Sales in the large-scale grocery sector saw a fourth consecutive weekly drop in Italy from 25 February to 3 March, slipping by 2.01%, reports La Repubblica.
With the latest decline, the positive upward trend that the sector reported in the first month and a half of 2019 seems to have expired, the newspaper suggests.
In the seven days analysed, grocery sales in southern Italy increased by 2.59%, highlighting the region's positive trend, compared to the rest of Italy.
Meanwhile, sales in the north-west recorded a strong decrease (-4.25%), as did the north-east (-3.04%), while central Italy reported a slight drop, of 0.30%.
As of the beginning of the year, the value of grocery sales for large-scale stores is still positive (+0.87%), but it is becoming weaker, the newspaper reported.
As in the previous weeks, the Abruzzo, Molise, Puglia, Basilicata, Campania, Calabria and Sicily regions recorded the strongest sales growth, with an overall value of 3.52%, according to the data.
© 2019 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Alessandra Arosio. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
