergekommen sind“, so Houppermans, der viele Jahre als Geschäftsführer bei Aldi Nord gearbeitet hatte. Currently the Schwarz HQ campus in the region o f Heilbronn, near Stuttgart, is considering the reinvention of the Schwarz Group. The once secretive trading group with the core grocery brands, Lidl and Kaufland, has stood for low prices for decades and irrepressible urge to expand. But also, for surprising changes in management and company culture that can be adequately described with the word “rustic”. Now the Schwarz Group will become a data discounter as well. After several years of development, the family business started out as a competitor major cloud giants such as Microsoft and Amazon Web Services (AWS). No doubt: The 84-year-old company founder Dieter Schwarz wants to know it again. And prove that even a decades-old family business can reinvent itself again. Read full story: 4f453e_a2cfa9b040b44d189906f7d6ea6b39ce.pdf (discountretailconsulting.com) #smartdiscount #lidl #schwarz #interview #handelsblatt #growth #drc #discount #retail #consulting #discountretail #discountretailconsulting #retailconsulting #google #twitter

To all attendees at the “Retail Strategies Central Asia – Leveraging Growth” on November 22nd and 23rd at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, we all would like to thank you for attending the workshops. A very special thanks to the organiser of this successful summit, Alexander Shubin and his team from My Retail Strategy. The summit brought together representatives of traditional and modern retail, discount retail, online companies, FMCG and Private Label producers, distributors, pharmaceutical retail, manufacturers of commercial equipment, IT companies and other organizations cooperating with retail, as well as investors, banks and developers. We were pleased that many of the first presentation day attendees also joined and actively participated in DRC`s Discount workshop at the second day. Thank you once more and please contact us when further information is needed. #smartdiscount #uzbekistan #workshop #retailstrategy #drc #discount #retail #consulting #discountretail #discountretailconsulting #retailconsulting #google #twitter #harddiscount #hd

Discount Textile Retail Chain Wibra has compared to 2021, 2022 "a financially good year". The corona restrictions were limited to the first two weeks of that year – after which the shops were allowed to reopen. And customers could finally turn to Wibra again for the "Dasty": Wibra's immensely popular miracle cleaning private label product category. As CEO Bas Duijsens told RetailTrends: "What the smoked sausage is to HEMA, Dasty is to Wibra." The annual accounts filed last week put it a little drier: "The economic conditions ensured that customers were increasingly finding the Wibra." €42 million more revenue than a year earlier With 215 stores in the Netherlands and 50 in Belgium, Wibra closed 2022 with a turnover of almost €171 million, compared to €129 million a year earlier. Annual profit amounted to €6.5 million, compared to €5.2 million in 2021. By comparison, in 2020 Wibra managed to squeeze out a profit of €1.6 million. Anyway, then that chain had to deal with the corona lockdowns. This even led to the bankruptcy of the Belgian branch, which was eventually able to relaunch in a slimmed-down manner. After tough years, great results are now again for the retail chain that is known for its women's clothing, often with glitter, household items and cleaning products. Wibra competes with textile discount stores such as Action and Zeeman. Ron Wierdsma sold his Wibra to the management 2022 was not only a special year for Wibra from a financial point of view. In February of that year, the shares of the family business from Epe (the Netherlands), founded in 1956, came into the hands of outsiders. Ron Wierdsma, son of founder Jo Wierdsma, did not want to sell his company to a private equity firm or industry peer. He preferred a management buy-in and so it happened: the three-man board, including Bas Duijsens, took a majority stake. Read more: Wibra's rookworst heet Dasty en levert miljoenenwinst op (quotenet.nl) #smartdiscount #wibra #dasty #nonfood #kvi #netherlands #drc #discount #retail #consulting #discountretail #discountretailconsulting #retailconsulting #google #twitter #

Discount Textile Retail Chain Wibra's, management owned, private label cleaning and detergent brand Dasty's popularity is due to its excellent quality. A lot of care is also taken with the packaging and the scents of the products. The packaging and smell is a recognizable factor for every Dasty product that is developed," says Claudine Nachtergaele. "The fact that a professional product is offered at a correct and low price at Wibra is a bonus for every customer. However, the real key to success is staying true to the principles and, above all, paying attention to the details. Wibra offers Dasty's full range, but this only represents a small part of the turnover." New concept of Wibra Wibra rolled out a new concept in 2021 that is now contributing to the success of the retail chain. "There are a lot more items that represent the basic range." "The assortment is mainly built up in function of the manager of the family. We want to be there for the person who runs the household, makes sure the children are neatly dressed, organizes the birthday parties and creates a clean and cozy home, all at a low price." "With our new store concept, we stay close to our customers. The appearance, furnishing and assortment is aimed at the daily needs of our customer, the family and the household. With main categories in our renovated stores, we show what you can go to Wibra for." Read more: Customers flock to Wibra for wildly popular product: "A nice bonus for every customer" | Editors24 ( redactie24.be ) #smartdiscount #wibra #netherlands #assortment #dasty #drc #discount #retail #consulting #discountretail #discountretailconsulting #retailconsulting #google #twitter #variety

