10 to Watch in North American Grocery Retail

Transcription

1 10 to Watch in North American Grocery Retail 2010 By Natalie Berg, Research Director part of

2 Planet Retail is the leading provider of global retailing information, from news and analysis to market research and digital media. Covering more than 7,000 retail and foodservice (HoReCa) operations across 140 markets around the world, many of the world s leading companies turn to Planet Retail as a definitive source of business intelligence. Planet Retail has offices in London, Frankfurt, New York and Tokyo. For more information please visit Researched and published by Planet Retail Limited Company No: (England & Wales)Registered Office: 66 Wigmore Street, London W1U 2SB United Kingdom: Germany: Greater London House Dreieichstrasse 59 Hampstead Road D Frankfurt am Main London NW1 7EJ Germany United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0) Tel: +49 (0) Fax: +44 (0) Fax: +49 (0) sales@planetretail.net sales.de@planetretail.net Website: Website: Terms of use and copyright conditions This document is copyrighted. All rights reserved and no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form without the prior permission of the publishers. We have taken every precaution to ensure that details provided in this document are accurate. The publishers are not liable for any omissions, errors or incorrect insertions, nor for any interpretations made from the document. Planet Retail

3 Contents 1 The 10 to Watch 2 Ahold Price Chopper Delhaize Group WinCo Aldi Tops Markets The Market by Safeway Save-a-Lot Dollar General H-E-B Key Trends for Private label will stick but in what form? CPG suppliers also go directly to consumer Tech-savvy consumers to change the rules of the game But cost control comes first Even the strongest retailers are feeling the pinch to their bottom lines North America: Capital Expenditure Budgets of Leading Grocers, f (USD bn) Strategies of the Leaders 10 Walmart Kroger Costco Target Walgreens CVS Safeway SuperValu Rite Aid Publix Loblaw North America: Leading Grocery Retailers, f Planet Retail 2010

4 Planet Retail

5 By Natalie Berg, Research Director North America s grocery retailers had been top performers in the recession with toplines previously buoyed by high food and fuel prices. Although they continue to benefit from the non-discretionary nature of their products, the grocers found 2009 more challenging as a result of several factors. Firstly, food and fuel price inflation has slowed which means that the grocers can no longer be guaranteed topline growth. Secondly, investments in value lines and increased promotional activity have negatively impacted both sales and profits. Thirdly, many consumers across the country received economic stimulus cheques in 2008 which helped to boost food spending at the time. And finally, shoppers have generally become much more cautious in their spending as concerns mount over job security and house prices will be another challenging year for the North American grocers. Profitability remains a real concern, even for the largest retailers, and therefore we at Planet Retail expect to see continued improvements in efficiency in the value chain ranging from SKU rationalisation to complete closure of unprofitable stores. There will be additional M&A activity as regional players look to take over their weaker competitors while the price is right. The discount channel is poised for another year of impressive organic growth with a total of 1,250 new discount stores scheduled to open in the US, up 50% compared to the approximate 800 stores that opened in the height of the recession last year. We will also see another year of experimentation with the small-box format, although a nationwide roll-out by a US retailer will take years rather than months. In this report, we have identified ten retailers to watch in North America. Only three of the ten are national players; the remaining ones on the list are smaller, regional players and/or specialists which are poised for growth in 2010 either as a result of acquisition, organic growth, or what we believe is the potential to be a successful new format. - Planet Retail