Food discounter. What is a discounter? Why prices are lower

A network of retail stores with a narrow assortment but low prices

Shop with a narrow assortment and a minimum set of services for customers

1. General statements about discounters

2. How discounters work

Discounter - this is a store with a narrow assortment and a minimum set of services for buyers, with fairly low prices. The management of such a store is aimed at reducing costs due to the minimalist execution of the sales area, simplified display of goods, reducing the number of working personnel, limiting the range of products that should be sold in sufficiently large quantities at the expense of low prices.

Discounter - this is“Low Price Stores” is a chain of retail stores with a narrow assortment, but low prices (compared to stores of other formats in the region).

General statements about discounters

The main audience of discounters is buyers with average and lower average incomes. In classic discounters, prices are on average 15-20% lower than in supermarkets.

There are two main types of discounters: hard and soft. The assortment of hard - less than 1,000 items, most of which does not require refrigeration, soft assortment - up to 4,000. Trading floor area - up to 800 sq. M. m (soft - up to 1.5 thousand sq. m). According to market participants, in 2006 discounters accounted for about 7% of the Ukrainian grocery retail market, estimated at $ 12-14 billion. The Dnipropetrovsk ATB-Market, Lviv Intermarket (Barvinok chain) operate in the format of a soft discounter in Ukraine , "Retail Group" ("Prosto Market") and Lutsk "Agrocontract".

In the case of a sufficiently large network of such stores, the constant movement of consignments of goods from one store to another is practiced, where there is a greater demand for this product. Thus, savings in storage space are achieved.

The first low-price stores appeared in Germany in the mid-1950s, amid relative economic stability and minimal inflation. In a short period of time, they gained wide popularity in Western Europe and the USA. Today stores of this format - for example, Aldi, Lidl, Wal-Mart, Biedronka - confidently occupy leading positions in the retail market. In 2001, the ATB-Market network joined the family of discounters.



In times of economic crisis, discounters are very popular. Attendance and turnover of products during this period grows significantly - by 20-40%

Low prices are achieved due to cost savings: minimal design of the sales area, a small number of staff, simplified display of goods. The main principle of profitability of the discounter chain is a high turnover of all goods in the assortment of the retail chain. There are two types of discounters: hard (no more than 1000 items in the assortment, store area is 500-800 sq. M.) And soft (assortment of 1500-3000 items, area up to 1.5 thousand sq. M.).



How discounters work

Discounters are stores with a fairly large area (from 700 to 1200 square meters), as a rule, without a perishable group and practically without branded goods. There are so-called hard and soft discounters. Hard ones are characterized by the ratio “1 assortment position per 1 square meter of retail space”. That is, there will be only 800 items in a store 800 meters away! Is it possible to imagine this here, where, it seems, even in the trade pavilion there will be almost the same amount?


A soft discounter for the same area will provide a little more choice - 1.5-2 assortment positions per square meter.

What are other features of this format? The fact that the principle of cost saving is implemented in everything. This is the centralization and maximum automation of all logistics, purchasing, analytical processes - they take place in central offices, the store is not involved in this. Because of this, the staff of a discounter a few years ago could consist of 4-6 people for the entire store of 700 meters! These people do everything - they accept the goods, and lay them out, and sit at the checkout, work as loaders, merchandisers, and commodity managers ... This gives tremendous cost savings, and, unfortunately, it is absolutely impossible to sell in our country.


Savings occur on everything: in the world (no special lighting, only general construction lighting), on equipment (it is cheap, partially made entirely on our own), minimal or no design, except for external design. Cleanliness can be limited, but cost savings never.


Savings on stocks and maintaining the assortment are due to its severe restrictions. Layout is often done directly in the packages, and pictures are hanging explaining that one bottle cannot be taken, only a package of four is allowed. There are practically no warehouses as such, all the goods are in the trading floor. Automation and bar-coding began to be used relatively recently, until that time they also saved on this.


Despite the strict limitation of assortment, the chains of discounters seriously monitor the structure of consumers' consumption and brag without undue modesty that in the discounter you can buy 80% of the products of daily consumption. There will simply be little choice: one kind of paper napkins, 5 flavors of juice, one kind of canned peas, etc.


At the same time, thanks to clear positioning, discounters are not afraid of competition from supermarkets, supermarkets and convenience stores: they are simply not competitors in terms of price - the price in a discounter can be 2 times cheaper. Quite the opposite: discounter managers are happy to put them directly opposite a good store. Then the buyer goes both ways: in one he buys daily products, in the other he buys himself an exquisite cheese, a bottle of good wine or nice colored notebooks. It is not known what supermarkets think about such a neighborhood, but discounters feel great with such an arrangement.


It is widely believed that low-income people, students, etc. are bought in discounters. This is not entirely true. Of course, it is there that the aforementioned group of people makes the bulk of their purchases, but both the middle class and the upper class do not hesitate to go to a discounter. At least in Germany. The Germans know how to count money, therefore it is not uncommon to meet the latest Porsche model parked near a discounter.


Our compatriots, getting into discounters, as a rule, are unpleasantly surprised that there is no seller in the hall, there is no one to ask anything, the assortment is very limited, and the cleanliness often leaves much to be desired. But they are very pleasantly surprised at the prices and say: "When will it be possible to buy from us at such prices?" The question is rhetorical: the existence of a discounter format in our country is simply unrealistic now: due to accounting reasons, and sanitary requirements and norms, and due to labor legislation.