On November 22nd and 23rd DRC will be hosted by My Retail Strategy at Retail Strategies Central Asia event in the capital city of Uzbekistan, Tashkent. In an era of constant changes in the retail, it is important to stay afloat and receive timely information from experts about new industry trends. The summit "Retail Strategies Central Asia: Leveraging Growth" is held in a closed format and is dedicated to strategic growth points of retail business models in Central Asia. The summit will bring together representatives of traditional and online retail companies, manufacturers of consumer goods, distributors, pharmaceutical retail, manufacturers of commercial equipment, IT companies and other organizations cooperating with retail, as well as investors and developers. The first day of the summit is held in a closed format only for owners, executives and top managers of companies and includes a panel discussion, as well as the experience and cases of retail companies in Central Asia, Russia and Europe. On the second day there will be a business breakfast and a round table, as well as practical workshops with the participation of colleagues from Europe. Commercial directors, category managers, heads of logistics and IT departments, as well as directors and managers of pricing departments are invited to participate in the workshops. #smartdiscount #retailstrategies #uzbekistan #tashkent #workshop #discount #discountfoodretail #discounter #foodretail #retail #drc #consultancy #discountretailconsulting #retailconsulting #consulting

Discount Retail Chain Lidl Lithuania is struggling to regain momentum. Last year, the Schwarz discounter posted the lowest revenue growth among the country’s top food retailers. The abolition of paper leaflets in spring 2023 might have been instrumental in the drop in customers’ favor. Domestic competitors Maxima and Norfa are competing successfully with Lidl’s discount concept. Lithuania’s Lidl has announced its financial results for the year ended February 2024. According to the company, net sales increased by 6.3% to 871 million euros in the period under review, while net profit fell from 46.6 million euros to 16.3 million euros, resulting in a net profit margin of 1.8%, down from 5.7%. In the previous financial year, Lidl Lithuania still ranked among the top earners of Lidl’s Central and Southeast European operations in terms of margin, after the Czech Republic (6.1%) and Slovakia (8.4%). The company cites the installation of the second logistics centre in the country, which only opened in May this year, double-digit wage increases since 2022 and price investments as major cost factors. Not only did profitability fall, but sales were also at the lower end of the top retailers. Market leader Maxima Grupe increased net sales by 7.9%, Iki (Germany’s Rewe Group) by 8.3% and fourth-placed domestic retailer Norfa by 15.4%. In an interview for this article, Petras Cepkauskas, Head of the Food Division at Lithuanian market research company Pricer.lt, estimates that Lidl’s market share in food retail fell from 13.0% to 12.7% in the last financial year. Cepkauskas cites several possible reasons for the decline. One is Lidl abandoned paper leaflets from May 2023, which were reintroduced later in the year, but in a reduced version. According to Cepkauskas, large parts of the the international ‘Flavours of the World’ range and much of the high-margin non-food range remained online only. This may have had an impact on Lidl, resulting in lower footfall, lower sales and a less favourable margin mix. The decision may have been taken with the aim to drive customers to Lidl’s digital-only rewards app, Lidl Plus. However, Cepkauskas says that using the in-app coupons to create the image of a price leader may not match the reality of customers’ price perceptions. This is because in-app prices are not communicated in the same way as offline discounts. As a result, he sees Lidl falling back into the role of price follower behind market leader Maxima in the second half of 2023. Also steering customers towards self-service checkouts may not have been in line with customer preferences. In September last year, Lidl announced that it had equipped all its stores with self-service checkouts. In addition, the retailer said that special XXL checkouts with larger scales have been installed in more than a third of its stores to allow larger purchases to be scanned. On the other hand, Cepkauskas sees the competition successfully countering Lidl’s discount supermarket concept. Market leader Maxima has fine-tuned its promotions, launched a new mid-price private label called ‘WellDone’ and has become more aggressive on prices. For domestic operator Norfa, number four in the national ranking, its low-cost and everyday low price (EDLP) strategy is paying off. Norfa’s vertical integration into production, meat factories, fruit and vegetable canneries, milk processing plants and a central bakery, allows the retailer to keep standard shelf prices low. Lidl is fighting to regain the image of price leader in Lithuanian food retail. According to market research conducted on behalf of the Schwarz discounter, Lidl has been the cheapest of the top five Lithuanian food retailers for nine months in a row, based on a pre-defined basket of 23 food products. Lidl’s ‘Kainų Ćempionas’ (price leadership) campaign currently dominates in-store communication. Pricer.lt’s monthly comparison of a basket of several dozen basic food items shows, however, that Lidl in the past twelve months on average managed only second place after market and price leader Maxima. Read more: Lidl fights to regain price leadership in Lithuania - Trademagazin #smartdiscount #lidl #lithuania #development #profit #sales #revenue #drc #discount #retail #consulting #discountretail #discountretailconsulting #retailconsulting #google

