The rise in turnover and the decline in large-scale retail volumes continued in February as well

The large-scale distribution turnover at total omnichannel showed yet another progress in February (+2.4% to 10 billion euros), but once again growth was favored exclusively byprice increase (+3.4%). The good news is that theinflation continued its decline: it was 4.3% in January.

These are the most important data contained in the monthly report NielsenIq titled “The state of mass consumption in Italy”which also noted that Italian consumers continue to search saving strategies on food spending. What the research firm calls the “cart mix”, i.e. the savings obtained thanks to the transition from a more expensive product to an equivalent one but with a lower price showed a reduction of 1.4%, which brings the real change in prices to 2%. This explains the continuing success of private label (Mdd)which in the month under review reached a market share of 22.5% of the LCC in the Hyper, Super and Free Services perimeter, while in total omnichannel Italy stood at 31.4% (including discount stores).

The fight against high prices also emerges from the data relating to promotional pressure which rose by 0.3 percentage points compared to the same month in 2023 to 23.4%. In February the distribution channels that did best were Drug Specialists (+10.9%), followed by Discount (+4.8%), Superstores (+3.7%) and Supermarkets (+2.1%) , while hypermarkets >4500 (-1.4%) and Liberi Servizi (-2.8%) lost ground.

At the level of individual product areas, the NielsenIq report highlights growth in value in the Grocery sector (+1.2%), which however also has to deal with a drop in volumes of around 0.8%. “In the month of February, among the product areas that recorded significant growth, products dedicated to pets stand out with an increase in value of 4.4%, followed by those for home care (+3.9 %) – we read in the study – As regards volumes, however, a negative trend is noted for all sectors, except for home care products (+1.3%) and personal care ( +1.1%)”.

Finally, at the level of individual products, the leap in virgin and extra virgin olive oil (+44.3%), softeners (+19%) and toothpastes (+16.1%) stands out. Fresh food (fixed weight + variable weight) was found to be growing in all distribution channels, with the exception of self-service (-0.9%) and hypermarkets >4500 (-1.3%). Among the most dynamic product categories within the sector, Fruit and Vegetables holds first place with +6.1%, followed immediately by Bread & Pastry & Pasta, tied with Gastronomy (+4.5%). Delicatessen, on the other hand, is the category with the lowest trend compared to the others (-1.4%).