Discount Retail Chains Aldi and Lidl both rang up their best ever Christmas sales performance in the UK as shoppers sought ways to save cash during the cost of living crisis. Lidl’s sales rose 12% in the four weeks to Christmas, helped by an 11% rise in sales of the chain’s premium Deluxe own-private label foods, while sales of its Montaudon brut champagne doubled. The German-owned chain said 4.5 million people visited its tills in the run-up to Christmas. Popular products included its own-brand Christmas jumper, sales of which were up 40%. UK shop inflation sticks at 4.3% despite lower food price rises At Aldi, sales rose by 8% to top more than £1.5bn in the four weeks to Christmas for the first time. The grocer said the strong figures topped a year in which it had attracted half a million more shoppers as they switched away from mainstream supermarkets including Tesco and Sainsbury’s. The retailer said its customers had bought 42m pigs in blankets. Alternatives to the traditional turkey were popular, with 25% more Specially Selected gammon joints popped into baskets. Lidl and Aldi had their busiest ever day of trading on Friday 22 December 2024. The stock market-listed supermarkets Tesco and Sainsbury’s are due to report how they fared in the run-up to Christmas next week as part of the annual flood of festive retail figures, which escalates on Thursday when the fashion and homewares chain Next reports. Giles Hurley, the chief executive of Aldi UK and Ireland, promised to continue lowering the cost of groceries, and said the retailer was “really grateful that so many customers chose Aldi for their main Christmas shop this year”. Ryan McDonnell, the chief executive of Lidl in Great Britain, said: “I’m incredibly proud of our performance this Christmas in what was the busiest trading period in our history. As the fastest-growing supermarket in the country, we welcomed more customers through our doors than ever before. “Deluxe proved to be a standout winner this Christmas, with record-breaking sales, as we saw customers not only start their festive celebrations early but trade up to premium lines across all categories.” The strong trading figures come after industry data showed that Aldi and Lidl gained market share in November while Asda, Morrisons, Waitrose and the Co-op lost out. Tesco and Sainsbury’s, the UK’s two biggest supermarkets, gained share as they offered loyalty card holders additional discounts. Grocery discounters have fared well during the cost of living crisis as households look for ways to save money after energy bills, petrol and household goods have risen in price. In the past year, shoppers have been switching to the discounters, as well as buying more own-label goods, to offset hefty food price inflation, which was 6.7% in December, according to the latest figures from the British Retail Consortium. The discount retailers have experienced a bounce-back after a tough time during the Covid pandemic when many shoppers chose to buy more groceries online, a service that the cut-price grocers do not usually offer as they cannot do so profitably. Aldi and Lidl have taken a bigger slice of grocery sales by opening dozens of stores each year, while the big chains are opening just a handful of large outlets. Lidl has 960 stores and Aldi 1,010, and both have plans to expand much further. Read more: Aldi and Lidl report record Christmas sales amid cost of living crisis | Supermarkets | The Guardian

Discount Retail Chain Aldi Poland sp. z o.o. received a generous "gift" from the German Aldi headquarters. Aldi Nord International Holding GmbH has solidly increased its stake in the Polish business. Prior to the change, Aldi Nord International Holding GmbH held 1,530,000 shares with a total value of PLN 1,530,000,000. After the change: 2,092,149 shares with a total value of PLN 2,092,149,000. Aldi's capital is growing Thus, Aldi's capital increased from PLN 1,530,000,000.00 to PLN 2,092,149,000.00. In December, Aldi celebrated the launch of its 300th store. Now the company is introducing new concepts to our country: ALDI Urban and ALDI 2.0 Compact. "For the past two years, our stores have been located in every province, so every day we can offer our customers the highest quality products at the lowest possible prices. We are very proud that the 300th store will be opened in Opole," said Marek Ostrówka, Sales Manager at ALDI in Poland. Aldi wants to open 1000 stores in Poland. Now he has the financial means to do so. In mid-November, Wojciech Łubieński, Chairman of the Board of ALDI, said: "Over the next 15 years, Aldi wants to hire thousands of new employees and open more than 1,000 stores, which will be served by 6 modern logistics centres. The German chain Aldi entered the Polish market in 2008, opening its stores in Głogów, Żory, Tarnowskie Góry, Poznań, Bielsko-Biała and Jelenia Góra. Currently, the network is present in every Polish province. It ends 2023 with more than 300 stores. By 2028, ALDI wants to have 650 stores and 1,000 by the decade. "The past 15 years have seen the evolution of the discount format, of which ALDI is the creator on a European scale. Today, it is difficult to define a uniform model in Europe, more and more depends on local conditions," says Wojciech Łubieński. Milestones in our Polish history were the introduction of the ANIKO store design concept at ALDI, which was positively received by customers, as well as the latest 2.0 format. Further digitization, product range development, as well as the construction of new stores and warehouses are ahead of us," said the CEO of ALDI at the time. ALDI is part of an international group with 110 years of tradition. Read more: Gigantyczne dokapitalizowanie Aldi w Polsce. Hojny prezent od centrali (dlahandlu.pl)