Sources

kommersant.ua Kommersant

ru.wikipedia.org Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

info-stalking.com Consulting company - Info-stalking

torgrus.com Retail news and technologies

Discounters are self-service department stores that sell mainly food and partly non-food items of everyday demand at low prices. Experts call these stores “a truncated version of supermarkets,” which retains the same selling method and a similar assortment, although not as wide. The retail area of \u200b\u200bthese stores is on average 600 sq. m, although shops with an area of \u200b\u200bup to 3000 sq. m. Low prices in discounters are ensured by minimizing maintenance costs, low quality equipment, and cheap decoration of shops. As a rule, these stores are not located in the city center, but are built in residential, so-called "dormitory" areas. The discounter is aimed at all residents of nearby neighborhoods who do not want to pay extra money for everyday goods. Today discounters are a serious competitor to street markets.

Discounters are usually divided into "hard" and "soft". The most promising in the practice of world retail are rigid formats, one of which is a grocery discounter.

Rigid format this space is up to 1000 square meters, practically without repair, a narrow assortment - from 500 to 2000 items, while at least 50% of it is occupied by private brands, goods on pallets, self-service, a minimum surcharge, and due to all this - very low trade margin of 5-7%.

Soft format (Soft discounter) - these premises are already 5-10 times more spacious, a wider assortment, goods on racks, shelves, showcases. But the consequence of this is a slightly higher markup, because servicing a larger assortment is more expensive for the operator, respectively, slightly higher than the price.

The first discounters appeared in Germany almost 40 years ago. Initially, they occupied a small share in the total volume of trade. Today in Germany discounters occupy 50% of the retail food market.

Discount stores are becoming widespread all over the world, especially in Europe, and are actively spreading in Russia.

However, according to experts, today there are no hard discounters in Russia, which is primarily due to the inability to organize in practice the business model of a discounter store, which is characterized by low costs due to optimal logistics schemes, efficient work of staff, and reaching special agreements with suppliers. In addition, the Russian market for retail chain formats is at the beginning of its development and is not yet oversaturated with modern formats. Thus, while other formats are in demand that do not require such a highly efficient organization of business processes as a discounter, retailers prefer to work in them, thereby making their profit in an easier way.


The economic crisis has made some adjustments to the development of network formats. The decline in the population's income led to an increase in the share of buyers who spend most of the family budget in discounters. Consumers deliberately move away from the large average check, which they make in hypermarkets one way or another, in favor of a discounter, where it is lower. At the end of 2009, the share of those who make the main purchases in discounters increased from 26% to 34%. This is the only format that showed growth in 2009.

The largest chains that consider themselves to be discounters:

· The Pyaterochka retail chain operates in a soft discounter format;

· Kopeyka retail chain - Soft discounter;

· Dixy retail chain - operates in a “hard discounter” format - as of April 30, 2010, there are 529 Dixy grocery discounters in three federal districts of Russia: Central, North-West and Ural.

The share of discounter chains in 2009 was 4%. For comparison, in France their share reaches 13%, in Germany 50%, which is due to the national characteristics of a particular country. In Russia, the format today has great development prospects.

Figure 8 The share of discounter chains in the Russian food retail market in 2009

Brand YES! entered the Russian retail market in September 2015 and has taken a strong position among the leading representatives of Russian retail.

In 2015, we opened the doors of our first 35 stores for buyers in Moscow, the Moscow region and other regions of Russia. Now our team is successfully implementing large-scale plans to expand the network.

Brand YES! is owned by Fresh Market LLC, which is part of the O'KEY group of companies, one of the largest and most successful representatives of Russian retail. At the same time, the YES management team has its own unique philosophy and special approach to management.

Chain of stores YES! presents a completely new discounter format in the Russian retail market, which offers customers the best price-quality ratio. How do we achieve this? Thanks to the efficient organization of business processes, the introduction of advanced retail technologies and modern equipment.

YES! will talk about some examples of how you can effectively save with us:

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In stores YES! we offer you goods of famous world and Russian brands, as well as a large selection of goods produced especially for YES! under our own trademarks. Products under our brands are presented in convenient, bright and attractive packaging, but most importantly, we constantly monitor the quality of our products to ensure that they meet the highest production standards. Our experts do a great job of researching consumer preferences, as well as conducting tastings and taking into account the opinions of experts and consumers in evaluating the products of many suppliers in order to offer you only the best products. YES! discounts and promotions, special offers are waiting for you YES! - it's profitable.

Say "YES!" shopping in modern, spacious and comfortable sales areas in a comfortable atmosphere. In any of our stores, you can easily find the department you need - all the stores of our network are organized according to the same pattern so that the search for the necessary goods among the departments does not cause difficulties. In discounters YES! buyers will always be pleased with the ease of choice and comfort in shopping, and the carefully trained and friendly staff is always ready to help the buyer.

Discounters YES! - Low prices near you!

Discounts and promotions YES! We invite you to visit the shops of the DA! Chain:
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1. General statements about discounters

2. How discounters work

Discounter — this is a store with a narrow assortment and a minimum set of services for customers, with fairly low prices. The management of such a store is aimed at reducing costs due to the minimalist design of the sales area, simplified display of goods, reducing the number of working personnel, limiting the assortment that should be sold by sufficiently large political parties at the expense of low prices.

Discounter - this is“Low stores prices»- a network of retail stores with a narrow assortment, but low prices (in comparison with stores of other formats in the region).

General statements about discounters

The main audience of discounters is middle and lower middle income buyers. In classic discounters, prices are on average 15-20% lower than in supermarkets.

