Discounters in Italy

PROSPECTS

Discounters profit from the declining popularity of hypermarkets

Discounters profited from the decline in popularity of larger selling surfaces, such as hypermarkets, with strong retail value growth in 2019. Political uncertainty spurred by the government crisis in August 2019 and the slowing economy are encouraging Italian consumers to be more price conscious and turn to discounters due to their aggressive pricing strategies and increasingly diversified product assortment.

Discounters continue to expand their reach

Domestic and international discounters continued their aggressive expansion plans in Italy in 2019, with all major groups opening new points of sale throughout the country. In addition to the leader Eurospin Italia, which in 2019 reached the 1,100 stores threshold (and expanded to Slovenia), German discounters Lidl Italia, Aldi and Penny Market Italia announced major investments for 2019-2020 and the opening of more than 140 new stores to strengthen their foothold in the country.

Discounters increasingly target more sophisticated consumers

Italy is witnessing an ongoing trend of discounters becoming more akin to supermarkets. The channel continues to adapt its product assortment towards more sophisticated Italian shoppers.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Eurospin Italia maintains its lead

Eurospin Italia retained its lead in discounters in 2019, despite losing slight value share. Although larger discounters are usually German, Eurospin Italia is domestic, whilst also owning stores outside of the country.

German discounters continue to invest in Italy

German discounters continued to consolidate their foothold in Italy in 2019. In January 2019 Lidl Italia announced an investment of EUR350m to open 40 new stores with an emphasis on their environmental sustainability.

Discounters increasingly turn to e-commerce

E-commerce is increasingly in the spotlight for discounters. At the beginning of 2019 Eurospin Italia launched an e-commerce site which allows shoppers to purchase non-grocery products, including Christmas boxes and have them delivered to their homes, while Lidl Italia launched its home grocery delivery service in collaboration with Supermercato24.

Files are delivered directly into your account within a few minutes of purchase.