Retailer Billa Bulgaria recorded a positive result for the second year in a row, ending 2017 with a 9.2% annual growth in gross sales to BGN 854 million (€436.6 million).
The retailer opened eight new stores in 2017, of which three were located in large shopping malls in Sofia.
Expansion And Footfall
Expansion continued throughout 2018, with the opening of two new supermarkets - one in Varna (the 9th in the city) and one in Sofia’s Bulgaria Mall (taking the total in the capital to 47). With the latest openings, the network now consists of 120 stores in 37 cities across Bulgaria. New store openings are planned in the future, with a target of 160 stores.
Mirroring the rise in outlets, footfall has also increased, with 1.3 million customers now visiting Billa Bulgaria stores every week.
In an interview for local daily Kapital, general manager Boyko Sachanski revealed that Billa Bulgaria will open 8 to 10 new stores in Sofia, Plovdiv and Varna, adding that the goal is to achieve 9 to 10% revenue growth, on the level of last year.
Growth Of Bulgarian Economy
Despite the strong growth, Billa remains the third largest retail chain in turnover after Lidl and Kaufland, according to ICAP Bulgaria data. All retailers reported a growth in revenue in 2017, as a result of the growth of the Bulgarian economy.
Billa has been successful in opening supermarkets in numerous shopping malls in the country (in Serdika Center, Mall of Sofia, Park Center, Bulgaria Mall and Mega Mall).
Billa Bulgaria has a popular customer loyalty program (Billa Card), which provides a discount on over 600 specially selected goods every month. In addition, consumers can benefit from weekly discounts on over 130 items and from the 'Grande' offer with a 25% discount on various product groups on Fridays and Saturdays.
Parent company Rewe International reported a 6.7% increase in 2017 revenue when compared to 2016, opening 25 new Billa stores in Central and Eastern Europe, taking the total to 631.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
