Discounters at Growth Limit

The big growth rates of the food discounters especially in Germany and Austria belong to the past. With a market share of around 30% in Austria and more than 35% in Germany food discounters have reached a preliminary ceiling in these countries.

Whilst Germans and Austrians love discounters, the market share of this distribution form of food products in Belgium or The Netherlands lies at only around 15% and in Great Britain even much lower at only 5% of the total food retail turnover. In the German speaking countries the peak seems to have been reached. While the highest growth rates of Austrian discounters at the beginning of the millennium were at around 11% per year, in 2009 the rate was only at around 3%. In Germany the turnovers of discounters declined for the first time by 0,6% last year.

A strong competition for discounters are classical supermarkets, which have succeeded in gaining the consumer’s attention with low priced store brands. In addition the organic segment is becoming more and more important. Although consumers are looking for bargains, the environmental awareness increases continuously. This is why only those discounters are successful, which can satisfy both needs the best.