Eurotorg, Belarus' biggest retailer, has posted a 7.1% like-for-like increase in sales in the first quarter of the year.
Sales for Q1 2018 were BYN 934 million (€400 million), which is a 11.4% increase in net sales terms.
Building on a strong full-year performance, the group's first quarter was driven by a 'substantial improvement' in like-for-like traffic, the retailer said (-0.5% in the first quarter, compared to -9.3% in Q1 2017) and high growth in the average transaction size (7.6% in Q1).
'Solid Performance'
"We are very pleased with both the like-for-like sales performance of existing stores, as well as with the pace of expansion of our retail operations in 1Q 2018," commented Andrei Zubkou, the chief executive of Eurotorg.
"At the same time, we continued to implement key strategic initiatives, opening 20 new stores in leased premises and expanding into new, rural areas that previously had limited access to modern food retail.
"Looking ahead, we plan to continue to maintain our strategic focus on opening smaller stores in leased space, including in underserved small towns and settlements across Belarus.”
In the first quarter, Eurotorg maintained its 'capex-light' expansion process, adding a net 20 new stores, all of which operate in leased premises. Ten of these stores are located in rural areas, as per the group's intention to extend across Belarus.
Store Formats
Since the start of the year, Eurotorg has adopted a new approach to differentiating its formats, having moved to four main banners: E-minimarket (a convenience format covering rural areas), E-market (including convenience stores in urban areas with a standardised assortment and selling space of up to 600 sqm), Brusnichka convenience stores, which boasts a higher range of private label and more aggressive price positioning, and E-Super, which consolidates the group's supermarket and hypermarket banners.
The new structure has enabled the group to 'refocus on the development of smaller-format stores', the group said.
It noted that the Brusnichka banner 'demonstrated the best performance in highly-competitive environments [...] due to strong price-leadership communication and a more focused product range'.
It has also updated its brand look to incorporate more green colours, 'in order to give customers a deeper association with the fresh and healthy assortment of products that the company offers'.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
