Spacious, packed with fresh fruit and vegetables and special offers: this is the type of shop most Bucharest residents are looking for. Closeness to home or easy access – the things most cherished by consumers in Czech Republic, Slovakia and Poland – matter very little to Bucharest”s inhabitants, who are willing to traverse the city”s almost 200 square kilometres to take advantage of the various special offers at the big stores.
This trend was confirmed by store representatives: “The products promoted by Metro every two weeks are the ones that sell best,” said Delia Nica, a PR manager with Metro Cash & Carry Romania, a company with 21 cash & carry stores in and outside Bucharest.
Surprisingly, closeness to home and store accessibility ranked almost last in the preferences stated by Romanians, or, more precisely, Bucharest inhabitants, since the AC Nielsen survey covered only Bucharest, Romania”s capital and most developed city in terms of trade. However, it is precisely these factors that rank first in terms of importance among shoppers in Czech Republic, Poland and Slovakia.
In other words, Bucharest residents enjoy more free time than do their Czech and Polish counterparts and are willing to cross the entire city to shop at Cora or Carrefour, where they can spend many hours studying the tens of thousands products on the shelves. This shows that for most Romanian consumers time is still not an issue, as evidenced by the fact that many stores are full, even during the week when in theory most adults with purchasing power should be at work.
“The Romanian consumer is a Latin consumer, for whom quality and comfort count a lot. Romanians like to eat well, dress nicely and feel comfortable,” explained Andreea Mihai, marketing manager with Carrefour Romania.
The AC Nielson survey shows that potential is rising, with the modern retail formats – hypermarkets and supermarkets – last year accounting for less than 19% of total food and non-food product purchasing for household use. By comparison, in Poland the equivalent statistic for modern trade formats lies at over 35%, while in Hungary and Czech Republic it is as high as 40% and 60% respectively.
Unlike other countries of the region, cash & carry stores in Romania are important sources for the acquisitions by the people of Bucharest.
As the AC Nielsen survey shows, some 10% of drinks and soft drinks bought in Romania for personal use are acquired from cash & carry stores, this percentage being clearly higher than elsewhere in the region.
ionut.bonoiu@zf.ro