Supermarkets in Germany

PROSPECTS

Strong sales growth in 2019 despite growing competition and channel blurring

Germany has the fourth highest number of supermarkets per capita in Europe. Most consumers live near and have access to a wide variety of options.

Online food delivery business a potential bright spot for supermarkets

While grocery e-commerce is still a nascent offering in Germany – it makes up less than 1% of total food retail sales – and it is developing slowly, it offers new possibilities for key supermarket retailers to engage with customers and grow sales. Supermarkets have been early movers in grocery e-commerce in Germany, especially compared to other bricks-and-mortar channels like discounters.

Supermarkets winning on experience, positive outlook is forecast

Steadily improving economic conditions in Germany have generally boosted consumer confidence and, as a consequence, increased consumers’ expectations regarding their in-store shopping experiences. Broadly speaking, all players across all grocery channels have been modernising stores to meet these evolving expectations.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Independently run Edeka stores lead sales as the parent company explores organics

Edeka’s extensive network of independent store owners continued to hold the biggest value sales share in supermarkets in Germany in 2019. The majority of Edeka supermarkets in Germany are owned and operated by independent shop owners or franchise groups.

Rewe expanding through acquisition, digital offerings

Germany’s largest supermarket retailer is Rewe, which performed well in terms of overall sales growth. As a company, the Rewe Group generated record revenues of over EUR60 billion in 2018, although much of this came from the company’s tourism business, while online food sales grew by more than 20% year on year.

Regional supermarket chains under increasing pressure

While Rewe and Edeka hold the biggest sales shares and maintain the largest networks of outlets in supermarkets in Germany, there are still some regional players such as K+K Markt, Markant and Feneberg that remain fixtures in certain areas of the country. Pressure continues to mount on these smaller chains, however, as Rewe and Edeka continue to expand through new outlets and acquisitions.

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