Intermarché is seeking growth in Portugal, and has pledged to improve its price-quality ratio in order to attract shoppers.
Speaking to Jornal Economico, the CEO of the Portuguese unit, Martinho Lopes, said that the company's new business model will enable the company to offer customers better value for money, with each store owner independently adapt supply to demand, in close contact with local producers.
This means that stores can gain access to the freshest product while also generating transport savings.
As a result, the retailer is also able to reduce the ecological footprint, producers benefit from a cost reduction, which translates into lower prices for the consumer.
Innovation
Another fundamental pillar of growth is innovation, both in terms of business processes and product development.
In the first case, the retailer has developed several services to improve the consumer's shopping experience, including the opening of an online store and a Drive service.
On a product basis, Intermarché is introducing new recipes and formulas for its private label products.
Last year, for example, it changed the composition of its Labell swabs to make them biodegradable and compostable.
Lopes also revealed that Intermarché will continue investing in private label brands during 2019, recalling that 40 products from own brands Labell (beauty), Terra de Sabores (food) and Apta (hygiene and home) were honoured for their efforts earlier this year, in the Top Beauty 2019 and Consumer Choice 2019 awards.
The group currently operates 320 stores under three banners (Intermarché, Bricomarché and Roady) in Portugal, each of them independently managed.
© 2019 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.
