Table of Contents
Executive summary
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- The market
- Consumer spending
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- Figure 1: Italy: annual percentage change in consumer spending on food and beverages, 2015-19
- Sector size and forecast
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- Figure 2: Italy: food retailers, sales (excluding VAT), 2015-20
- Channels of distribution
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- Figure 3: Italy: estimated distribution of spending on food and beverages by channel, 2019
- Companies and brands
- Key metrics
- Market shares
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- Figure 4: Italy: top 10 grocers’ shares of all food retailers’ sales, 2019
- Online
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- Figure 5: Italy: Online purchasing in the last 12 months, 2014-19
- The consumer
- Who shops for groceries
- How they shop for groceries
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- Figure 6: Italy: how they shop for groceries, August 2020
- Where they shop for groceries
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- Figure 7: Italy: Where they shop for groceries, August 2020
- Attitudes towards grocery retailers and COVID-19-related issues
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- Figure 8: Italy: Attitudes towards grocery retailers and COVID-19-related issues, August 2020
The Impact of COVID-19 on Supermarkets
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- Short, medium and long-term impact on the sector
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- Figure 9: Short, medium and long term impact of COVID-19 on food retailing, December 2020
- Opportunities and threats
- COVID-19 brings new opportunities online
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- Figure 10: Albert Heijn’s temporary home delivery service, May 2020
- Technology and robotics used to support operations
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- Figure 11: Aldi’s traffic light queueing system in the UK, May 2020
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- Figure 12: Delhaize’s robots disinfect trolleys at stores, May 2020
- Collaborations enable better service
- Discounters pose threat to supermarkets as shoppers look to price
- How COVID-19 will reshape the industry
- Supporting the local community will gain further relevance
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- Figure 13: Sainsbury’s volunteer shopping card, May 2020
- Mobile apps create space in home delivery for smaller players
- Discounters boosted by limited budgets
- Supermarket sales benefit in 2020 and beyond
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- Figure 14: Europe Big Five: Total food retailers’ sales and forecast, 2015-25
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- Figure 15: Europe Big Five: Total food retailers’ sales and forecast, by country, 2015-25
- The impact of COVID-19 on consumer behaviour across Europe
- Concern about exposure to COVID-19 begins to rise as second wave bites
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- Figure 16: Europe: Those extremely worried about the risk of being exposed to COVID-19, March-October 2020*
- The financial impact of COVID-19
- Furlough and job losses
- Cutting back spending but adding to savings where possible
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- Figure 17: Europe: Financial impact of COVID-19, November 2020*
- Changes to shopping behaviour
- Non-essential spending takes a hit
- People want to spend less time in-store
- Cash is no longer king
- Localism rises up the agenda
- Online shopping receives major boost
- Assisted shopping provides challenges for grocery retailers
- Second wave prompts renewed stockpiling
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- Figure 18: Europe: Changes to shopping behaviour since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, November 2020*
- Consumers are trying not to handle/touch products in-store
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- Figure 19: Europe: people who would feel uncomfortable handling/touching products in-store, November 2020*
- Spending intentions
- Food one of the sectors least affected by reduction in spending
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- Figure 20: Net balance* of expected spending on selected items in the next month, November 2020**
- French consumers most likely to be planning to spend less on food
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- Figure 21: Europe: Net balance* of expected spending on food (excluding takeaways/home deliveries) in the next month, November 2020**
- How the crisis is impacting on key consumer segments
- Women and older people most concerned about the virus
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- Figure 22: Europe: Those extremely worried about the risk of being exposed to COVID-19, by gender and age, November 2020*
- Women and older age groups also trying to limit time in-store
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- Figure 23: Europe: consumers trying to limit the time they spend in-store, by gender and age, November 2020*
- Online shopping boom is relatively uniform
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- Figure 24: Europe: consumers shopping more online, by gender and age, November 2020*
- Shopping locally appeals more to older age groups
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- Figure 25: Europe: consumers shopping more from local businesses, by gender and age, November 2020*
- COVID-19: Market context
- UK
- France
- Germany
- Italy
- Spain
Issues and insights
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- Consumers look for value and local suppliers in wake of COVID-19
- Discounters have been the prime beneficiaries
- Big two are well placed to deal with COVID-19 impact
- Hypermarkets will be the main losers
- Will the growth in online grocery continue after 2020?
