“The year 2010 will be at least as difficult, if not more so than 2009. We will notice that the retail market contracted at the end of 2009, and was split among several players, but I do not believe this was a happy year. The store model adapted to the crisis is the hard-discount model, networks with a very high market share in Germany, France, and the Nordic countries. It is a format that penetrated Romania timidly, and is the only format with massive future investments,” said Alexandru Vlad, Chief Executive Officer of Selgros, during a conference organized by Mediafax in partnership with the Association of Major Commercial Networks (AMRCR).
Hard-discount networks are characterized by small surface stores, low implementation costs, a reduced assortment, and major turnover. It is not the client who determines the selection of products, but the retailer, on the basis of low prices and acceptable quality. The main hard-discount stores are Aldi and Lidl, both with major expansion projects in Romania.
Online stores will also enjoy an advantage during this crisis, as operating costs are very low.
