Tesco, Coop and SPAR are the top three retailers in 2016

TESCO is still Hungary’s biggest retailer, with an estimated annual turnover of HUF 790 billion, followed by COOP in Trade magazin’s FMCG retailer ranking in 2016. SPAR finished at the third place, ahead of CBA. 

The following retailers of fast moving consumer goods (groceries, cosmetics and household chemicals) come next in the Top 11 ranking of chains: Reál, Lidl, Auchan, Penny Market, Aldi, dm, Rossmann.

Zsuzsanna Hermann, editor-in-chief of Trade magazin: – Last year the market was influenced by both positive and negative trends. The workforce shortage was even bigger a problem than in 2015, but lifting the ban on Sunday trading, government measures in support of families, cutting the VAT and a low level of inflation resulted in consumers buying more. Because of this almost every retail chain was able to increase sales in comparison with the previous year.

Taking a closer look at the ranking we can see that last year posed the biggest challenges to retail chains in Hungarian ownership. The workforce shortage probable played a great role in this, together with the mandatory wage increase in the sector. Discount supermarkets didn’t only perform well because of their expansion – some of them hardly opened new stores since the publication of last year’s ranking – but also because they had started offering a wider and more optimal selection of products. One of the reasons for drugstores’ success is that they can communicate with customers efficiently, plus they are strengthening their competence in the cosmetics and hygiene categories – their private label product selection can now satisfy special consumer needs as well. Hypermarkets keep taking a step forward as regards the services they offer to shoppers, and they are also trying to turn shopping into an experience. Today it is a strategy for hypermarkets to use more types of retail channels, and by building these well they can reach shoppers at more and more places.

– Retail chains continue the development projects they started last year, each of them spending in accordance with their budgets. Just like last year, many stores have been modernised and many new shops have opened already, and I am sure that this process will continue throughout the year. The statistical data and the trends of the first quarter of the year can make retailers hopeful. However, we must be cautious as the regulatory environment keeps changing and the world economy is rather incalculable, so 2017 is likely to bring a few more surprises. All in all, I hope that one year from now in June Trade magazin will be publishing its 2017 retailer ranking in as optimistic a mood as now – told Zsuzsanna Hermann.

Methodology:

Data contained in the ranking was provided by the retailers themselves. When a retailer made no data available, Trade magazin’s estimation was used, which was based on the 2015 tax declaration of the companies, taking into consideration – with the help of experts – the changes in market conditions which have occurred since then.