‘It is ending precisely now…’ (Part 5)

This new, 6-part series by Trade magazin and GfK Hungária Market Research Institute focuses on price trends, pricing policies and consumer expectations in terms of price. The nominal value of the daily consumer good consumption by households was 1.6 percent higher in the first quarter of 2010 than in the same period of 2009. As in March 2010 the inflation rate was forecasted to be above 5 percent, in real value the market kept shrinking. In 2009 the total turnover in daily consumer goods remained stable in nominal value compared to 2008; in terms of volume there has been a decrease. As for branded products, the proportion of buying in promotion has been growing in the last 2-3 years: 25 percent of manufacturer brands were bought in promotion in 2007 – in 2009 this rose to 31 percent.

The number of retail units visited per household is increasing, as in 2008 the average household went to 8 retail chains in a year, while in 2009 the average family visited 9. Consumer loyalty is diminishing and more and more people read the promotional leaflets – retail chains reacted to this by placing more advertisements in these.

In 2009 the proportion of daily consumer goods bought in promotion increased on the Hungarian market, especially in the case of hot drinks as 43 percent of volume sales in the category was realised this way. In the first quarter of 2010 hypermarkets and discount stores did well. Although spending per shopper fell a bit, these channels managed to expand to the expense of other channels. Nearly half of Hungarian now has to economise on buying food, while the other half has not reached this stage yet. However, this gap may become larger if the crisis persists.