A European bronze for Belgium in discount stores

There are only 8,000 food stores in Belgium which has a population equal in size to that of Hungary, where we have over 20,000. According to a Nielsen survey, even the 8,000 is getting less. Delhaize, Carrefour, Smatch and Colruyt have established a new sales channel with their recently opened stores. GB Express Shop’n Go, Smatch, Okay stores belong in the convenience category and can provide special products from any category at any time of the day. Consumers are willing to pay a higher price for convenience which makes such stores remarkably profitable. Bio products have been part of the assortment in supermarkets for a long time. Fair trade is also becoming trendy. 93 per cent of packaging materials used in households are recycled. The consumption of plastic bags has been reduced by 40 per cent by the end of 2006. There is an environmental charge payable after packaging materials except paper. 580 stores of 8 retail chains dominate the Belgian market with a combined market share of 53 per cent. Another 1,200 stores belonging to 16 chains hold a 27 per cent market share, while hard discount stores have a 14 per cent market share, with 700 stores. The fourth major segment is made up of supermarkets and traditional stores with 5,700 stores, but this number is shrinking. The number of traditional stores has halved in recent years and their turnover accounts for only 6 per cent of the total market. Smaller stores cannot offer lucrative enough prices and do not have money to invest in modernising stores. Market share per store is falling within the two largest segments. However, average sales per store have been increasing in Belgium for years. The number of market players among discount stores is decreasing. Central Cash gave up competing among “soft” discount stores six years ago, whereas .Dial and Eda have disappeared from the “hard” segment, leaving Aldi and Lidl. The combined market share of “hard” and “soft” discount stores is 35 per cent , which is 10 per cent more than it used to be a decade ago. This puts Belgium in third place on the list of European countries where discount stores are most popular. Regional differences exist even in Belgium. The two southern regions account for 36 per cent of retail sales with a 32 per cent share from the population, while population is proportionate to retail sales in the Bruxelles region. The difference between the lowest regional average FMCG spending per capita per week (EUR 36,9) and the highest (EUR 41,6) is 23 per cent.