There are two main types of discounters: hard and soft. hard - less than 1,000 items, most of which do not require refrigeration, soft - up to 4,000. Trading floor area - up to 800 sq. m. m (soft - up to 1.5 thousand sq. m). According to market participants, in 2006, discounters accounted for about 7% of Ukrainian market grocery retail, estimated at $ 12-14 billion. Dnipropetrovsk ATB-market, Lviv Intermarket (Barvinok chain), Retail Group (Prosto Market) and Lutsk Agrocontract operate in the format of a soft discounter. ...

In the case of a sufficiently large network of such stores, constant movement is practiced political parties product from one store to another, where there is more for a given product... Thus, savings in storage space are achieved.

The first low-price stores appeared in the Republic of Germany in the mid-1950s under conditions of relative economic stability and minimal inflation. In a short time they have gained wide popularity in Western Europe and the USA. Today stores of this format - for example, Aldi, Lidl, Wal-Mart, Biedronka - confidently occupy leading positions in market retail. In 2001, the ATB-Market network joined the family of discounters.


IN period of the economic collapse discounters are gaining popularity. Attendance and turnover of products in this period grows significantly - by 20-40%

Low prices are achieved by reducing expenses: minimal design of the sales area, a small number of staff, simplified layout product... The main principle of profitability of the discounter chain is a high turnover of all goods in the assortment of the retail network. There are two types of discounters: hard (no more than 1000 items in the range, store area is 500-800 sq. M.) And soft. ( range 1500-3000 items, area up to 1.5 thousand sq. m).


How discounters work

Discounters are stores with a fairly large area (from 700 to 1200 square meters), as a rule, without a perishable group and practically without branded goods. There are so-called hard and soft discounters. Hard ones are characterized by the ratio “1 assortment position per 1 square meter of retail space”. That is, there will be only 800 items in a store 800 meters away! Is it possible to imagine this here, where, it seems, even in the trade pavilion there will be almost the same amount?


Soft discounter for the same area will provide a little more choice - 1.5-2 assortment positions per square meter.

What are the other features of this format? The fact that the principle of saving on costs... This is the centralization and maximum automation of all logistics, purchasing, analytical processes - they take place in central offices, the store is not involved in this. Because of this, the staff of a discounter a few years ago could consist of 4-6 people for the entire store of 700 meters! These people do everything - they accept the product, and lay it out, and sit at the checkout, work as loaders, merchandisers, and commodity managers ... This gives tremendous savings on costs, and, unfortunately, it is completely impossible to implement in our country.

Savings occur on everything: in the world (no special lighting, only general construction lighting), on equipment (it is cheap, partially made entirely on our own), minimal or no design, except for external design. Cleanliness can be limited, but cost savings never.

Savings on stocks and maintaining the assortment are due to its severe restrictions. Layout is often done directly in the packages, and pictures are hanging explaining that one bottle cannot be taken, only a package of four is allowed. There are practically no warehouses as such, the entire product is in the trading floor. Automation and bar-coding began to be used relatively recently, until that time they also saved on this.

Despite the strict limitation of assortment, the chains of discounters seriously monitor the structure of consumers' consumption and brag without undue modesty that in the discounter you can buy 80% of the products of daily consumption. There will simply be little choice: one kind of paper napkins, 5 flavors of juice, one kind of canned peas, etc.

At the same time, precisely due to the clear positioning, discounters are not afraid of competition from supermarkets, supermarkets and convenience stores: they simply are not competitors in terms of price - in a discounter it can be 2 times cheaper. Quite the opposite: discounter managers are happy to put them right in front of a good store. Then he goes to both: in one he buys daily products, in the other he buys himself an exquisite cheese, a bottle of good wine or nice colored notebooks. It is not known what supermarkets think about such a neighborhood, but discounters feel great with such an arrangement.


It is widely believed that low-income people, students, etc. are bought in discounters. This is not entirely true. Of course, it is there that the aforementioned group of people makes the bulk of their purchases, but both the middle class and the upper class do not hesitate to go to a discounter. At least in Federal Republic of Germany... The Germans know how to count, so it is not uncommon to meet the "" latest model parked near the discounter.


Our compatriots, getting into discounters, as a rule, are unpleasantly surprised that there is no seller in the hall, there is no one to ask anything, range very limited, cleanliness is often poor too. But they are very pleasantly surprised at the prices and say: "When will it be possible to buy from us at such prices?" The question is rhetorical: the existence of a discounter format in our country is simply unrealistic now: due to accounting reasons, and sanitary requirements and norms, and due to labor legislation.

Discounter is

Sources

kommersant.ua Kommersant

ru.wikipedia.org Wikipedia the free encyclopedia

info-stalking.com Consulting Organization - Info-stalking

torgrus.com Retail news and technologies


Investor encyclopedia. 2013 .

See what "Discounter" is in other dictionaries:

    Discounter - (from English discount discount, make a discount): A discounter is a type of store that sells retail at prices close to wholesale. A discounter airline that offers low cost of transportation by minimizing the ... Wikipedia

    DISCOUNTER - in industrialized countries, a store that sells durable consumer goods at reduced prices without providing any additional services. Glossary of Financial Terms ... Financial vocabulary

    Discounter - English. discount house is a store that sells durable goods, mainly household and electronic appliances at discounted prices and without additional services for customers. Not the newest models and developments are usually sold in D. ... ... Business Glossary

    Discounter - (discounter) (Discounter) - a person who records bills of exchange ... Economics and Mathematics Dictionary

    discounter - discounter 1. Accounting for a bill. 2. Discount interest charged by banks when accounting for bills. 3. In exchange and foreign exchange transactions, a discount on the price of goods or currency. [JSC RAO "UES of Russia" STO 17330282.27.010.001 2008] Topics economics Synonyms ... ... Technical translator's guide

    discounter - m. see discounters Efremova's Explanatory Dictionary. T.F. Efremova. 2000 ... Modern explanatory dictionary of the Russian language by Efremova


14.08.2008

If you want to be rich, work for the poor. In Russian realities, this simple truth turned out to be too ambiguous. Domestic discounters are gradually changing their positioning. Practice has shown that cheap shops in our country do not take root.

