Swiss financial services company UBS has declared Aldi Australia the most profitable supermarket chain in the country, and has suggested that a bettering of its fresh produce portfolio would accelerate its growth further.
As it stands, UBS forecasts an annual 15-per-cent growth in sales for the discounter to take place over the next three years, believing that sales could reach as much as AUS$14.8 billion by 2019. Its growth is between 400 and 500 per cent more than the sector average.
Speaking to Fairfax Media, UBS analyst, Ben Gilbert, said that Aldi Australia is “doing a good job on store rollout and customer acceptance but while they're winning shoppers they're not necessarily winning greater share of basket.
"Shoppers are telling us they shop with them but they don't see them as being a place where they can do a total shop – there's still a material opportunity for them if they can get their core offer right [and] fresh is the biggest opportunity.”
"If they can get it right there's a significant opportunity for them to lift their share of main shops and win customers at a faster rate,” he added.
Relatedly, the company has said that it will have opened 60 new supermarkets by the end of 2016 “across the eastern seaboard, South Australia and Western Australia will result in more people being able to experience the Aldi difference.”
© 2016 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Peter Donnelly. To subscribe to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine, click here.
