The good reception that these formats are having among consumers has made urban convenience work its way little by little.

This is the case of ‘Rapid’, a model developed by Eroski and its subsidiary for Catalonia, Caprabo. In fact, it was this company that, in 2015, premiered ‘Caprabo Ràpid’, characterized by being a “very urban, agile and dynamic” center, geared towards a public that “demands proximity, length of hours, variety of assortment and services of added value ”, combined with its traditional pillars (“ variety, quality, proximity, service ”), points out the Catalan chain. Already in 2017, it was Eroski who began its expansion, assuming the aforementioned name ‘Rapid’, which has the “largest assortment per square meter”, they assure from these entities. As of today, the ensign accumulates 14 points of sale (2,218 m2), eight managed by Caprabo (1,200 m2) and six by Eroski (1,018 m2).

This 2019, four years after its launch, ‘Caprabo Ràpid’ has made the leap outside the city of Barcelona, ​​reaching Lleida (150 m2). Its openings this year are completed with another pair of centers in the Catalan capital, which currently has eight “Ràpid” which, according to Claudio Estévez, “are working very well because, clearly, they meet new consumer demands.” “We are very happy with the evolution of this format”, abounds this manager, so “we continue working so that its updating is something continuous”. Regarding its “mix”, around 75% is food (5% prepared food) and, 25%, non food.

For its part, Eroski has incorporated three ‘Rapids’ (495 m2) in the Balearic municipalities of Cala Viñas (260 m2) and the city of Palma (100 m2), together with the first in Granada capital (135 m2), which also has implied his arrival in Andalusia. In 2018, ‘Rapid’ debuted in Alicante and Madrid with two self-services in the municipality of Torrevieja and the capital. However, the Madrilenian closed “temporarily” last November due to “reforms in the building” where it was installed, Eroski has confirmed to Alimarket. His forecasts include the release of 200 ‘Rapid’ in five years. Of its 3,600 products, around 4% (about 200) fall within what the company calls Cul Culinary Solutions ’, divided equally between immediate consumption (empanadas or salads) and prepared food solutions. Globally, 94% of its portfolio is food, 5% non-food and, 1%, campaigns carried out with exclusive references. Furthermore, in 2019, the cooperative has replicated this format in its first three via Avia ’service stations, in Pamplona (128 m2), Gernika-Lumo (Bizkaia, 100 m2) and Logroño (67 m2). The Andalusian group MAS also inaugurated last April its first ‘Mas & Go’ in Córdoba, specifically in the capital (250 m2), to which two more were added in Seville (725 m2), which have located their fabric in 11 stores (3,575 m2). It should be noted that this brand, which took its first steps in 2011, has incorporated this exercise services such as ‘La Cocina’, where it offers more than 20 freshly made dishes that, in turn, can be tasted in the ‘Eat & Go’ area, first-time also in 2019.

Meanwhile, at the end of 2018 Auchan Retail Spain was bringing its convenience model to the Basque Country. Specifically, it transformed a ‘Simply City’, in Vitoria-Gasteiz, to ‘Mi Alcampo’ and, within it, to the ‘7d7’ format. Currently, there are 16 operational ‘7d7’ stores, two of which have been opened this year in Zaragoza capital. Apart from this standard, the French is developing other concepts closely related to convenience. In this sense, last October it incorporated ‘Mi bistró’ (a service already operational in hypermarkets), in a first Madrid supermarket. It is an area that works as a small cafeteria, with a bar service and a refrigerated display case with sandwiches, sandwiches and juices. In front of it is the ‘Mi Espacio’ consumption area, with tables, chairs, microwaves and a screen with general contents. The aforementioned ‘Mi Espacio’ was already available in the ‘Alcampo Supermercado’ in the Madrid neighborhood of Montecarmelo -which also offers’ Mi Bistró’-, in addition to Zaragoza (c / Cesar Augusto and Fernando el Católico), Pamplona (c / Marcelo Celayeta), Barcelona (Mercado San Martí) and Madrid (c / Orense). It should be noted that the latter has been the first to incorporate the ‘My Ready Meals’ area, which has ready-to-eat food served in bulk (rice, pasta, stews, etc.) and which comes to complement an existing space called’ Take Away ‘. Located at the entrance of the premises, it includes complete refrigerated shelves that group all the references belonging to this concept (salads, creams, cold drinks, RTD coffees, etc.).

Finally, Madrid’s Ferjama (‘Casa Elías, El Buen Mercado’), has just launched est Zona para ti ’, an area with tables, chairs and a microwave. The idea is for customers to consume the precooked items found in the ‘Eat’ section, located at the entrance to the store and which consists of several refrigerated display cases. Currently, it can be found in the three openings that Ferjama has made in 2019 in Madrid capital.

Source: ALIMARKET

At Exkal we have joined the initiative of Family Businesses “We give our heads” to boost economic activity and so that among all people and companies we can carry out this complicated situation.

