EnglishIn the first six months of 2009, Romanian consumers went shopping to supermarkets just as often as in the corresponding period of 2008, although supermarkets did lose some of their customers to hypermarkets and discounters, especially in Bucharest and other large urban communities, according to a report by GfK Romania. The report compares figures for H1/09 to figures for H1/08.
Hypermarkets, discounters, cash & carry stores and supermarkets accounted for 43 per cent of the consumer goods sales across the country, by three per cent more than in the corresponding period of 2008. Hypermarkets and discounters were the most dynamic types of retailers as the shopping frequency increased by 30 per cent in discounters and by 10 percent in hypermarkets amid aggressive expansion that pushed the number of customers up by six per cent for discounters and by nine per cent for hypermarkets.
The discounters" market share increased four-fold in the past four years from two per cent in 2005 to eight per cent currently. The hypermarkets" market share increased five-fold from four per cent to twenty per cent. In Bucharest, the importance of modern retailing is much more obvious (73 per cent) as hypermarkets are by far the most important shopping channel, with a 45 per cent market share by value, two times more than in 2005.
Small retailers - kiosks, convenience stores etc - managed to maintain their market share across the country, but suffered a deeper decline in Bucharest, losing 50 per cent of the market share they had in 2005 to the current 13 per cent.
The size of the community plays a key role in the option for the type of retailer, as rural consumers prefer "modern" retailers for only 20 per cent of their consumer goods shopping. "Even though we have not seen a spectacular drop, supermarkets continue to decline as consumers tend to more frequently prefer promotions and better prices rather than proximity," said GfK Romania CEO Andi Dumitrescu.
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