This part of the country is what drove consumer spending up in January and February compared with the year-ago months, as Bucharest data show a decline of 3.7% in sales of consumer goods. The decline in Bucharest can be seen on all three main segments of the market – food, personal and household care products, RetailZoom says.
Overall, the fast-moving consumer goods market increased by 6.3% in the first two months of 2021.
Rural areas have become more and more visible in consumer spending, the actors on the market said in 2020 and continue to say.
“Some of those that used to take frequent trips to bigger cities to do their shopping, when forced by the pandemic to stay closer to home, started to realize that many of the things they used to buy are available at better prices without having to travel tens of kilometers and back. Some of them changed their attitude towards traditional retail, which made us carry more expensive, higher quality products,” says Ionel Popa, owner of the Dinatos business in Baleni, Galati County, which operates a LaDoiPasi store. LaDoiPasi is a convenience store franchise of Germany’s Metro Group.
The rise in consumer spending was also because of the return of Romanians working abroad in the fall of 2020.
“About 1.5 million to 2 million Romanians returned home in 2020. I think we have a greater volume of consumers. The rise in consumption is showing in convenience stores, especially in rural areas, as they were the ones that offset the losses of the hospitality industry in 2020,” said Mihai Voicu. general manager of Bergenbier, one of the largest actors in the beer industry.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)