Biedronka the most highly recommended retail chain in Poland

2010-08-07

As many as 57% of Poles would recommend Biedronka discount stores as places at which to do one’s shopping, accordint to the recent research by On Board PR and PBS DGA. The runner-up in the ranking is Tesco, which would be recommended by almost 50% of respondents. The latter brand was chosen mainly by consumers under 40 years of age. Other recommended chains include Lidl, indicated by 33%, Carrefour (29%) and Real (28%).
In the previous edition of the survey, in 2006, Biedronka was chosen by 38% of respondents, Tesco had 31% recommendations, and Real 19%. In addition, Lidl has significantly improved its position – in 2006 it was considered worth recommending by 16% respondents.
The most widely appreciated attributes of the retail chains are high quality, indicated by 49% of consumers, reliability and honesty (31%) and competence (27%), along with modernity and inventiveness (23%).
Among the delicatessen chains Piotr i Pawel is considered the most recommendable network (around 8%), whereas Alma is considered the least, 3.4%.

Discount retailers operating in Poland (such as Biedronka, Lidl) have been less affected by the economic downturn that hypermarket and supermarket chains. Offering products at affordable prices, such stores have gained in popularity among consumers during the crisis. In the case of Biedronka, this can be seen from continued robust performance in like-for-like sales (which grew by more than 8% in 2009) as well as from strong increases in overall sales, helped by dynamic expansion and the acquisition of Plus in late 2008.
Biedronka’s appeal has been further enhanced by a store remodelling programme carried out in recent years as well by the introduction of new service offerings, such as TuBiedronka, its mobile phone service.
Meanwhile, Tesco - the number two player – owes its considerable success to its private labels, which are 20-40% cheaper on average than their branded equivalents. According to „Private label in Poland in 2009”, a report by PMR, in mid-2009 Tesco had the biggest private label business in Poland, with 8,500 items sold under the Tesco and Tesco Value brands. Tesco’s added strength is a broad offering of private-label products in non-food categories, such as clothing brands Cherokee and F&F . And the company is about to launch yet another new service for its customers: Tesco pharmacies or pharmacy points, which are to be rolled out at Tesco Extra hypermarkets from the second half of 2011 onwards.

Paulina Burzawa
Retail Editor
PMR Publications