Discounters in Finland

PROSPECTS

Discounters outperforms traditional grocery retailers as consumers embrace outlet size

Discounters outperformed traditional grocery retailers in value terms in 2019 with the latter experiencing a decline. In Finland, government monopoly retailer Alko is part of traditional grocery retailers, the presence of which makes this channel far larger than it would normally be.

Slowdown in macroeconomic growth set to be a boon for discounters

Macroeconomic growth is expected to slow down in 2020, which will benefit discounters. S Group has a focus on low prices, which could boost its prospects compared to the more expensive Kesko.

Change of image and focus for Lidl

Lidl the only player in this channel is increasing its focus on urban dwellers and centrally located outlets, in order to embrace demographic trends. Given the pessimistic population growth prospects in other areas of the country, Lidl plans to concentrate more on branded products including more premium ones.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Monopoly for Lidl with no competitors in sight

Lidl remains the only discounter in Finland. After the chain arrived in Finland in 2002, Kesko experimented with the Cassa chain, but its last outlets were closed in 2007.

Lidl embraces e-commerce through pilot launch of Sportyfeel

In response to the strong growth in food and drink e-commerce, Lidl launched its Sportyfeel website late review period. This e-commerce venture, which focuses on sports nutrition, also sells a limited number of other products, from LED lights to Serrano ham.

No direct category competitor for Lidl, with competition coming from other categories

Whilst Lidl’s value sales remain significantly below those of S Group and Kesko within overall grocery retailing, it has experienced consistent growth in its share. Although Lidl is not projected to ever come close to the sales of the two giants, its ranking is also not threatened by companies that are currently smaller and run very different concepts.

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