Specialist
Executive at Lidl Great Britain Ltd
Agenda
- Customer buying behaviour across formats and basket sizes amid coronavirus
- Food price and labour inflation impacts
- Outlook including like-for-like drivers and M&A – recently completed acquisition of Asda, bidding war for Morrisons (LON: MRW), potential private equity sale of Sainsbury’s (LON: SBRY) and what these shifts mean for the broader market
- Competitive landscape including new challengers – rapid grocery delivery players such as Weezy and Getir
Questions
1.
Could you highlight the key trends you’ve noticed in the UK grocery retail industry over the past 18 months, particularly during coronavirus?
2.
Consumer shopping habits evolved in the UK grocery retail industry given increased weekly shops and spending. Would you say consumer behaviour dynamics have started to revert to pre-coronavirus levels?
3.
What could higher average basket sizes and lower shopping frequencies mean for pounds spent by consumers vs pre-coronavirus?
4.
Are there any consumer buying trends across ranges or specific products occurring in the UK? There’s a big trend in organic and natural foods in France. Is there a similar trend in the UK?
5.
Are there any key trends such as the underlying fresh trend you mentioned that could shape the market in the next 3-5 years?
6.
Would you say that price and value for money are the top two criteria for consumers in the UK grocery retail market, especially today? You said it’s a journey to get customer buy-in for sustainable food.
7.
What would be the key like-for-like growth drivers for retailers over the next 12-24 months? What can they do to drive this growth?
8.
What strategies might the big four, discounters or premium players use to hold onto market share or stem the losses of coming off a hot year in 2020? What can they do to tackle the incoming headwinds you mentioned for Q4 2021-22? It seems there are a lot of headwinds for the industry, especially on the top line.
9.
What level of inflation are you observing? What does this mean for gross and operating margins for the grocery and food industry and its players? There’s been broad-based inflationary pressure across a variety of industries.
10.
Could the UK grocery industry’s headwinds and pressures continue into 2022, given you mentioned transitionary inflation?
11.
What strategies could UK grocery market players use to tackle inflation? We mentioned price as one strategy. Do you think this is a moment for discounters to hold onto prices to increase market share? Do you expect more promotional activity? How do you think the strategies will play out in the competitive landscape?
12.
Do you think there’s any scope for Tesco and Aldi to drive price to protect market share, given Tesco’s margin is quite tight? Do you think it’s in the market’s best interest that prices try to remain stable to avoid margin downside?
13.
Asda is being bought off and there’s a private equity bid for Morrisons and possibly Sainsbury’s. What are your thoughts on the bids for these grocers? What could more privatisation of big players do to the market, if anything?
14.
What are your thoughts on the growth of online on-demand platforms such as Getir and Weezy, especially in big cities? Do you think they’re here to stay? What does it mean for the incumbent players?
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