European grocers are battling with some of the worst trading figures on record
European grocers are trying to combat dwindling prices paid for goods and even bleaker sales coming through their tills, with Neilsen reporting that figures are at their worst since it began its measurement in 2008.
EU Grocers
In the second quarter of 2016, the cost of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCGs) rose just 0.7 per cent year-on-year, whilst volumes rose 0.1 per cent – the lowest level for over two years – leading to a meagre 0.8 per cent increase in takings at the till (the lowest figure Neilsen has seen in the past eight years).
“The historically low performance across Europe is driven by two factors,” explained Nielsen’s European director of retail insights Jean-Jacques Vandenheede.
“The negative effect of Easter not occurring in Q2 this year but doing so last year, however, more significantly, the very low growth in France and Germany and the noticeable decline in the UK which is being driven by fierce price competition among the retailers. Southern Europe was often to blame for Europe’s poor performance but it’s currently doing quite well whilst northern Europe is today’s problem child.”
In the UK Aldi and Lidl’s seemingly unencumbered rise has resulted in all four of the country’s biggest grocers to embark on costly price-cutting drive. This has resulted in the country’s worst performance for nearly two years with growth down by 1.6 per cent.
It is the third worst performing country in Europe, coming only slightly ahead of Greece and Finland.
Across the 21 European countries measured, Turkey showed the most positive signs of growth (up 8.9 per cent), followed by Norway (3.5 per cent) and Sweden (3.2 per cent).
Of the big five western European markets, Spain had the highest growth (2.1 per cent), followed by Italy (1.2 per cent).