The owners of the largest German chain of discounters in Europe Aldi, brothers Theo and Karl Albrecht, are very rich people. By the early 2000s, their fortune was estimated from $ 25.6 billion to $ 41.1 billion. Both of them are already about 90 years old. The "kings of retail", as Western journalists call them, never spoke to the press. However, Aldi hasn't needed advertising for a long time. At home, this network is insanely popular. Perhaps, only in its stores queues line up near the cash registers. Nearby establishments are practically empty. Aldi's motto is the best prices in the city, food there can cost half the price of the market average.

Aldi was founded in 1948 by the brothers' mother Albrecht. She opened a grocery store in the town of Ruhrch, which later turned into a small shop. The sons replicated the format. As the population of post-war Germany needed cheap goods, the brothers began to work in an inexpensive niche. Karl and Theo did not spend on advertising, on the purchase of shelving for sales areas, products in stores were displayed directly in boxes on the floor. Service in such establishments is minimal, so you don't need to spend money on staff either. Only four people can work in one store. Business went on, and already in 1960 the Aldi network had 300 points. Later, the Albrecht brothers divided the business, and the companies Aldi Sud and Aldi Nord appeared. The outlets of both companies operate under a single sign (only the design of the stores is slightly different), and have the same purchases. Today both companies control 20% of the German retail food and FMCG market. “Aldi is one of the largest buyers of goods in the world,” says Olga Sagirova, partner at Roland Berger Strategy Consultants GmbH.

The German chain Lidl, the main competitor of Aldi, is no less successful. She is considered the pioneer of the soft discounter format. The range of discounters is usually small. For a long time, Aldi was limited to 800 items (now 1000 - 1200) of the most popular everyday products. Cooking, salads, fresh semi-finished products are not sold there. Up to 95% of Aldi's turnover is accounted for by privat labels. Such products are very cheap.

“Customer surveys show that private label Aldi is ranked first in product quality ratings,” says Sagirova. The main difference between Lidl is that there are more branded goods in the assortment. Own brands account for 70% of the turnover. Therefore, the cost of a grocery basket in Lidl is several percent higher than in Aldi. Today Lidl holds 10-15% of the retail food market in Germany. Overall, discounters control 50% of the retail food market in Germany. The Penny Markt and Netto networks, in particular, operate in the same format. In general, the discounter format is quite popular throughout Europe. Although in each country, the owners of such shops have to take into account local specifics.

Discounter in Russian

At the dawn of the formation of modern retail formats, discounters attracted many Russian businessmen who studied Western experience. For example, Sergei Galitsky, the founder of the Magnit network, admitted that he tried to copy Aldi, offering about 1000 items of goods in his stores. However, the businessman soon dropped the foreign word “discounter” from his vocabulary and began to position his points as “convenience stores at a low price”.

Today discounters include Magnit (Tander management company), Pyaterochka (X5 Retail Group), Dixy (Dixy), Kopeyka (Kopeyka) and Deshevo (Victoria Group of Companies) ). A few years ago, the owners of all Russian discounters did not seek to offer a wide assortment, they filled stores with inexpensive regional brands and did not invest in the equipment of sales areas. Over time, low-cost store chains began to adapt to the needs of the market. They began to improve the service, take care of the design of the sales area, expand the range, introduce more expensive brands, and even sell cookery and chilled convenience foods.

“If a store cannot provide a significant price advantage, it must attract customers with an interesting assortment or, for example, a favorable location,” says Sagirova.

“There are no discounters in Russia that are common in Europe. All the stores here, both discounters and supermarkets, are very similar to each other, ”says Gerard Koning, Marketing Director of the Olivier supermarket chain, who has worked for 20 years in the leading Dutch chain of economy supermarkets S-1000, which is being developed by Ahold. “Our businessmen are very talented people. If they worked in the German market, they might be able to create a chain of discounters comparable to Aldi. However, the rules are dictated by the market in which the company exists, ”adds Olga Sagirova.

UBS Bank experts estimate the volume of the Russian market of modern retail formats at $ 55 billion, which is about 29% of the total retail food turnover. The share of hypermarkets is 7.8%, supermarkets are 8.8%. The so-called discounters control 12.4%. According to Svetlana Sukhanova, an analyst at UBS, in 2006 discounters controlled 11%. In 2007, turnover in the hypermarket segment grew by 72%, supermarkets grew by 36%, and discounters - by 48%. "Hypermarkets are replacing open markets, since they provide a wide range of products, and discounters are Soviet-style supermarkets," says Sukhanova. Most of the discounters are located in residential areas with a high population density.

