48 Supermarkets and Hypermarkets to Open Before the End of 2009
7 July 2008
Read by 1611 persons
The Turkish hard discounter, Bim, has already opened 10 stores in Casablanca. It plans 30 more in the coming months.
For 2009, Marjane announces 4 openings, Label'Vie and Carrefour plan 11, 4 of which are already operational, and Aswak Essalam 3 new stores.
For industry professionals, the hard discount concept has little chance of success.
The large-scale distribution sector has had a new brand for a few days: the Turkish BIM. Starting its activity on April 13, the new operator, which uses hard discount as its spearhead concept, opened ten stores at once in Casablanca in the Bourgogne, Palmiers, Hospital District, and Belvédère neighborhoods. Thirty more stores are planned by the end of the year. This is therefore a bold opening program (40 points of sale in eight months) that will allow the brand to position itself in the very competitive large-scale distribution market. Indeed, the development prospects of hard discount are, according to some observers, encouraging for several reasons.
It is notably emphasized, in this respect, that even if the assortment offered is reduced, the prices displayed are lower than those of reference products. Indeed, the principle of hard discount is to market products with a 20 to 30% drop compared to the latter.
Consumer proximity is also another factor that can favor the success of hard discount. Bim has established its points of sale in middle-class neighborhoods, which will allow it to reach a large segment of the population.
However, on the chances of success of the concept, sector operators remain doubtful. "The Moroccan market has already had hard discount experiences that have failed, including Supersol or Franprix which did not last long!" says Label'Vie. This opinion is shared by the other major operator of large-scale distribution, Marjane, whose managers believe that "the viability of this economic model remains to be demonstrated." Because, explain the sector operators, it is difficult today to offer a price 20 to 30% lower than the reference prices, the market does not lend itself to it insofar as the large surfaces that hard discount wants to compete with do not achieve margins of 40 or 45% to allow hard discount to position itself. In addition, it will not be easy for the hard discounter to negotiate its prices with manufacturers due to the order volumes which are, naturally, less important than those of hypermarkets.
Grocery stores pose a threat to hard discount.
Moreover, in the sector, it is argued that the importance of the traditional network, which has some 400,000 grocery stores and ensures 91% of distribution, can also compromise the development of hard discount, due to the level of purchasing power, the great proximity of the clientele, as well as favorable payment conditions, including credit sales.
If for the two brands, Lavel'Vie and Marjane, the chances of the Turkish hard discounter are low, at Aswak Assalam they do not share this opinion: "Today, there is room for this concept and the market needs it. In addition, large stores achieve significant margins, thus giving the hard discounter the opportunity to position itself with studied margins." The same source adds that this concept is certainly a niche, but has a role to play in the development of the large-scale distribution sector, which has 70 points of sale under the Marjane, Métro, Acima, Label'Vie, Aswak Assalam, and, more recently, Carrefour brands. In total, modern distribution, which represents 9% of the distribution sector, still has bright days ahead of it, as it has largely seduced consumers. As proof, there are, according to available statistics, approximately 3,000 customers per day on average in a supermarket and 5,000 to 12,000 in a hypermarket. It should also be noted that the average basket in a supermarket is estimated at 60 DH while the value of the basket varies between 200 and 260 DH in a hypermarket.
The affluence and the level of spending prove, according to operators, the importance of large-scale distribution for consumers and its adequacy to their needs. This justifies their sustained expansion strategies to cover the whole of Morocco.
All brands invest regularly to expand their networks. Thus, the Label'Vie-Carrefour tandem, which has 22 points of sale, plans 11 new openings in 2009: 9 Label'Vie stores, including 3 already operational, and 2 Carrefour hypermarkets, including the one in Salé already open and a second planned in Marrakech for the second half of the year. The group is aiming for a turnover of 2.4 billion dirhams in 2009. For its part, Marjane, which currently has 17 stores, will open 4 stores during this year for a total investment of 4 billion DH. In this regard, note that the brand will open a supermarket in the seaside resort of Mediterrania-Saïdia. An agreement was recently signed with the Fadesa group. This new address located in the Medina center Saïda shopping center will be operational from June. The brand refuses to disclose its forecasts for 2009. But we know that it achieved a turnover of 7.5 billion DH in 2008.
