“Eurospin is still the number one discount supermarket in Italy, although Lidl is slowly closing in on it each year. A clear trend we’ve seen in the past year is the growing share of discounters as households squeezed by the cost of living crisis look to save money on their grocery bills by either doing all of their shopping in this type of store or doing more of it: research for our forthcoming report Supermarkets – Italy, 2023 shows that Eurospin shoppers (those that do their main or secondary shop with the brand) are significantly more likely than average to agree that the rising costs of living are causing them to shop at discounters more than they used to.

One strategy for helping customers deal with the cost of living crisis is for retailers to encourage them to switch to buying their own label ranges and many retailers have invested heavily in recent years in this area and this is borne out by research for our upcoming report, which finds that Eurospin shoppers are significantly more likely than average to agree that the rising costs of living are causing them to buy more own label products than they used to.

The launch of this new premium range addresses two clear objectives. To increase the choice of own label products available to its customers but also to reach out and increase its appeal to customers of mainstream supermarket brands who like the idea of shopping at a discounter but would also like the option of buying some quality products rather than just basic, austere, cheap items. In doing so, it may encourage shoppers to spend a higher proportion of their grocery shopping budget with Eurospin, since our research also finds that discounters are much more likely to be used for secondary shopping rather than for a main shop. For more details see the upcoming report, Supermarkets – Italy, 2023.”