Asda has become the first supermarket to price match both Aldi and Lidl. Applied to 287 popular grocery products, the prices have been cut by an average of 17% to match whichever discounter has the lowest price on the items. Products include milk, bread, cheese, tea, coffee, fresh meat, fresh fruit and vegetables, baked beans, pasta, rice and breakfast cereals. The Aldi and Lidl Price Match will run alongside Asda’s existing Price Drop and Asda Rewards propositions. David Hills, Asda’s chief customer officer, said: “Asda has over 50 years heritage as the customer champion, and we understand we have an important role to play in local communities to help families get the most from their budgets. We have launched Aldi and Lidl Price Match to help them save both time and money. “Our customers can trust that they will get uncompromising value every day at Asda and George, on everything from food and clothing to homeware and Cashpot rewards, as well as the lowest prices on supermarket fuel.” The supermarket is continuing to add products to its M&S Taste Match campaign which promises M&S taste at Asda prices. Read more: Asda to price match Aldi and Lidl on core grocery products | Retail Bulletin (theretailbulletin.com)

Discount Retail Chain Aldi UK, German family owned, has cut food waste by 57% since 2017, meaning it has already hit a target it set for 2030. The discounter had pledged to halve food waste by 2030, in line with the Courtauld 2030 commitment. It has now revised the target and is aiming to reduce food waste by 90% by 2030 against a 2017 baseline. Aldi has cut waste by working with food distribution companies such as Company Shop Group to redistribute surplus. The supermarket also announced a partnership with the world’s largest surplus food platform Too Good To Go earlier this year. Since 2019, Aldi has donated 40 million meals via its charity partner Neighbourly, including one million this festive season alone. “We’re dedicated to taking steps that positively impact the environment and we know one area where we can have a big impact is food waste,” said Aldi UK national sustainability director Liz Fox. “This has never been more important – not only for the planet, but in helping people get access to food that’s both high quality and affordable.” Aldi announced the progress update in its first sustainability report in Britain. “We’re proud of the progress we’re making, which we’re pleased to share in our first sustainability report, and that’s why we’re looking to push ourselves even further,” added Fox. “As we continue to expand our footprint and broaden our customer base, we want to continue to do so in a sustainable and responsible way. “We know this is important to Aldi shoppers and to our supply partners. And while we still have a lot of work to do, we’re always looking for new ways to innovate to lower our environmental impact across our operations, whether through using renewable energy to power our stores and redistribution centres, to reducing food waste and packaging.” Aldi UK CEO Giles Hurley said: “We’ve seen millions of shoppers switch to Aldi during a time when many household incomes are squeezed. At the same time, consumers expect businesses to act responsibly. “We have a huge role to play in making sustainability affordable for all. We believe that doing the right thing for people and the planet, while offering unbeatable prices, can go hand in hand and we’ll continue to report on our progress in the months and years to come.” Read more: Aldi hits 2030 food waste target early | News | The Grocer

Discount Retail Chain Tiendas Neto has an influx of 6 million weekly customers through its more than 1,600 points of sale in 21 states of Mexico, but who is behind these discounter stores? See here the movie: (8) Post | Feed | LinkedIn

