Several months into 2015, the hypermarket, supermarket and other modern retail chains had tipped the scales in their favor, increasing their market share to 57% compared with 41% in 2008, according to market research company GfK.
Aggressive expansion, low prices and strategic positioning were but a few of the factors that helped modern retail gain ground on the local market.
Modern retail in Romania currently comprises 12 foreign networks operating some 1,600 stores under various formats and brands. The main modern retail store formats are hypermarkets, supermarkets, convenience stores, discount stores and cash & carry stores, which make up a EUR8.5 billion market.
The leader of the sector is Kaufland (discount hypermarkets), followed by Carrefour (almost every format on the market) and Metro Cash&Carry. The three are the only networks with more than EUR1 billion sales a year.
The history of modern retail in Romania started with the arrival of Metro Cash&Carry via a partnership between the German group and local businessman Ion Tiriac. Cash&carry stores’ bread and butter are the small resellers not the consumers, unlike hypermarkets and discount stores. Their business model is more like wholesale than retail.
When Metro Cash&Carry entered the Romanian market, retail was only a small entrepreneur business, with 150,000-160,000 stores in operation. Less than twenty years later, the number of traditional retail stores has halved and their market share dropped to 43% after the first quarter of 2015. Traditional retailers and hotel and restaurant businesses are the customers of the two cash & carry chains in Romania, Metro and Selgros.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)