To do this, we have made this video that summarizes our social commitment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

 

Convenience stores in service stations have suffered a profound metamorphosis from its origin (as a complement to the sale of fuel) to the current situation, in which a complete reorganization of the model and assortment has been carried out “towards new formats, adapting our offer, improving the points of sale, in order to make them more attractive to the consumer and serve them in their day-to-day lives, ”said David Cervantes, director of Non Oil at Galp Energía in the framework of the IX Alimarket Great Consumption Meeting. And the efforts seem to be paying off. Suffice it to say that, based on data provided by the consulting firm Nielsen and related to the TAM ended last October, this segment generated 1.4% of the total turnover of the large consumption (peninsula + Balearic Islands), after registering an advance of 7 , 7% versus 2.8% overall. Positive trajectory in which the distribution has had a lot to do since, as Gema del Castillo assures, Client Development Director of Nielsen, “the entrance of the distributors in this channel helped to accelerate its transformation and we have had several years of growth close to 10% ”. And all this because, each of these stores covers “a different mission”, so, while in some areas it may be “successful to offer an assortment similar to that of a neighborhood super, others need one totally focused on impulse and with a powerful offer of ‘on-site’ or ready-to-eat eating solutions, ”says Del Castillo.

Based on the data collected by Alimarket Gran Consumo, as of October 31, 2019, the organized distribution led more than 800 self-services in this type of facilities, for the 690 that operated at the end of 2018. In these ten months, this medium estimates that the openings have been around 200, while the closures have barely reached twenty. It should be noted here that, in the number of releases, not only new premises are included, but also those that have been franchised with a chain. Taking again as a reference to Nielsen, today, of the 9,974 gas stations that comprise its study universe in our country, 80% have a store (about 8,000), but supermarket companies only agglutinate about 800 (as we have commented ), so the margin of growth is very wide.

DIA leves the sector

As part of its global commitment to gain positions in the convenience market, at the beginning of 2018 DIA – jointly with BP-, launched a pilot project to be installed in several gas stations of the oil company in Madrid, with the ‘Shop’ anagram. However, in March 2019, both entities terminated this agreement, which had 12 active stores (four with the anagram and the rest supplied by the listed group) although, at that time, DIA stressed that its project in Service stations were still “alive” thanks to the ‘Every Day’ franchises. But the arrival of a new owner and management team to the chain has meant a change of course and, now, has decided to eliminate ‘Every Day’ and leave this market. However, the disappearance of the latter teaches is not as immediate as that of ‘Shop’, because some of the contracts signed with franchisees do not expire until 2020. It is because of this fact that they remain operative around thirty of ‘ Every day ‘at gas stations, very similar data to 2018.

For its part, BP maintains its agreement with Dinosol Supermarkets for the installation of ‘Dinoshop’ centers in part of its Canarian gas stations. Currently, there are 29 operating establishments.

‘Supercor Stop&Go’ will exceed 300 points of sale

In September 2017, El Corte Inglés and Repsol signed a “strategic” agreement thanks to which they planned to create “the largest network of proximity and convenience stores in Spain”, to the extent that the Madrid group could extend its brand ‘Supercor Stop & Go ‘at around 3,500 gas stations’ Repsol’, ‘Campsa’ and ‘Petronor’ of the energy company in our country, both own and franchised. In parallel, El Corte Inglés became the Repsol purchasing center, offering more than 35,000 food, gourmet, beverage and bazaar references, as well as 60,000 non-food items (leisure, accessories, etc.).

Just twelve months later, both companies made this first announcement and presented an expansion plan that includes the commissioning of a thousand ‘Supercor Stop & Go’ in the next three years. At the end of 2018, a total of 113 operated that, in mid-2019 (last known data), rose to more than 200, with 2019 planned to conclude with 350. If this plan were fulfilled, the English Court would become the most Opening of the year, although he would continue to occupy the second position of the classification
And it is that, at the top, Carrefour continues, which manages 399 ‘Carrefour Express’, having released 42 this year, based on data from Alimarket. In fact, France’s commitment to this line of business is such that the quarantine of convenience stores that have seen the light, account for more than half (specifically 58.3%) of the total openings materialized by the French to date, established in 72.
After Carrefour and Supercor, Galician Gadisa occupies the third position by number of stores. This year has added 13 ‘Claudio Express’ (1,850 m2). It currently controls 72, including the first one at street level in A Coruña (200 m2), launched in June.

New commercial models arrive

The growth opportunities offered by service stations (with a potential market of almost 9,000 locations) have become a focus of attraction for distribution, which, in some cases, has led to these sites their younger bets. This is the case of Auchan Retail which, at the end of 2018, premiered its proximity teaching ‘My Alcampo’, at a service station in Valdepeñas (Ciudad Real). A few months later, in March, Eroski replicated his urban convenience model ‘Rapid’, in Gernika (Bizkaia), to which, later, two more were added in Pamplona and Logroño, all of them in gas stations ‘Avia’. In line, the Basque has told Alimarket that, although “for the moment” there is no agreement between the two companies, they do not discard it for the future. In any case, the three open stores offer more than 1,500 references of food, beverages, drugstore, perfumery and own oven.