Discount Retail Chain Tiendas 3B, owned by Anthony Hatoum and PE Group Quilvest Capital Partners, was launched in the capital of Santa Cruz, a sales channel that promises to supply its customers with the best amenities and products at the price of a popular market. Grocery discounter Tiendas 3B was born in the capital of Santa Cruz, made its official launch on Tuesday on the occasion of opening its seventh store. In a festive atmosphere, its executives presented this new sales channel, which by the end of the year expects to have 20 stores in operation in Santa Cruz. Tiendas 3B offers consumers the opportunity to do their daily shopping in a chain that has all the comforts and conditions of a supermarket at the same price as in a popular market and with the proximity of a neighbourhood sale. Its environments are characterized by their neatness, cleanliness, order, good service and electronic invoicing. "Nowadays, if people want to save they have to go to a market and if they want to buy nearby, they have to be willing to pay more. This new business model integrates the best of each sales channel currently available. We guarantee the same affordable prices of the markets and we are close, like a neighbourhood store, with a wider assortment. At the same time, we offer order, cleanliness, quality of service and sales with an invoice, being able to pay the customer with cash, QR, debit or credit card," explains Juan José Landívar, general manager of Tiendas 3B. "For this reason, Tiendas 3B becomes the best option for consumers, whether they need to stock their home or make an express purchase, since we have an adequate assortment to make a smart purchase: groceries, personal care, cleaning products, beverages, fruits and vegetables, meat and poultry, bakery, among others," says Landívar. The executive explained that these attributes are relevant for Tiendas 3B, given that, according to a study commissioned by the company, more than 60% of people buy in traditional markets by price and about 25% in neighborhood stores by proximity. Alfonso Kreidler, executive president of Tiendas 3B, referred to the venture. "Everything comes from trips abroad by several of us who are members of Tiendas 3B. We saw this model in Europe, but very closely in Colombia, Peru, Ecuador. So we thought that, if in countries similar to ours this channel is so relevant, it had to be able to be done in Bolivia. We realized that we had to have a very powerful assortment of products, all those that are needed for the home, with a very relevant theme that we identified: everything at the same market price. We work on a model that is as efficient as possible, a mega-efficient model for the supplier, as well as for us. And what we do isn't magic, it's actually being efficient and translating all those savings into price," he said. Kreidler explained that they hope to grow and be in other departments in 2024. Tiendas 3B has all the advantages and features offered by any supermarket, with products at cheaper prices. Read more: Arranca 3B, la cadena de tiendas de descuento - La Razón (la-razon.com)

Discount Retail Chain File Turkey, owned by BİM Birleşik Mağazalar A.Ş., has removed all plastic products in the single-use category from the shelves and replaced them with recyclable paper products. File continues its efforts to make its production, supply and sales processes more sustainable. In this context, the supermarket chain realised a first in the sector by removing all plastic products in the disposable products category from the shelves and started to offer paper products for sale instead.

