What really matters is inside

When we see that the interior of a supermarket that we regularly visit has been completely redesigned, we usually feel that it takes us longer to find the products we are looking for and that it is a much nicer experience to be in a modern store. Stores are redesigned and refurbished for our sake – at least this is what the Match and Spar chains say. – Spar regards it as a priority to ensure that all products in each of its stores represent the same quality. The first precondition of this is that all stores should represent the same image and standard – says Zsuzsa Laber, from Spar Magyarország. According to Tamás. Szendrő, sales director of Csemege-Match, there might be several reasons for redesigning stores. One is changing the layout of the interior as a result of a change in marketing strategy. This requires no investment. Another reason is the need for modernisation. The modernisation of Match stores began three years ago and effects 8-10 stores per year. The investment of HUF 30-50 million per store includes new design and lighting. For Spar, the overall modernisation of a store can cost as much as HUF 100-150 million. This budget however, allows installation of the latest technology and the use of department-specific furniture and materials. Match is focusing on downtown stores, like the one in Ferenciek tere, in its modernisation campaign. Spar not only focuses on hyper markets and supermarkets, but also on small supermarkets of the City Spar chain which represent a new design. Following the two test stores opened in 2006, another 4-5 will be converted according to the City Spar model in 2008. As fresh products account for 50 per cent of Match sales, expanding refrigerating capacity and creating a more modern environment is a priority for them. This is why warmer, yellow lights are preferred and why the new design has more pictograms and uses uniform colours. The new layout of Spar stores also allows assortments to be widened. Of course, customer satisfaction and the resulting expansion of sales is the primary measure of success. This is why surveys are conducted to assess what customers think before and after the modernisation of stores. 150-600 square meter Match stores are so heterogeneous that each one needs an individual recipe for redesign. Customers are usually very enthusiastic about SPAR stores, which means that the opening of both new and modernised stores generates increased sales compared to earlier periods. Match usually uses its Belgian stores as models for modernisation projects in Hungary, while SPAR generally adapts Austrian concepts to the Hungarian environment.