E.Leclerc Polska, the Polish arm of the French retail operator, posted a 3.89% sales increase last year to PLN 2.91 billion, despite the introduction of a Sunday trading ban in he country.
Commenting on its performance, Jean-Philippe Magré, president of E.Leclerc Polska, said that in 2017, Sunday trading accounted for 7% of its turnover, and to combat the ban, the retailer "undertook strong promotional activities and extensive marketing campaigns" during the rest of the week, news portal dlahandlu.pl reported.
E.Leclerc's promotional strategy in 2018 was largely focused around fresh products, including meat, fruit and dairy products, with a focus on offering weekend offers on a Thursday, to negate the Sunday trading ban.
Network Growth
According to dlahandlu.pl, the retailer has also expanded its online offering to a total of 13 stores, while it opened four new service stations, to give it a portfolio of 18 forecourt operations around the country.
It also announced a cooperation agreement with Frac, which operates 16 stores across Poland, which will help it effect greater purchasing negotiations with suppliers.
"We have achieved very good results in these conditions thanks to the fact that we have accurately defined the needs of our consumers," Magré added. "We also invested heavily in margins, which allowed us to achieve competitive prices."
E.Leclerc Polska also intends to double its range of own-brand products in the organic category by 2020, dlahandlu.pl reported.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
