The grocery retail market in Italy is showing signs of recovery in 2024, with increased sales volume and value, according to data published by GS1 Italy and Circana.
This rebound is attributed to factors such as stronger promotional activity, a wider product assortment, and improved in-store stock management.
This positive trend reflects changing consumer priorities, with a growing focus on health and wellness influencing purchasing decisions.
Sales volume increased by 1.8%, driven by a return to promotional activity and a slowdown in inflation, to 0.3%, while sales value grew by 2.3%, the data showed.
However, consumer purchasing behaviour has shifted, with shoppers prioritising managing their spending over bulk purchasing.
Growth Drivers
A key driver is the growing focus on health and well-being, evident in the substantial increase in sales of related products, particularly in sports nutrition, which saw a surge of 73.7% in volume and 80.5% in value.
Private-label brands continued their strong growth in 2024, reaching a 30.1% share of the packaged consumer goods market – up from 27.1% in 2019.
Despite this growth, significant potential remains, given the European average of 38.9%. This increase in private-label sales has particularly impacted larger suppliers, benefitting budget-friendly first-price brands, which now account for 20.1% of the market – a 2.8% increase over the past year.
Retailers expanded their product assortments by 0.8% annually, averaging 9,428 items per store, driven primarily by larger stores.
Simultaneously, improved shelf management reduced the out-of-stock rate from 3.6% to 3.5% and lowered lost sales to 4.8%.
Large stores, such as hypermarkets, showed particularly strong improvements in stock levels, especially for beverages and fresh produce. However, fruit and vegetables continue to have the highest rates of out-of-stocks (10.3%) and lost sales (7.3%).