For its part, the energy company Galp premiered, together with GM Food Iberica, a new interior and exterior image in its commercial units. As a result, what the company calls ‘foodconvencience’ has emerged, which, according to David Cervantes, brings together “the best of momentum, the supermarket and coffee shops in the same concept”. His pilot test began last summer, in Valdemoro (Madrid), with the teaching ‘Suma Express’. Looking ahead, the plans focus on renovating, mainly, the facilities in urban centers with the objective that, in the long term, about one hundred of its almost 300 current outlets will operate under this franchise format.

Source: ALIMARKET

This has changed the purchase of the Spanish in a decade. Spaniards visit stores less and reduce their spending on consumer products due to the rise of the Mercadona or Lidl format.

Not so long ago, only 10 years ago, four out of every 10 euros that the Spaniards spent in the shopping cart went
to the butcher shop, fruit shop, fish shop in the neighborhood, or to the market, or to the food gallery. In addition,
we went out to buy a lot, both to these positions and to the super or hyper, and spent a large part of the budget on
known consumer brands. In the last decade some trends have been imposed that have turned around how we fill
the pantry. Despite what inflation has risen, we spend less on the shopping cart, due to the increase in white label
products, and we no longer go to the shopkeeper in the neighborhood, or to the hypermarket, but to the supermarket
— especially Mercadona— , where we buy less fresh and more packed. And lately, much ready to eat.

These are some of the conclusions drawn by the consulting firm Kantar in a study on the evolution of large consumption
(food, drugstore, baby products and pets) in Spain in the last 10 years, presented this Tuesday. A sector that faces,
in the opinion of Florencio García, retail director of the consultancy, a major main challenge: the demographic. “In
10 years, the population has barely grown in Spain by 600,000 people; without more mouths, sales will not grow in
volume. Meanwhile, the population over 65 has grown by 1.3 million, with the changes that entails : less young families,
smaller homes … “, he explained. “These trends have marked distribution, which has had to adapt,” he said.
his demographic trend, as well as some more related to the evolution of distribution, draw the current Spanish
consumer, significantly different from that of a decade ago. One of the things that attract the most attention is that
in 2019 they made an average of 246 visits to the store (acts of purchase) to fill the pantry. They are 35 less than in
2010, despite the proximity boom. According to García, the explanation is in fresh products: 10 years ago, we went
more to the butcher, fruit bowl, etc. (the specialist channel, in the jargon of the guild), in addition to the super, while
now, in good measure, “we solved the purchase, both fresh and bottled, in a single visit to the supermarket, “Garcia
summarized.

In fact, in 2010, we spent 49.9% of the budget on them and now 61%. Meanwhile, specialists have been losing share:
at the beginning of the decade, we made 41.1% of the purchase of fresh in the specialists, by 30.7% last year. Including
packaging, these stores have gone in 10 years of solving 32.9% of the purchase to stay at 24.9%.

The fresco also explains the decrease in food expenditure in these 10 years. In 2010, each Spanish spent on average
4,344 euros to fill the fridge and 10 years later, 110 euros less. How is it possible? In the first place, because the fresco
has lost prominence in spending, going from 48% to 45.5%. That is, the budget in perishables has been reduced by
159 euros (in addition, from the fall of 35 acts of purchase, 30 are perishable). In products, the trend in vogue is that
of takeaway, which has originated the term “merchants.” Garcia denies that word, because he maintains that they are
not only stealing consumption occasions in restaurants, but, above all, “occasions of cooking at home.”

Another factor that explains the drop in spending is the rise of the white label, to which the Spanish dedicated 870
euros in 2019, 164 euros more than in 2010. Today the distribution brands (white) account for 37.7% of the expenditure
of consumers, 1.4 percentage points more than a year earlier. 10 years ago, when the crisis boosted the consumption
of these products, that percentage was 33.9%. The growth of the white brand has gone hand in hand with the establishments that most feed on them, the so-called short assortment (Mercadona, Lidl, Aldi, etc.), which in 2019 concentrated 37.1% of the expenditure, nine points More than a decade ago.

“The short assortment is the great protagonist of the decade,” Garcia said. Thus, Mercadona reigns in the distribution with a 25.5% share, seven points more than in 2010, while Carrefour has barely earned six tenths, from 8.1 to 8.7%. Another exponent of this type of supermarket, Lidl, has gone from 2.8 to 5.6% and already threatens Dia’s third place (6.4%). In this case, the crisis of the last year and a half has undermined its position and its image seriously, in addition to its results.

Not only traditional food stores have lost share. With the growth of the short assortment, the hypermarket, in which Carrefour and Alcampo dominate, has been losing bellows, going from a share of 14.6% in 2010 to 13.5% in 2019. A characteristic phenomenon of the sector in Spain are the regional supermarkets, which in some communities have served as a bridge between the specialist and the modern distribution. None of them sneaks into the first groups, but together they take 12.2% of the expenditure, three points more than 10 years ago. In any case, the most outstanding growth is that of online shopping, which already accounts for 1.9% of spending (0.3 points more than in 2018) when 10 years ago it was practically non-existent. “A greater differentiation of the offer with respect to the physical store together with an improvement of the delivery process would help this channel to grow,” Garcia said.

Source: El País