Once more Lidl delivers the highest growth and market share in the UK, says latest Kantar UK market data for 12 weeks ending 24th December. Compared to this time last year, Lidl have gained the most market share, up 0.5% points, and are the fastest growing retailer at 13.8%. Aldi is following with 9,9%. The December period each year typically sees the discounters’ overall share falling back a little, as consumers choose to do their big Christmas shop in one of the full-service supermarkets. 2023 has been no different, with Aldi and Lidl’s combined share in the 12 weeks ending 24/12 dropping by 0.4% points to 17.0% from the 12 weeks ending 26/11 period – the same level of drop as seen in 2022 and in 2021. The UK market grew by 6.9%, down from the last 12-week period figure of 7.5%. However, the 4-week sales leading up to Christmas Eve saw a record £13.7 billion sales across the market, with 12 million more shopping trips made compared to the same period in 2022. Over the last 4 weeks, grocery inflation has fallen to 6.7%, down from 9.1%. Spend on offer has increased to almost 33%, largely due to the high number of offers on Christmas seasonal products seen in most retailers, as well as the annual week-before-Christmas veg battle which this year saw many retailers selling the likes of carrots, sprouts, and potatoes at just 15p a bag. The 6.7% rate of inflation over the last 4 weeks has fallen below the level of sales growth for the first time since mid-2021, suggesting a slight increase in volumes for the first time in two and a half years. Indeed, Kantar report the number of items being bought has risen by 2%. Sainsburys continue to outperform the other “big 4”, with sales up 9.3% and market share, at 15.8%, being their highest in 4 years. A continued strong execution of their Nectar prices instore is a key factor in their recent success. Tesco continue to grow ahead of the market for the sixth period in a row, with their sales exceeding £10bn for the first time ever. Morrisons' growth of 3.2% has fallen below #asda's at 3.4%. Waitrose usually see a growth in share towards Christmas, and this happened again with their share increasing to 4.6% from 4.4%. Conversely the Coop see a decline in share as consumers favour the bigger stores, and therefore their share fell from 5.8% in the November period to 5.4%. In Private label the premium tier saw impressive growth of 11.9% with some exceptional new seasonal products seen across the market. Kantar report total branded sales up by 6%, slightly behind the total market growth, suggesting private label growth continues to out-pace branded growth. January will be a fascinating month – usually full of "lower-price" campaigns from all retailers – expect to see grocery inflation falling yet again, making value sales growth much more difficult for some retailers to achieve. Source: Kantar, Paul Stainton #smartdiscount #aldi #lidl #ukretail #supermarkets #competition #waitrose #iceland #coop #ocado #ownbrand #marketanalysis #growth #discount #discountfoodretail #discounter #foodretail #retail #drc #consultancy #discountretailconsulting #retailconsulting #consulting

Once again, Leclerc crushed the match with a 1.3% gain in market share. Only System U and the Musketeers are afloat: +0.2 pt each. The real surprise lies in the decline of Lidl and Aldi: -0.3 pts. The two discounters did not profit from the inflation. According to Retail Watcher, Olivier Dauvers, there are three potential reasons for this: 1) inflation was visible very early on (because the vast majority of private label assortments were affected more strongly and more quickly than elsewhere); 2) the construction of the range (mostly private label) has deprived customers as they also can find good private label products at hypers and supers; 3) the weekly non-food offers have not the effect they used to have anymore. Source: Kantar

Rusta increased sales across all markets during the second quarter, August to October. Net sales amounted to MSEK 2,642 for the quarter, a 14.4 percent increase compared to the same quarter last year. Furthermore, results improved significantly and adjusted EBITA amounted to MSEK 150, a 119.1 percent increase compared to the same quarter last year. Rusta’s low prices and marketing campaigns continue to drive customer traffic to the stores. Summary of the second quarter 2023/2024: Net sales increased by 14.4% (10.4%) and amounted to MSEK 2,642 (2,309); LFL growth increased by 10.8% (5.7%); Gross profit increased by 22.5% and amounted to MSEK 1,153 (942) and the gross margin was 43.6% (40.8%); EBITA amounted to 141 MSEK (66) and the EBITA-margin was 5.3% (2.9%); Operating profit (EBIT) amounted to MSEK 139 (64) and the operating profit margin was 5.2% (2.8%); Net profit for the quarter amounted to MSEK 69 (14); There were three (four) new stores opened during the quarter. Summary of the period May-October: Net sales increased by 12.9% (6.3%) and amounted to MSEK 5,601 MSEK (4,962); LFL growth increased by 8.5% (1.0%); Gross profit increased by 19.6% and amounted to MSEK 2,418 (2,022) and the gross margin was 43.2% (40.8%); EBITA amounted to MSEK 439 (287) and the EBITA-margin was 7.8% (5.8%); Operating profit (EBIT) amounted to MSEK 435 (283) and the operating profit margin was 7.8% (5.7%); Net profit YTD amounted to MSEK 258 (159); There were four (six) new stores opened during the period. About Rusta Rusta is a leading retailer in the Nordic low-price market with over 200 stores in Sweden, Norway, Finland and Germany. The physical stores are supplemented by Rusta’s online sales channel, Rusta Online, in Sweden and Finland. Rusta offers a wide but carefully selected range of home and leisure products, with good quality at low prices. Rusta has more than 4,000 employees with headquarter in Upplands Väsby, Sweden. Rusta’s shares are traded on Nasdaq Stockholm (RUSTA). investors.rusta.com #rusta #smartdiscount #stores #expansion #growth #investment #international #norway #germany #home #leasure #assortment #drc #discount #retail #consulting #discountretailconsulting #discountretail

