Mixed Retailers in Tunisia

2020 IMPACT

Mandated to close, COVID-19 negatively affects mixed retailers

Mixed retailers saw significant value sales decline in 2020, primarily due to the mandated closure of variety stores and warehouse clubs during the lockdown during the first two quarters of the year. While the restrictions were eventually eased in May and variety stores and warehouse clubs permitted to open again, in the second half of the year, following the rise in the number of infections, mixed retailers were obliged to close again, affecting value sales in an unprecedented manner.

Variety stores remains the dominant mixed retailers channel

One particularly notable feature of the retailing landscape in Tunisia is that there are no department stores present in the country. Variety stores on the other hand have a very significant presence throughout the country.

Carrefour Cash & Carry leads mixed retailers despite having only three outlets

Carrefour Cash & Carry remains the leading player in mixed retailers in Tunisia by virtue of its leading position in warehouse clubs. The retailer’s local parent company Ulysse Hyper Distribution brand has benefited from the sheer size of its outlets and the extremely wide range of products on offer in each of them, catering to a consumer base that consist mainly of the owners of small businesses, notably neighbourhood grocery stores and independent consumer foodservice outlets.

RECOVERY AND OPPORTUNITIES

The convenience and value of mixed retailers appeal to very many Tunisians

Mixed retailers remains a highly attractive retail channel for the majority of Tunisian consumers. The main reason is that variety stores in particular offer a very wide selection of products at low prices, thus representing value and convenience.

Warehouse clubs remains a small but influential retail channel

Warehouse clubs have been present in Tunisia since the entry of Carrefour Cash & Carry, a retail brand operated in the country by Ulysse Hyper Distribution. Although there were only three such stores present in the country the end of the review period, Carrefour Cash & Carry is very well-known among affluent urban consumers.

Independent retailers to face challenges due to the emergence of e-commerce

The forecast period is likely to see Tunisia’s numerous independent variety stores face an increasingly strong challenge from the emergence of e-commerce. This is not least as e-commerce offers the same advantages that variety stores have traded over decades, specifically low prices and an extremely wide range of products.