600 large and medium-sized surfaces planned by 2020
Aswak Assalam, which was not present in Casablanca, has scheduled two openings there in 2009, in the Belvédère district and on the road to Oulad Ziane. A second point of sale is planned in Agadir. These three openings represent an investment of 300 MDH and will bring the network of the Chaâbi group's brand to 11 stores compared to the 8 located in Rabat, Marrakech, Oujda, Kénitra, Témara, and Agadir.
In addition to the sustained opening programs to strengthen its presence throughout the country, large brands, for greater accessibility to customers, offer a wide range of products and regular promotional plans. They do not fail to invest to guarantee the quality of their products as well as their services. Loyalty cards and regular promotions help retain consumers who are now sure, thanks to the efforts made in terms of hygiene, to find products whose preservation methods meet international standards. These are all reasons that explain the importance given to the sector within the framework of the Rawaj program, which plans 600 modern distribution stores by 2020. We are still far from the target. This means that there is still room for other investors.
Focus: What Rawaj provides for large-scale distribution
In relation to modern commerce, the Rawaj 2020 action plan aims for 600 large and medium-sized surfaces by 2020, including more than 50 hypermarkets, generating nearly 80,000 jobs; the creation of 15 malls that can house nearly 3,000 franchise and modern commerce stores and generating nearly 21,000 jobs, as well as 15 outlets, discount stores, and factory stores, generating 5,000 jobs.
To do this, it is planned to supervise the development of new modes of commerce through the establishment of national and regional master plans for commercial establishment (see commercial attractiveness plan). In addition, the program includes support for the sector through other measures:
- set up training branches adapted to modern distribution to ensure a match between supply and demand in training;
- allow large and medium-sized surfaces to integrate upstream into the fresh produce sector;
- implement ethical charters between producers and modern distribution operators.
- encourage the development of distributor brands, within the framework of a partnership between distributors and local SMEs.
Activity: Sales of non-food products down in the 1st quarter
Since the beginning of the year, and due to the crisis, large-scale distribution brands have seen a drop in sales of non-food products. The drop, or rather "slowdown," as some operators prefer to call it, mainly concerned household appliances and clothing.
It varies between 4 and 10%. This decline will be compensated from the beginning of May, it is anticipated in the sector. The summer season being a period of high consumption for several reasons, including holidays and the arrival of Moroccans residing abroad
Published April 30, 2009
Posted online May 21, 2009
marocentreprise.com
For 2009, Marjane announces 4 openings, Label'Vie and Carrefour plan 11, 4 of which are already operational, and Aswak Essalam 3 new stores.
For industry professionals, the hard discount concept has little chance of success.
The large-scale distribution sector has had a new brand for a few days: the Turkish BIM. Starting its activity on April 13, the new operator, which uses hard discount as its spearhead concept, opened ten stores at once in Casablanca in the Bourgogne, Palmiers, Hospital District, and Belvédère neighborhoods. Thirty more stores are planned by the end of the year. This is therefore a bold opening program (40 points of sale in eight months) that will allow the brand to position itself in the very competitive large-scale distribution market. Indeed, the development prospects of hard discount are, according to some observers, encouraging for several reasons.
It is notably emphasized, in this respect, that even if the assortment offered is reduced, the prices displayed are lower than those of reference products. Indeed, the principle of hard discount is to market products with a 20 to 30% drop compared to the latter.
Consumer proximity is also another factor that can favor the success of hard discount. Bim has established its points of sale in middle-class neighborhoods, which will allow it to reach a large segment of the population.
However, on the chances of success of the concept, sector operators remain doubtful. "The Moroccan market has already had hard discount experiences that have failed, including Supersol or Franprix which did not last long!" says Label'Vie. This opinion is shared by the other major operator of large-scale distribution, Marjane, whose managers believe that "the viability of this economic model remains to be demonstrated." Because, explain the sector operators, it is difficult today to offer a price 20 to 30% lower than the reference prices, the market does not lend itself to it insofar as the large surfaces that hard discount wants to compete with do not achieve margins of 40 or 45% to allow hard discount to position itself. In addition, it will not be easy for the hard discounter to negotiate its prices with manufacturers due to the order volumes which are, naturally, less important than those of hypermarkets.
Grocery stores pose a threat to hard discount.
Moreover, in the sector, it is argued that the importance of the traditional network, which has some 400,000 grocery stores and ensures 91% of distribution, can also compromise the development of hard discount, due to the level of purchasing power, the great proximity of the clientele, as well as favorable payment conditions, including credit sales.