Private brand sales continue to grow at Family Dollar and the retailer is on pace to hit its penetration rate target of 20% by 2026, officials with the retailer said recently during an investor conference call. According to Rick Dreiling, chairman and CEO of Family Dollar’s parent company Dollar Tree, Family Dollar’s private label penetration rate reached 14% in the third quarter, putting the retailer a quarter ahead of schedule. “We’re on track to add over 70 new SKUs to our family wellness product line and more than 100 new private brand SKUs in total by the end of December,” he said. Within that same time frame, we also expect to complete our conversion of 300 control brands to private brands.” Dollar Tree Chief Financial Officer Jeff Davis noted the continued growth of products sold under private labels is allowing the retailer to drive greater value for its customers. “We believe that as the customer is looking for greater value, they have more options within our private brands,” he said. “It’s an opportunity for us to improve our margins. And to the extent that there is sort of price deflation, there’s an opportunity to actually provide even more value as we think about how we sort that particular product line.” Family Dollar’s footprint also grew in the third quarter with 197 new stores opened, putting the retailer on track to hit its goal of 600 to 650 new stores in 2023. As the company looks for opportunities to open new Family Dollar stores, it is also reviewing its store portfolio to address underperforming stores. This will involve identifying candidates for closure, re-bannering, or relocation in an effort to ensure each Family Dollar store is delivering full value. “We need to ensure that the Family Dollar portfolio is well positioned for success and meets the financial and operating objectives of our organization and the expectations of our valued customers and associates,” he said. “We believe that this action will fortify our base, strengthen our brand, and allow Family Dollar to achieve its full growth potential.” Dollar Tree product assortment evolution is ahead of schedule, company officials said. At Dollar Tree stores, Dreiling noted that evolution of the product assortment at stores under that banner are ahead of schedule. While not specifically highlighting private brands, he noted Dollar Tree’s Plus assortment is now available in 4,500 stores and the retailer is on target to bring that product mix to more than 4,900 locations by the end of 2023. Also, Dollar Tree frozen and refrigerated assortments are now in 6,500 stores, significantly ahead of the company’s original year-end target of 5,500. “Customers are clearly responding to our expanded multi-price assortment as our research shows us that 17% of U.S. households have purchased a multi-price product from a Dollar Tree store at least once in the past 12 months.,” he said. “These customers are adding multi-price products on top of their traditional baskets.” As previously reported by Store Brands, company-wide net sales in the third quarter at Dollar Tree were $7.31 billion, an increase of 5.4% when compared to the same quarter the previous year. Enterprise same-store net sales increased 3.9%, driven by a 4.7% increase in traffic, partially offset by a 0.8% decline in average ticket. Dollar Tree same-store net sales increased 5.4%, driven by a 7.0% increase in traffic, partially offset by a 1.5% decline in average ticket. Family Dollar’s 2.0% same-store net sales increase was comprised of a 1.4% increase in traffic and a 0.7% increase in average ticket. Source: StoreBrands

As a part of Dukan’s expansion plan, the Saudi neighborhood discounter opened its 100st store in their hometown Jeddah. The Dukan concept is shifting from hard discount to a neighborhood store, providing a customer-centered grocery shopping experience under the slogan “Your Trusted Neighbor." Dukan is the largest food retail chain in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, based in Jeddah. Source: Dukan #smartdiscount #dukan #saudiarabia #ksa #discounters #growth #smartdiscount #discount #discountfoodretail #discounter #foodretail #retail #drc #consultancy #discountretailconsulting #retailconsulting #consulting....