No discount, no sale

Promotional offers bring over a third of hypermarket sales, while in auto showrooms; they are the only strategies that still attract clients. The discount phenomenon is gaining ground: consumers say they spent more money in hypermarkets and discount stores in the first quarter of the year.

On the big consumer markets, 2010 started with sales declines, and the major retailers and producers responded by intensifying promotional offers. They will face an even tougher challenge when the austerity measures announced by the authorities are enforced, say market players.

The first survey of household consumption published in 2010 reveals that discount stores, the cheapest retailers, continue to gain ground in the food sector. Similarly to last year, the stores which bet on an across-the-board discount policy gained the most in terms of turnover, reveal data of market research company GfK: in the first quarter of the year Romanians spent 12% more in discount stores than in the similar period of 2009. The rise occurred both in terms of customer numbers, and in the average till receipt, which climbed by 8%.