- Online grocery sales turbocharged by COVID-19 outbreak
- Strong growth in usage of online grocery services
- Capacity still a barrier to faster growth
- Shoppers reluctant to spend time in-store
- Future prospects generally look good
- Some potential obstacles
- Important not to exclude some consumers from online ordering
The market – Key takeaways
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- Hard times ahead
- Mixed fortunes for food retailers
- COVID-19 has resulted in food price rises
- Grocers dominate sales of food and drink but share slips marginally
Consumer spending
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- The impact of the Brexit deal on the rest of Europe
- Consumer spending on food
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- Figure 26: Italy: Consumer spending on food, drink and tobacco (including VAT), 2015-20
Sector size and forecast
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- Figure 27: Italy: Food retailers, sales (excluding VAT), 2015-20
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- Figure 28: Italy: Food retailers, forecast sales (excluding VAT), 2020-25
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Inflation
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- Figure 29: Italy: Consumer prices* of food and drink, Annual % change, 2015-19
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- Figure 30: Italy: Consumer prices* of food and drink, Annual % change, January 2019-August 2020
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Channels of distribution
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- Figure 31: Italy: estimated distribution of spending on food and beverages by channel, 2015-19
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Companies and brands – key takeaways
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- Conad pushes ahead with more to come
- Coop Italia plateaus
- A concentrated market
- Online grocery still lags in Italy
Leading players
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- Conad pushes ahead with more to come
- Coop Italia plateaus
- Selex breaks through the €10 billion sales barrier
- Mixed fortunes at Esselunga
- Other players
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- Figure 32: Italy: Leading grocers, sales (excluding VAT), 2015-19
- Figure 33: Italy: Leading grocers, outlets, 2015-19
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- Figure 34: Italy: Leading grocers, sales per outlet, 2015-19
Market shares
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- Figure 35: Italy: Leading grocers’ shares of all food retailers’ sales, 2015-19
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Online
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- Online activity
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- Figure 36: Italy: Household penetration of broadband internet, 2014-19
- Shopping online for food
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- Figure 37: Italy: Online purchasing in the last 12 months, 2014-19
- Online grocery market size
- Leading online players
- Esselunga
- Conad
- Coop Italia
The consumer – Key takeaways
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- Women main grocery shoppers and most concerned about COVID risk
- Localism grows in importance
- Greater spotlight on value has potential to boost own label sales
- COVID-19 cements feelings of community
- Sustainability rises steadily up the agenda
Who shops for groceries
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- Figure 38: Italy: Where they shop for groceries, net of responses, August 2020
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- Figure 39: Italy: Who shops for groceries, by gender, August 2020
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How they shop for groceries
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- Figure 40: Italy: how they shop for groceries, August 2020
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- Figure 41: Italy: how they shop for groceries, by gender, August 2020
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- Figure 42: Figure 43: Italy: how they shop for groceries, by age, August 2020
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Where they shop for groceries
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- Figure 44: Italy: Where they shop for groceries, net of responses, August 2020
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- Figure 45: Italy: Where they shop for groceries, August 2020
- Customer profile
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- Figure 46: Italy: Where they shop for groceries by age and income, August 2020
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Attitudes towards grocery retailers and COVID-19-related issues
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- Localism grows in importance
- Greater spotlight on value has potential to boost own label sales
- COVID-19 cements feelings of community
- Sustainability rises steadily up the agenda
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- Figure 47: Italy: Attitudes towards grocery retailers and COVID-19-related issues, August 2020
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- Figure 48: Italy: Attitudes towards grocery retailers and COVID-19-related issues, by where they shop for groceries**, August 2020
Appendix – Research methodology, data sources and abbreviations
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- Abbreviations
- Data sources
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