Italy’s Gruppo Selex has forecast a turnover of €16.7 billion for its financial year 2021, which would represent a 3.1% growth compared to 2020.
Preliminary results further confirm the group’s position as the second largest player in the modern retail distribution market in Italy, with a 14.5% market share.
Sales of private-label brands Selex, Consilia, Vale and Il Gigante amounted to €1.5 billion in 2021, growing well above the market average. The company expects the positive trend to continue in 2022.
The group’s private-label range currently comprises 7,750 SKUs across various brands offering basic products and numerous specialist lines, aimed at specific consumer segments.
E-commerce
Active in 13 regions and counting the participation of nine group brands, e-commerce site CosìComodo reported a 30% sales growth in 2021.
CosìComodo service offers a choice between click-and-collect, drive and home delivery, with over 100 pick-up points and 450 postal codes covered.
Safeguarding purchasing power was one of the priorities for the group in 2021, in view of inflation trends that are driving up prices for many food items and jeopardising the recovery of the Italian economy.
The group claims that its promotional policies throughout the year enabled Italian families to save more than €700 million.
In April, the company said it was aiming to reduce the quantity of packaging in its private label brands through the use of recycled materials.
'Strong Inflationary Tensions'
Chairman Alessandro Revello warned of “strong inflationary tensions” for the coming months on the purchase prices of products and services, and promised that Selex would continue playing its traditional role of “shock absorber."
However, he called on the “cooperation and sense of responsibility of all the players in the supply chain” in order to “distinguish between real and lasting increases and those that are temporary and the result of speculation.”
Gruppo Selex has earmarked €460 million for investments in 2022, mainly for the opening of 95 new stores, including 53 superstores and supermarkets and the renovating 97 existing stores.
Further expansion of its sales network and strengthening of the private-label brands and the CosìComodo platform should enable Gruppo Selex to achieve consumer sales of €17.1 billion in 2022, achieving a growth of 2.4%.
Comprising 18 member companies, which are often leaders in their respective regions, Selex operates in 100 out of 107 Italian provinces, with a multi-brand and multi-channel sales network consisting of 3,229 outlets.
© 2021 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.