One of the reasons for the rapid growth of economy class stores is that it is relatively easy to find space for them. For such a retail outlet, you can rent or buy, for example, a rather narrow hall or even a basement. According to Roland Berger Strategy Consultants GmbH, the majority of Russian discounters occupy 300 - 1000 sq. m, offering from 1000 to 3000 items of goods. The mark-up level for basic products is on average 25 - 30%. “With high growth rates of networks, the markup cannot be lower. When working with brands, if the chain manages to provide a price advantage of 3 - 5% compared to average market prices, this is already a great achievement, ”notes Olga Sagirova. For example, she said, Aldi has the ability to make a better price offer due to the high share of privat lable, since the network itself acts as a producer.

In Russian economy-class chains, private brands account for 8-15% of turnover. This situation is not related to the peculiarity of the local approach to retail business, but to the manufacturer's market. “In the most popular categories of goods, in which privat labels are usually created, it is difficult to find a manufacturer capable of producing quality goods. The capacities of reliable manufacturers, as a rule, are loaded to capacity with their own brands, says Sagirova. - Of course, there are manufacturers who would like to cooperate with chains. For example, Aldi in Germany, starting to cooperate with small and medium-sized manufacturers, helped many to become world leaders in their category. However, in Russia there are not so many people willing, and the chains need a very significant volume of products. "

We don't need cheap

According to experts, the Russian consumer is often not ready to buy privat lable. “Many Western retailers note the love of the local population for brands. For too long we have been cut off from the sweet world of Coca-Cola, ”says Natalia Balashova, CEO of the marketing solutions company Straget.

“We conducted a study in Moscow - the needs of buyers here are seriously different from those in the West,” says Gerard Koning. - In Europe, a wealthy manager in his expensive car can stop by a discounter for a few cheaper bottles of wine, and then happily brag to his colleagues how much he managed to save. In Russia, as soon as a person has money, he immediately goes to a store where the service is higher and there are new interesting brands. It is an expensive novelty that he brags to his colleagues. "

According to Gerard Koning, the range of Russian discounters, which is already higher than in similar Western stores, seems narrow to the Russian consumer. In a team with his compatriot Luc De Jong, who also worked in the Dutch S-1000 chain, Koning will develop a chain of economy supermarkets in Russia under the Olivier brand. The project belongs to Smart Value Retail, which was founded in 2007 by Sergey Vereshchagin and Oleg Trykin, shareholders of the premium chain Azbuka Vkusa. It is planned that by the end of 2010 the Olivier chain will have 40 stores, its annual turnover will be about $ 400 million. The chain's assortment will include 7000 items. The area of \u200b\u200bone store will be 1000-1500 sq. m, which corresponds to a classic supermarket. "Olivier" will offer fresh vegetables, fruits, as well as a variety of cuisine. Olivier's managers do not make loud statements about a particularly advantageous price offer. Koning only notes that Olivier's prices will be competitive in the market. According to the forecasts of the authors of the project, the average check in Olivier stores should be 350-400 rubles.

“The format of a classic discounter would shock the Russian consumer,” Koning emphasizes.

“Classic discounters are more like a warehouse than a store. The buyer himself has to unpack the goods, get them out of the box, and our consumer is tuned to a higher level and will never forgive the store if it reminds him of the unobtrusive Soviet service, ”Balashova said.

“Discounters were born in Germany under two main conditions: cheap real estate and expensive labor. In Russia, the opposite is true, ”says Svetlana Sukhanova. Whereas the hypermarket segment in Russia is created by Western retailers, the discounter market is dominated by domestic players. Aldi and Lidl managers study the Russian market and often come to Russia.

“However, one should not expect them to come to the Russian market in the near future,” says Gerard Koning. According to him, the Russian retail market resembles the European one 10-15 years ago. The retail formats are still emerging here.

"The format of a modern European discounter will appear in Russia only when the market is sufficiently saturated and, as a result of competition, the discounter's price offer will differ by an order of magnitude from the supermarket's supply," Koning said.

“Today, all domestic players who call themselves discounters are in search. It is still difficult to say what kind of format they will eventually create, ”Sagirova sums up.

Convenience stores

The founder of the leading national retail chain Magnit Sergei Galitsky said about himself in an interview with one of the business publications: “I am a“ cubanoid ”(from the word“ Kuban ”), I sit in Krasnodar and open small stores." In his youth, Sergei Galitsky managed to work as a loader and a bank clerk. In the early 90s, he founded the distribution company "Transazia", \u200b\u200bwhich was engaged in the trade of cosmetics and perfumes. Later, the business had to be divided with partners. Galitsky created the company "Tander", which at first was engaged in the distribution of products.
In 1998, Tander opened its first store in Krasnodar. Sergey Galitskiy decided on the format only in 2000, when he united several of his outlets under the Magnit brand and began to position the stores in the discounter format. However, over the past few years, Galitsky has preferred to call his chain “convenience stores”. Today, in addition to standard products, you can buy salads and chilled semi-finished products in Magnit stores.

While other retailers were exploring Moscow and St. Petersburg, Galitsky worked in cities with populations ranging from 50,000 to 500,000. The average area of \u200b\u200bone point is 443 sq. m (of which trade - 292 sq. m). The assortment includes 3500 items of goods.

“The small areas and modest assortment of these discounters is due to their work in regions with low purchasing power,” says Sergey Filchenkov, an analyst at Finam.

“The low purchasing power of the residents of the regions explains the low turnover of the chain - $ 6300 per sq. M. m per year. The same figure in X5 stores is $ 9,900, and in Dixy - $ 10,500, ”adds Svetlana Sukhanova.

