Buyers are noticeably more thoughtful, they are looking for sales and cheaper products, so the department store chains expect a more restrained end-of-year holiday season than before, according to the overview prepared by MTI.
At Tesco, customers now leave an average of HUF 6,100 for each purchase, the amount of purchases has increased by approximately 15 percent in the past period, while there is one less product in the basket, the company told MTI.
Customers increasingly choose private labels or cheaper products. They are looking for special offers more than before, Tesco’s club card traffic, through which most of the promotions are provided, increased by 70 percent this year.
The department store chain said: they expect a very thoughtful Christmas season, and customers are consciously preparing for the holidays. The current trend is not expected to change at Christmas either, fewer products will be added to customers’ baskets, even with fewer gifts and a less extensive Christmas menu. They expect growth in terms of sales revenue, rising inflation is expected to compensate for the quantitative decline in sales, they wrote.
According to Penny’s information, their sales in October this year were 34 percent higher than in the same period last year, while the number of goods sold decreased by 9.8 percent. In the last four weeks, the decrease in the amount sold was only 7.5 percent, which, according to the company’s assessment, means that they are over the edge.
According to experience, customers go shopping more often, but make fewer purchases on one occasion.
The increase in the basket value is currently 21 percent, which is below the rate of inflation. Based on preliminary market analyses and industry information, a 5-7 percent decrease in volume is expected for the holiday season, but this estimate does not yet include unforeseen changes due to the price cap on eggs, the supermarket chain announced.
Penny also reported that consumers are looking for their own-brand products more than before, and they are also paying more attention to promotional products, and the products included in the current promotions are selling in noticeably larger numbers.
In response to MTI’s inquiries, Auchan stated that, with the exception of a few categories of food, it does not experience a decrease in volume, rather a rearrangement between products is observed.
In Auchan’s stores, the market share of the price cap, cheapest and own-brand products has also increased significantly, and customers are also more consciously looking for discount products. They also indicated that consumers prefer products with a good price-value ratio.
The department store chain does not expect a decrease in volume during the holiday season, the double-digit volume increase of price-capped products is driving sales, they pointed out.
According to Spar’s experience so far, in the case of some product ranges, customers have switched from mid-price category products to lower-price categories, and interest in own-brand products has increased. The sales share of the supermarket chain’s own-brand products has increased from 25 to around 30 percent in recent months.
The sales volume of the product range related to food intolerances has not changed, while that of all other categories has been showing a decreasing trend for several months, to varying degrees, they said.
Customers are increasingly paying attention to buying products that offer attractive value for money, and Spar is counting on that this holiday season as well.
MTI
Photo: Frank Yvette