Discount Retail Chain Lidl Germany and Kaufland Germany are advertising their new price reduction of sugar. The new price per kilo is 0.99 euros. ALDI Nord and ALDI SOUTH seem to have been caught off guard by the price reduction. The prices for Raffinade Zucker were still at the old price of 1.49 euros/KG when the shops opened in the morning. The falling world market prices on the futures exchanges for sugar provide the scope for this price reduction. Year-on-year, prices for this agricultural commodity are down 28.2%. The market leader Südzucker AG from Mannheim reacted to these price declines in the market with a profit warning on the same Monday. This operating loss in the sugar segment is unexpected from the company's point of view. The causes, the better harvest in the EU and the falling prices on the world markets, should have been known for some time. A price guide is usually not the cheapest provider, but it specifies the time and extent of the price change. For years, this role was attributed to ALDI Nord Group and ALDI SOUTH . This role has been faltering for some time. The Schwarz Group is aiming for a changing of the guard. The customers can only be pleased. Competition over price also works in the oligopoly of food retailing. In pricing policy, this is referred to as colluding price leadership. Two large providers take turns specifying price changes unannounced. Lidl specified the timing and Aldi the extent of the price change. In this respect, there is already a division of roles here. According to the Lebensmittel Zeitung direkt on Monday, ALDI SÜD and ALDI Nord Group are lowering the price of sugar to 0.89 euros from 17 September. The price leadership is vehemently defended. The even lower prices of 0.10 euros were communicated by Aldi on a full-page basis. As with Lidl's price attacks against IKEA a few weeks ago or in February 2023 with Kaufland's coffee against Aldi, the reaction of the attacked party is an additional price reduction. In this respect, one can speak of a first-offer disadvantage of the challenger. The initiator is always undercut and does not seem to have completely exhausted the price reduction potential vis-à-vis the customers. The effects on the price image of retailers remain open. EDEKA ZENTRALE Stiftung & Co. KG and REWE remain the role of price followers among the top 4 in food retailing. Price following is particularly common for homogeneous products. REWE retailers are not going along on Tuesday despite Aldi's announcement and will remain at 0.99 euros. How is Lidl now reacting to Aldi's countermove? Despite Aldi's advance notice, prices at Lidl were constant at 0.99 euros. As in a chess game with consecutive moves, a move by Lidl would have been expected. This is not happening for the time being, the chess clock is still running. This approach can also be well explained from game theory. This is about anticipating the opponent's response and seeing through their strategy. Actually, there is a long history of processes between Aldi and Lidl and the answers are no surprise. Even without coordination and communication, fixed moves have been made. The moves in this sugar price reduction deviate from this. In any case, the price reductions this week go far beyond the reduction of the world market price. In this respect, sugar is a good example of agricultural commodities and their sales price effects. Sugar is an ingredient in a large number of products in the product groups bakery products, confectionery, ketchup, jam, beverages/lemonades, dairy products and cereals. In this respect, sugar has an extensive multiplier effect through large parts of a grocer's assortment. There is a time lag in price effects for processed sugar. We can remain curious to see which product groups with which communication and price sequence will be reduced in the next few weeks. With the price reduction of flour on Wednesday, in the same week, there was again the well-rehearsed sequence. Aldi lowered the price and Lidl, Kaufland, Norma and Penny followed, but without undercutting. Aldi remains the undisputed price leader here. So far, Aldi has still been able to score points from the customer's point of view with a better price/performance ratio compared to Lidl. "Customers are recognizing clear price advantages," according to the 2024 Customer Monitor study. This week of price reductions will not change this overall picture. Lidl has to look for other ways. Read more: Schwarz Group's attack on Aldi's price leadership - Kompetenznetzwerk Handel ( handel-dhbw.de ) #smartdiscount #aldi #lidl #pricing #pricingstrategy #priceleadership #sugar #floor #reductions #drc #discount #retail #consulting #discountretail #discountretailconsulting #retailconsulting #google