Meanwhile, in the rating of leading Russian retail chains for 2007, compiled by INFOLine, Magnit ranks third in terms of turnover after X5, which unites Pyaterochka and Perekrestok chains, and Metro Group, and first among discounters. Over the past year, the number of Magnets increased from 1,893 to 2,197 points, and the chain's turnover grew by 46.8% and amounted to $ 3.676 billion. Magnit has always been called one of the fastest growing networks, its strong point is a well-established scheme of entering the regions ...

“The company was able to achieve success largely due to the fact that for a long time it was focused on the development of one store format,” comments Olga Sagirova. - Many other retailers have mastered several segments at once. When you work in one format, you have the opportunity to improve it. The chain began to develop hypermarkets later, as did Lidl at one time. The first Magnit hypermarket was built at the end of 2007.

“By the beginning of 2009, the chain plans to open about 20 stores of this format. At the same time, the dynamics of development of small outlets remains at a fairly high level, ”says Filchenkov.

In April 2006, Magnit carried out an IPO, placing 19% of its shares for $ 368.35 million. Most of the proceeds were used to develop the chain and develop a hypermarket format under the same brand. Secondary placement "Magnit" began on April 16, 2008, issuing an additional issue in the amount of just over 11 million shares. The offering price was $ 42.5 per share. As a result of the IPO, the company received about $ 480 million.

For a long time Galitsky developed Magnit exclusively as a regional network. Most of the stores are concentrated in the Southern Federal District. However, now the businessman is actively exploring Moscow and the Moscow region. True, this process did not become painless for him. The Magnit hypermarket, recently opened in the Solnechnogorsk region, is at the center of a high-profile corruption scandal. Under investigation were two deputy heads of the Solnechnogorsk district and the city prosecutor, who, according to law enforcement agencies, extorted bribes for obtaining a building permit and bringing communications to the Magnit shopping center. According to the investigating authorities, the permit for the construction of the shopping center was issued illegally, and now the developer will have to obtain it again.

Soft discounter

The founder of the Pyaterochka network, Andrey Rogachev, was certified by the former brewer Oleg Tinkov as "the most talented businessman he has ever known." Rogachev is on the list of Russian billionaires, while he prefers to remain in the shadows. He rarely gives interviews and does not like to be photographed.

Rogachev opened his first store in 1999 in St. Petersburg. The low-priced supermarket format has been very successful after the crisis. In 2001, Pyaterochka Holding N.V., which operated the chain, began to explore the capital. This year the company opened more stores than all Russian chains combined. The success of Pyaterochka has long been associated with the name of Vladimir Yakovlev, the former governor of St. Petersburg. It was said that Yakovlev's wife was one of the founders of the network, but this information was not confirmed. The co-owners of Pyaterochka Holding were Andrey Rogachev, Alexander Girda, Tatiana Franus and Igor Vidyaev.

In 2003, Pyaterochka slightly changed its format, the stores were renovated, and the assortment expanded. In 2006 Pyaterochka Holding N.V. merged with the Perekrestok company. In the firm, which was named X5 Retail Group N.V., the founders of Pyaterochka received 21.2%. “The format of the network has not undergone any special changes,” says Marina Samokhvalova. “From the point of view of business profitability, the merger turned out to be very profitable,” adds Tatiana Bobrovskaya, an analyst at BrokerCreditService. - The networks have consolidated their purchases. X5 Retail Group's EBITDA margin is 9%, while Magnit has 6%. And multi-format gives serious advantages when searching for premises. "

Today Pyaterochka is the second largest discounter chain in the country after Magnit. In 2007, X5 Retail Group had a turnover of $ 5.284 billion, Pyaterochka accounted for $ 2.947 billion (the company also develops Perekrestok supermarkets, recently completed a deal to merge Karusel hypermarkets). As of March 31 of this year, Pyaterochka had 731 own stores, as well as more than 700 franchise outlets. Pyaterochka is one of the few Russian discounter chains that is also developing through franchising. “If a company does not have enough funds for aggressive development in any region, it is profitable to use a franchisee. He looks for suitable spaces and promotes your brand. Subsequently, X5 buys out the most successful franchise outlets in order to maximize its own profits, ”comments Tatyana Bobrovskaya. X5 plans to invest $ 1.2 - 1.4 billion in the development of all its chains, opening 400 - 500 stores. According to forecasts, more than half of the new outlets will appear under the Pyaterochka brand.

The chain owners define the Pyaterochka format as a “soft discounter”. “The chain requires us to have our products on its shelves at the same price as in Auchan. Only the margin here is 40%, and in Auchan it is 15%, and we have to bend very much, ”complains one of the largest suppliers of frozen semi-finished products in Russia.

“Pyaterochka stores are very similar in format to Dixy and Kopeyka. They are distinguished from Magnets by their large areas, ”comments Tatiana Bobrovskaya. The average area of \u200b\u200beach "Pyaterochka" is 500 - 800 square meters. m, the assortment includes 3500 items. Average bill is $ 9. However, the income per 1 sq. m of retail space is one of the highest - about $ 11,000 per year. The average share of private labels in X5's turnover in 2007 was 8%. In the long term, the company plans to increase the share of private label in discounters to 40-50%. “The development of privat lable will have a positive effect on the network's profitability,” believes Tatiana Bobrovskaya.

Several months ago, the founders of Pyaterochka decided to leave X5 and sell their shares. “This news had a negative impact on the quotations of X5 securities. Many market participants believed that the sale of shares could be the result of a conflict within the company. Nevertheless, the sale of shares may be profitable for foreign retail companies, which will have the opportunity to become a shareholder in X5, ”says Marina Samokhvalova.

