Cristina Alonso Madrid
Madrid
Updated Thursday, February 15, 2024-10:53
Mercadona
strengthens its leadership in Spain. The distribution giant not only maintains its first place in the ranking by market share but also leads growth in a year marked by the inflation crisis. The chain chaired by
Juan Roig
was right to launch an unprecedented price reduction promotion for up to 500 products that has brought great benefits in terms of quota.
This is reflected in the latest Kantar Worldpanel distribution balance, which places Mercadona as the "undisputed leader" of the market in 2023 after increasing its share by 0.6 points, above the growth experienced by the rest of the chains operating in our country. It was from the month of April when it gained momentum, coinciding with the communication of its
'anti-inflation basket'
, and it has been able to maintain the positive trend until today.
After this advance, the supermarket of Valencian origin now has a market share throughout Spain of 26.2%. It is followed, at a distance,
by Carrefour
, with 9.9%. The French chain, which opened the ban on 'anti-inflation baskets' more than a year ago with its basket of 30 products at 30 euros, experienced much more moderate growth in 2023, of just 0.2 points and, despite its efforts to work the price lever with promotions and loyalty programs, it still faces the challenge of continuing to develop proximity formats.
With a share of 6.4%,
Lidl
occupies third place in 2023, being the chain that is growing the most, only behind Mercadona. Specifically, the German discount company increased its share by 0.5 points in a year in which it redoubled its commitment to openings. It is followed by
Eroski
, with 4.4% and a slight advance of 0.1 points, and
Dia
, with 4.1% and a drop of 0.5 points that Kantar analysts explain by the sale of stores to Alcampo .
These five large chains (
Mercadona, Carrefour, Lidl, Eroski and Dia
) together now account for more than half of the Spanish distribution market share. Specifically, 51%. Although it is not an excessive concentration compared to the markets of neighboring countries such as France, it does consolidate a trend of transfer towards organized distribution from traditional ones in a scenario of escalating prices in which the consumer seeks to have greater control over the ticket and is guided by factors such as promotions or the cheaper prices of the white label.
And if last year was marked by the price war in the supermarket, 2024 has started in the same tone. At the end of last January Carrefour launched a new anti-inflation campaign with the reduction of 500 products and this Thursday Dia announced an investment of 150 million euros in promotions for 2024.
Looking ahead to this year, the retail business director of Kantar Worldpanel, Bernardo Rodilla, is confident that inflation will be controlled to return to the "desired normality." "We will leave behind a cycle of a succession of years that have been very marked by different crises. As we enter this new cycle, we will see how the consumer will recover certain trends that we can say are more structural and that have marked distribution" , he explained at the press conference to present the balance sheet.
However, price will continue to be one of the consumer's main motivations for choosing where to buy. "We are seeing how there is already a price war, where the distribution will have to protect its margins and will put more pressure on the negotiations between the
retailer
and the distributor," he indicated.