Hypermarkets are currently the main food shopping outlets for around 18% of domestic consumers, a share that increased from 11% in early 2006.
Hypermarkets have left supermarkets behind in Romanian consumers' preferences, according to a survey Gfk market research institute and Incoma Research (Czech Republic) conducted on the Central and East European market.
Supermarkets, where 22% of Romanian consumers used to do their food shopping in 2006, lost ground to the other forms of modern trade, but also to specialised stores that saw their weight increase in consumers' preferences. Thus, 16% of consumers said supermarkets were the outlets they went to most frequently to do their food shopping, the survey Gfk and Incoma Research conducted at the end of last year and early this year shows.
This could be explained by the fast-paced expansion of hypermarket networks, for which 2006 was the most lucrative year. These reached 38 operational outlets at the end of last year, almost four times more than in the previous period.
In turn, discount store networks doubled their number of outlets last year, to over 100, and also managed to get consumers' attention. Gfk and Incoma Research survey points out that around 8% of Romanian consumers do their shopping in a discount store, from less than 1% in 2006.
Cash & carry stores, another modern trade format, make up the main food shopping location for 11% of Romanian consumers, double the percentage posted last year, according to Gfk data.
Specialised food stores also made considerable headway in consumers' preferences, with more than 8% of consumers choosing them as a shopping location, from around 2% in 2006.
The most dramatic decline was registered on the segment of mini-markets, which has seen its weight in consumers' preferences shrink to 6% from 12% last year.
Traditional (convenience) stores still hold the leading position in terms of weight, given that 33% of consumers buy their food mainly from these locations.
These are followed by hypermarkets and supermarkets.
Overall, with its four formats (hypermarkets, supermarkets, discount and cash & carry), modern retail overtook traditional stores (mini-markets, kiosks and agri-food markets) in consumers' preferences for the first time last year, the survey also shows.
More than 50% of consumers do their food shopping mainly in a modern-format outlet, from below 40% in 2006.
Traditional retail is likely to lag farther behind modern retail in the following years, amid international retail networks' expansion plans, as well as due to consumer behaviour.
On the Central and East-European market, including Romania, the consumers' choice in terms of shopping locations is mainly driven by the product supply, the quoted survey also shows.
Food shopping locations
Traditional, convenience stores still hold the leading position, with 33% of domestic consumers choosing them to do their food shopping in
Hypermarkets come next, with their weight in consumers' preferences having risen from 11% in early 2006 to around 18% now
Supermarkets have lost ground to the other forms of modern retail and to specialised stores, with 16% of consumers now doing their food shopping in such locations
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