2020 was the year of the biggest economic crisis since the Second World War. Entire sectors have been brought to their knees by the crisis triggered by the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic. However, for some sectors, the emergency soon turned into a driving force for growth and development. Among them is large-scale food distribution which should close 2020 with a 5% increase, of which 1% attributable to the explosion of the online channel. This is one of the most relevant data that emerges from the survey entitled "The large-scale distribution after the 2020 bubble" carried out by theMediobanca Research Area.
The report underlines how, within the large-scale retail trade, the sectors that have recorded the most marked growth are the Discounts (+8,7%), Supermarkets (+6,8%) and Drugstores (+6,6%) . For 2021, however, a decline of 1,6% is expected, while in the two-year period 2020-2021 the cumulative result should be +3,3%. On the other hand, the crisis of large surfaces continues, which is expected to lose 4,8% in the two-year period 2020-21.
Separate mention for e-commerce which after the +134,4% recorded in 2020, is expected to grow by 2021% in 61,6, an increase that will allow the sector to reach 3% of the market already in 2021, two years ahead of the forecast for 2023 before the pandemic. “However, this is a segment that continues to record negative margins of over 10%”, underlines Mediobanca.
Going forward with the data, the report underlines how in 2020 the concentration of the Italian market has increased: the market share of the top five retailers is now 57,5% against 52,8% in 2019. The Italian market thus surpasses that of Spain (50%), but remains fragmented compared to France (78,1%), Great Britain (75,3%) and Germany (75,2%). Finally, the preliminary data of the large listed international retailers indicate sales up by 8,3% in 2020, with very positive effects on industrial margins (+17,1%) and on the net result (+42,4%).
MARKET SHARE-SALES-EARNINGS: THE RANKINGS
In 2020 Conad takes first place in the ranking relating to market share, with 14,8%. Selex follows in second place with 13,7%. Coop is third, reaching 12,9%. Mediobanca observes how positions have changed over the last decade: in comparison in 2011, Coops were the first group with 15,3%, followed by Conad at 10,6% and Selex at 8,1%.
Moving on to sales, Lidl Italia is the queen of sales growth: between 2015 and 2019 the growth is equal to +8,7% on average per year. Eurospin and Agorà follow, paired at +7,6%. Fourth in the standings is Lillo-MD (+6,9%), fifth VeGe (+5,3%) and sixth Crai (+5,2%).
In terms of return on invested capital (roi) instead Eurospin excels (20,2%), followed by Lillo-MD (16,5%), Agorà and Lidl Italia with 12,9% and Crai with 11,9%.
Moving on to profits, is Esselunga, controlled by Supermarkets Italiani, the queen of cumulative profits between 2015 and 2019 with 1,34 billion. In second place is Eurospin, with 1,01 billion, followed by Conad at 879 million and VéGé at 839 million. On the opposite front, in the same period of time, Carrefour accumulated losses of 603 million and Coop of 252 million.
Finally, the study points out that Coop Alliance 3.0 is the largest Italian cooperative with sales in 2019 of 4,04 billion, followed by Pac 2000 A (Conad Group) at 2,85 billion and Conad Nord Ovest at 2,58 billion, preceding Unicoop Firenze at 2,32 billion. The shareholder loan of the Coop system appears to be in constant decline from 11,1 billion in 2014 to 8 billion in 2019. In the last 5 years, Coops have achieved net financial income of 1.233 million and suffered financial write-downs of 845 million.
WORK: WOMEN'S RECORD
Large-scale distribution is confirmed as female. In Italy, in 2019, 62,9% of the workforce was represented by women, against 60,3% abroad. In terms of training, the annual hours provided to employees who are entitled to it amount to 16,3 in Italy and 21,6 abroad. Furthermore, recourse to part-time work affects 52% of the workforce in Italy, 43,8% abroad.