Many formats

The founder of the Dixy group of companies, Oleg Leonov, began his activity as a wholesaler. The Uniland company he created became the first exclusive distributor of Unilever, Henkel, Schwarzkopf and Wella in Russia. Since 1996, Uniland began to supply food to Russia and, in parallel, to develop cash & carry stores under the Megamart brand. After the 1998 crisis, Leonov decided to focus on the retail business. The incomes of the population fell sharply, so he decided to attract buyers at a price.

The first Dixy discounter opened in Moscow in 1999. Soon, cash & carry stores were rebranded to Dixy. In the early 2000s, the company began to develop the Minimart supermarkets and Megamart hypermarkets. Since 2007, the retailer has entered the segment of convenience stores (V-Mart). By the end of May 2008, Dixy Group consisted of 401 stores, including 379 Dixy discounters, nine Megamart, seven Minimart, and six V-Mart. The average area of \u200b\u200bthe Dixy discounter is 343 sq. m, assortment - 2500 items. In 2007, Dixy Group's turnover amounted to $ 1,433 million. According to the INFOLine rating, in 2007 Dixy Group took the fifth place in the rating of retail chains after X5, Metro Group, Magnit, and Auchan.

In May 2007, Dixy Group of Companies carried out an IPO. By placing 25 million shares (41.72%), the company raised $ 360 million. Analysts note that the placement took place at the lower end of the price range ($ 14.4 per share). The reason for this is not very favorable market conditions. In addition, at the time of the placement, the company was heavily indebted, with Dixy's net margin of 0.9%. For comparison: the profitability of "Magnet" was at the level of 2%. But thanks to the IPO, the company has significantly reduced its debt.

In 2007, the revenue of Dixy Group of Companies increased by 44% compared to the previous year, during the same period, the gross margin increased from 21.1% to 24.1%. At the same time, sales in stores opened more than a year ago grew by only 4% in 2007. Analysts of the Bank of Moscow note that traffic in these stores has decreased by 3%, the growth of the average check is also small - about 8%.

“The decline in store traffic is due to increased competition in the Central and North-West regions, where Dixy discounters are mainly represented,” says Marina Samokhvalova, an analyst with Capital Investment Company. According to INFOLine estimates, the key format for the development of the chain in 2007 was Minimart supermarkets. In 2007, Minimart's revenue reached $ 46.3 million, which is 151% higher than in 2006. Revenue of Dixy stores amounted to $ 1,257 million, which is 42.3% more than in 2006.

At the end of 2007, Oleg Leonov sold his 50.96% stake to the Mercury Group of Companies, a tobacco distributor and co-owner of the oil company Sibir Energy. The deal was valued at $ 500-600 million. Analysts believe that Mercury can provide Dixy with the necessary financial injections and, being one of the largest distributors of consumer goods, improve efficiency by reducing purchasing and logistics costs. Bank of Moscow experts call Dixy the most underestimated network. According to the Bank, the company's shares in the near future may grow by 54% (up to $ 23 per share) due to the increased efficiency of the network. In 2008 - 2009, Dixy Group plans to open three new distribution centers (DC). According to forecasts, the share of purchases through DC will increase from 60% to 70%. The company also intends to increase the share of its own retail space to 35-40% (in 2007, Dixy owned 34.6% of the area, and, for example, Magnit had 24%). As part of the optimization of its activities, the company began to cut staff: one Dixy store employs 28-30 people, while Magnit has 20-23 people. “A serious growth in the quotations of Dixy shares is possible only if investors see the well-developed strategy for the company's development. The chain's management announced that it will open 100 stores in 2008. However, only six opened in the first quarter. Therefore, the implementation of the plans raises doubts, ”Marina Samokhvalova believes.

Consolidation will save business

When creating the Kopeyka network, Sergey Lomakin, Artem Khachatryan and Alexander Samonov focused on Aldi and Lidl. They opened their first store in 1998, shortly after the crisis. The authors of the project assumed that their stores would become an alternative to grocery markets. Today Kopeyka is one of the country's largest discounter chains. Last year, its turnover amounted to $ 1490 million, in the INFOLine rating it ranks eighth among retail chains. By the end of last year, there were 438 stores under the management of the Kopeyka Trade House, and 22 more stores under the Kopeyka sign were operating under franchising. The assortment of each outlet includes 800 - 2000 items, the average area is 500 - 700 sq. m. "Chain" Kopeyka "class is slightly lower than" Pyaterochka ". Although its format can also be described as a "soft discounter". Kopeyka offers an assortment in the middle low price category, the stores are aimed at consumers with incomes below the average, - says Irina Yarotskaya, an analyst at Otkritie BC. “There are few chilled products here, no cooking, although the presence of such a high-margin product could have a good effect on the chain's financial performance.” According to the research of the company “Proryv”, the brand “Romashkino”, private label “Kopeyki”, is estimated by consumers as the most “economical” of all private brands presented in Russian chains.

Until 2006, Kopeyka was an exclusively Moscow network. “In 2006-2007, Kopeyka pursued an extremely aggressive development strategy and demonstrated high growth rates of retail space and number of stores,” notes Ivan Fedyakov, CEO of INFOLine. In 2007, Kopeyka opened 119 stores. Now Kopeyka stores operate in 25 regions, mainly in the Central Federal District. Last year, the chain's turnover increased by 53%.

