Bingo further strengthened its retail leadership position in Bosnia-Herzegovina during full-year 2018, a study has found.
According to a report published by Euromonitor, the retailer has opened up a comfortable lead over its main rivals, with its hypermarket-led focus giving it plenty of room for growth.
The Tuzla-based retailer ended the year with 193 outlets and has continued its growth trend this year, with the opening of a new supermarket in Jablanica in January.
The second-biggest player, Mercator - BiH, saw the strongest growth in value share last year, after the Mercator banner was reintroduced in 2018, as part of the restructuring of Agrokor’s retail business.
According to Mercator's results for the first nine months of 2018, it operated 79 stores in Bosnia-Herzegovina, of which six were hypermarkets, 23 were supermarkets, and 50 were neighbourhood stores.
Local players continue to dominate the grocery retail market in Bosnia-Herzegovina, increasing their share after international players Delhaize and ITM Enterprises exited the market in recent years.
Growth Prospects
Concerns over liquidity and a declining level of trust across the value chain ended a prolonged period of stable growth for grocery retailers in Bosnia-Herzegovina.
Hypermarkets recorded the highest value growth throughout 2018, contrary to the trend in Western Europe. Instead, the convenience sector saw a contraction in sales in the period.
Looking ahead, Euromonitor forecasts that the most innovative concepts in retailing in Bosnia-Herzegovina are expected to come from small independent players, which can take advantage of niches overlooked by major operators.
Euromonitor noted that this gives great scope for the resurgence of small independent retailers in Bosnia-Herzegovina over the forecast period, both in grocery and non-grocery.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
