Germany may be the traditional home of the discount retailer, but according to market research firm GfK, the performance of the discounters there has started to diminish.
GfK found that the revenues of the German discounters decreased by 1.4 per cent in the first 11 months of 2014.
It also noted that given the fact that mainstream competitors tend to perform better in December, it is likely that the full-year figures, once available, will indicate a 12-month decline in revenues in the discounter channel.
According to Barclays European Retail Equity Research, "GfK further points out that significant price reductions at discounters last year are the main reason for this, and that the price cuts did not bring more customers or sales because competitors responded quickly in terms of pricing."
© 2015 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article written by Stephen Wynne-Jones.