In 2006, the chain planned to go public. It was supposed to sell up to 25% of the shares on the RTS and LSE. But Kopeyka refused to place it, as investors were ready to value the company only at $ 800 million, and its owners were counting on an amount 1.5 times greater. The owners were actively increasing the capitalization of the chain, increasing the number of their own stores and activating the franchise program. Meanwhile, in October last year, the rating agency Standard & Poor's downgraded Kopeyka's credit rating to CC, explaining that “the issuer is close to default.” The company's debt at that time was $ 500 million. “The debt / EBITDA ratio is about 7 , it can be called a critical ratio, "says Irina Yarotskaya. After the publication of the Standard & Poor's rating, the owners of Kopeyka circulated a statement in which they indicated that the rating does not take into account the capabilities of the chain's shareholders. Then the network revealed the composition of shareholders. It turned out that 100% of the shares of TD Kopeyka belong to the billionaire Nikolai Tsvetkov, the owner of UralSib. As it turned out, at the beginning of 2007, Sergey Lomakin, Artem Khachatryan and Alexander Samonov left Kopeyka, selling 50% of shares to UralSib, which already owned half of the company.
Now the financial problems of the network are solved by the shareholders. Recently, TD Kopeyka sold the premises of 19 stores of ZPIF UralSib-Arenda for 1.5 billion rubles. The network needed the money to buy out a bond loan of 1.2 billion rubles. Under the terms of the deal, Kopeyka received the right to long-term lease of premises, as well as an option to buy them out. Kopeyka expects to receive funds for the purchase of the premises as a result of the additional issue.

In 2008, the owners of Kopeyka are going to open 130 stores. In addition, it is planned to create joint ventures with regional retailers, in particular, negotiations are underway with the Proviant chain, which owns 120 stores in Central Russia. “In the spring, information appeared on the market that the UralSib group was interested in buying a stake in the Grossmart retail chain, which is part of the Marta holding. If the deal goes through, UralSib will be able to consolidate the new asset with Kopeyka. With the effective implementation in 2008 of a set of measures to optimize the debt structure, starting from 2009, the development of the network can accelerate, ”says Ivan Fedyakov.

Merging networks

The "Deshevo" chain, which is being developed by the Kaliningrad group of companies "Victoria", is also referred to as discounters. The company was founded by Nikolai Vlasenko, who worked for several years as the Minister of Industry of the Kaliningrad Region, Alexander Zaribko and Vladimir Katsman.

“Together with Alexander Zaribko, we started trading in a tent, then Vladimir Katsman came and began to fry sausages nearby,” Nikolai Vlasenko said in an interview. In 1993, the partners founded the Victoria company, which was engaged in the wholesale of products. In 1998, on its basis, a small-scale wholesale store "Cash" (cash & carry) was created in Kaliningrad.

Over time, Victoria has turned into a multi-format retailer that claims to be a federal player. “The school of fierce competition in the Kaliningrad market is worth a lot. The share of modern retail formats is higher here than in the country. In Moscow this figure is 25-30%. In the Kaliningrad region, modern formats account for about 80% of the retail trade turnover, which is even more than in St. Petersburg, says Irina Kanunnikova, director of the Union of Independent Chains. - The transition to modern formats in this region began earlier than in other areas, because this is a border zone. The consumer was ready to adopt the lifestyle of neighboring countries, it was important for him to buy food in supermarkets and hypermarkets, even though their income level was not high.

Currently, Victoria Group of Companies is developing Victoria supermarkets (30 outlets), one cash & carry store, Deshevo economy class stores (15) and Kvartal convenience stores (155) in Kaliningrad, Moscow and St. Petersburg. The company also introduces the Gorodok mini-market format (shops 150 - 250 sq. M.) For cities with a population of 10,000 - 20,000. Last year, Victoria Group's turnover amounted to $ 1200 million. In the INFOLine rating, it ranks ninth among retail companies. The first "Cheap" store was opened in Moscow in 2002. A less demanding and capital intensive format allowed the company to begin conquering the capital through organic growth. To bring the supermarket format to Moscow, Victoria needed to make an acquisition. In 2006, the company bought a small Moscow chain called World of Products. In 2004-2005, Victoria entered the St. Petersburg market with the Kvartal format. It was planned to open 50 points during the year. True, until now only 34 “convenience stores” operate in the Northern capital.

“Probably, the company initially tried to develop“ hard ”discounters“ Cheap ”and“ soft ”“ Kvartal ”. Although in Moscow both networks are similar to each other, ”says Irina Kanunnikova. According to analysts, the retailer at Deshevo was unable to provide any significant price advantage over Kvartal. The owners of "Victoria" themselves position "Kvartal" as "convenience stores", explaining that the chain does not provide especially low prices, and a significant share in the range is occupied by chilled perishable products. Now Moscow “Deshevo” (at the beginning of 2008 there were 10 outlets in the capital) are partially rebranding into “Kvartal” (105 stores operate under this name). Kvartal has a wider assortment (up to 6000 items) and better service. The average area of \u200b\u200bone "Kvartal" and "Cheap" is 300 - 700 square meters. m. “We will develop all formats, highlighting“ convenience stores ”and supermarkets as the most promising,” said Elena Kalashnikova, General Director of Victoria Group, in an interview with one of the publications. The network explains that, working with "Deshevo", they lost part of their turnover, therefore they are reducing the number of economy-class stores.
In 2009, Victoria Group plans to go public. According to INFOLine, at the end of 2008 the retailer will manage 243 stores (at the end of 2007 - 194 points) with a total sales area of \u200b\u200b125,000 sq. M. m (previously - 100,000 sq. m). Today, the company calls “cheap” a “sleeping format”, which may be convenient for expansion into new, less affluent regions.

 

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