If for the two brands, Lavel'Vie and Marjane, the chances of the Turkish hard discounter are low, at Aswak Assalam they do not share this opinion: "Today, there is room for this concept and the market needs it. In addition, large stores achieve significant margins, thus giving the hard discounter the opportunity to position itself with studied margins." The same source adds that this concept is certainly a niche, but has a role to play in the development of the large-scale distribution sector, which has 70 points of sale under the Marjane, Métro, Acima, Label'Vie, Aswak Assalam, and, more recently, Carrefour brands. In total, modern distribution, which represents 9% of the distribution sector, still has bright days ahead of it, as it has largely seduced consumers. As proof, there are, according to available statistics, approximately 3,000 customers per day on average in a supermarket and 5,000 to 12,000 in a hypermarket. It should also be noted that the average basket in a supermarket is estimated at 60 DH while the value of the basket varies between 200 and 260 DH in a hypermarket.
The affluence and the level of spending prove, according to operators, the importance of large-scale distribution for consumers and its adequacy to their needs. This justifies their sustained expansion strategies to cover the whole of Morocco.
All brands invest regularly to expand their networks. Thus, the Label'Vie-Carrefour tandem, which has 22 points of sale, plans 11 new openings in 2009: 9 Label'Vie stores, including 3 already operational, and 2 Carrefour hypermarkets, including the one in Salé already open and a second planned in Marrakech for the second half of the year. The group is aiming for a turnover of 2.4 billion dirhams in 2009. For its part, Marjane, which currently has 17 stores, will open 4 stores during this year for a total investment of 4 billion DH. In this regard, note that the brand will open a supermarket in the seaside resort of Mediterrania-Saïdia. An agreement was recently signed with the Fadesa group. This new address located in the Medina center Saïda shopping center will be operational from June. The brand refuses to disclose its forecasts for 2009. But we know that it achieved a turnover of 7.5 billion DH in 2008.
600 large and medium-sized surfaces planned by 2020
Aswak Assalam, which was not present in Casablanca, has scheduled two openings there in 2009, in the Belvédère district and on the road to Oulad Ziane. A second point of sale is planned in Agadir. These three openings represent an investment of 300 MDH and will bring the network of the Chaâbi group's brand to 11 stores compared to the 8 located in Rabat, Marrakech, Oujda, Kénitra, Témara, and Agadir.
In addition to the sustained opening programs to strengthen its presence throughout the country, large brands, for greater accessibility to customers, offer a wide range of products and regular promotional plans. They do not fail to invest to guarantee the quality of their products as well as their services. Loyalty cards and regular promotions help retain consumers who are now sure, thanks to the efforts made in terms of hygiene, to find products whose preservation methods meet international standards. These are all reasons that explain the importance given to the sector within the framework of the Rawaj program, which plans 600 modern distribution stores by 2020. We are still far from the target. This means that there is still room for other investors.
Focus: What Rawaj provides for large-scale distribution
In relation to modern commerce, the Rawaj 2020 action plan aims for 600 large and medium-sized surfaces by 2020, including more than 50 hypermarkets, generating nearly 80,000 jobs; the creation of 15 malls that can house nearly 3,000 franchise and modern commerce stores and generating nearly 21,000 jobs, as well as 15 outlets, discount stores, and factory stores, generating 5,000 jobs.
To do this, it is planned to supervise the development of new modes of commerce through the establishment of national and regional master plans for commercial establishment (see commercial attractiveness plan). In addition, the program includes support for the sector through other measures:
- set up training branches adapted to modern distribution to ensure a match between supply and demand in training;
- allow large and medium-sized surfaces to integrate upstream into the fresh produce sector;
- implement ethical charters between producers and modern distribution operators.
- encourage the development of distributor brands, within the framework of a partnership between distributors and local SMEs.
Activity: Sales of non-food products down in the 1st quarter
Since the beginning of the year, and due to the crisis, large-scale distribution brands have seen a drop in sales of non-food products. The drop, or rather "slowdown," as some operators prefer to call it, mainly concerned household appliances and clothing.
It varies between 4 and 10%. This decline will be compensated from the beginning of May, it is anticipated in the sector. The summer season being a period of high consumption for several reasons, including holidays and the arrival of Moroccans residing abroad
Published April 30, 2009
Posted online May 21, 2009
marocentreprise.com
