Eurotorg, Belarus' biggest retailer, has reported a 13.2% increase in net retail sales in the second quarter of its financial year, and is on track to open its 1,000th outlet later this year.
The group opened a net new 33 stores in the period, including four new outlets under its Hit! discounter banner, and 16 new stores under its Groshyk hard discounter banner.
Like-For-Like Performance
Like-for-like sales in the quarter rose by 4.2%, driven by a 4.2% increase in average basket size. Traffic remained unchanged (+0.0%), with shoppers continuing to make fewer store visits, but purchasing more when in-store.
Convenience-format sales now account for more than half the sales of the group, accounting for 53.3% of total net retail revenue in Q2, a 0.4% increase year-on-year.
Elsewhere, the group has also opened its second Prime-format store, in Minsk, which features a wider range of premium brands and healthy eating products, as well as a number of thematic 'zones'.
The new format, which will help to 'differentiate its customer position', will only be introduced to large shopping centres in Minsk, it added, noting that additional openings are likely to be 'occasional'.
Eurotorg Growth Strategy
“In the second quarter of 2021, we continued to successfully pursue our asset-light growth strategy and added 44 new stores, all of them in leased premises," commented Eurotorg CEO Andrei Zubkou. "We accelerated the expansion of the retail chain compared to the first quarter and reaffirm our goal to open the 1,000th store in 2021.
“Net retail sales increased by 13.2% year-on-year, driven by both new store openings and growth of LFL sales, which increased for the sixth consecutive quarter."
Zubkou added that the group is likely to continue its multi-format retail chain strategy, saying, "The growing importance of the price factor was reflected in higher customer demand for our Hit! and Groshyk discounters, as they have increased their contribution to the Company’s revenue to 25.5% in the second quarter.
"We will continue to expand discounters along with further development of other formats, following modern retail trends.”
The group's performance follows on from a strong full-year 2020, in which it posted a 6.8% increase in revenue.
© 2021 European Supermarket Magazine. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. For more Retail news, click here. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
