The situation is changing in the East

LZ Retailiytics – a department of Lebensmittel Zeitung – has studied the FMCG market trends of Central and Eastern Europe. They found that the Russian market leader X5 group’s Pjatyorka and Magnit chains are on the top of the floor space based ranking of retailers in the region. The total floor spaces of their stores were 818,000m² and 290,000m², respectively. Lidl is the only country that managed to set its feet firmly in all 9 countries – the main sources of their growth are the Polish and the Romanian markets.

The study revealed that in Central and Eastern Europe the lion’s share of FMCG retail floor space takes the form of small store types. Last year more than 70 percent of store extensions was realised with shops smaller than 400m². According to the German experts, it is Lidl that can adapt to the region’s shopping and consumption habits the most: their discount supermarket concept with quality in the focus produces dynamic growth. Purchasing power is increasing in both Central Europe and Russia. //