Chains such as Biedronka, Lidl and Aldi have already captured nearly half of the Polish grocery market. Now they will reduce the offer on the shelves to save money. This is a problem for customers and producers – we read in Thursday's “Rzeczpospolita”.
“Discounting” is definitely progressing in Polish trade, and the price war between the largest chains will only accelerate these trends. This means a gradual reduction of the offer on store shelves, which is slowly becoming noticeable and will be a problem especially for producers – informs the daily.
“Customers (…) don't need seven different ketchups”
According to “Rz”, the price war between Lidl and Biedronka forced further discounts on suppliers and forced other market sectors to be more active in promotion, although, according to many experts, it also destabilized the market. At the same time, it showed that the discount model dominates and other players must adapt to it, which means a greater share of private labels and a gradual narrowing of the number of the same type of products on shelves to the fastest-moving ones. – Customers are too confused and they really don't need seven different ketchups to choose from, although of course everything depends on the category. For example, when it comes to mayonnaise, local habits regarding brands are strong. Limiting the offer in stores is a fact and will continue, and this is the worst news for producers who will have to fight for space on the shelf – explains Agnieszka Górnicka, president of Inquiry, quoted by “Rz”.
The price war destabilized the market.Shutterstock
From 600 own brands to 180
According to the daily, the Aldi chain recently announced a strategy to simplify and strengthen its private label portfolio to improve their effectiveness. The process is still ongoing – out of 600 own brands, the Aldi chain plans to eventually have from 140 to 180. – In this way, we are implementing the strategy of achieving the best quality-price ratio – said Alexander Lauer, director of the International Purchasing Department at the Aldi Nord Group. The chain emphasizes that Polish consumers saved approximately PLN 164 million on promotions in 2023, which was 28%. discount from the regular price. According to Andrzej Faliński, president of the Economic Dialogue Forum, quoted by “Rz”, discount stores can generate high sales with a limited selection. Other chains also rely on this, high turnover is a condition for staying on the shelf, otherwise it disappears from the store.
Main photo source: Tupungato/Shutterstock