VDGE members again with positive turnover development
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As reported by the Association of German Beverage Retailers (VDGE), the affiliated 25 operationally active member companies were even able to slightly exceed the robust turnover figures of the previous year in the first half of 2023. With an almost stable number of markets in the second quarter of 2023, they achieved a nominal increase in turnover of 2.6 per cent and thus a cumulative overall increase of 1.6 per cent for the first half of the current business year, which was undoubtedly largely driven by inflation.
In this context, however, it is particularly positive that the average monthly turnover per store has increased by almost 4 per cent. VDGE board member Andreas Vogel sees this as a clear sign that the specialist shop operators have done their homework in terms of infrastructure, shop design and assortment. "Despite difficult general conditions, VDGE member companies have continued to invest intensively and successfully in the quality of their own specialist beverage stores - this is also underlined by the industry comparison," says Vogel.
According to the Consumer Panel Services GfK, the specialist beverage market segment recorded a total decline in sales of 7.1 per cent. The significant drop in turnover was mainly due to the non-chain specialist stores (-18.4 per cent). In contrast, the branch-based specialist beverage market sector was able to almost maintain its sales level at -0.7 per cent, which means that the VDGE members also fared better in this detailed comparison.
The Nielsen survey reflects a more moderate development and shows a decline in turnover of 1.2 per cent for the GAM sector as a whole in the first half of 2023, whereby Nielsen regions 2 (NRW) and 3b (Baden-Württemberg) even achieved (price-driven) turnover growth of 1.4 and 2.6 per cent respectively. On the other hand, the East German specialist beverage markets in particular had to accept significant declines in turnover of -6.0 per cent (N5+6: Meckl.-Vorp./S.-Anhalt/Brandenburg/Berlin) and even -11.3 per cent (N7: Saxony/Thuringia).
"In these inflationary times, shifting purchases to cheaper shopping venues such as discounters is one of the strategies consumers use to buffer rising costs, which has put further pressure on bricks-and-mortar specialist retailers in H1 2023. The entire specialist retail sector closed the first 6 months in the FMCG sector with a slight drop in sales of 0.5%, with the chain-based specialist beverage stores (see above) performing roughly at channel level," Alexander Schwarz, Director Consumer Panel Services GfK, explains in this context.
The significant drop in sales of 7.1 per cent for cold drinks in this channel was mainly due to the non-chain specialist stores, which lost double-digit sales across all product segments. For these markets, the tendency continues that fewer households in total visit these outlets and the remaining shoppers make their beverage purchases there less frequently and also less willing to spend. In contrast, the branch-based specialist beverage store sector could build on a stable buyer base, which also generated higher receipts compared to the previous year. The only limiting factor in household consumption is a slight decline in the frequency of visits per household, Schwarz sums up.
