Coop Italia is allocating an additional €50 million towards customer support measures during the COVID-19 lockdown easing process.
This amount is on top of the €50 million already invested by the retail cooperative in the period March to April.
Purchasing Power
While during the first phase of the emergency, about 70% of the retailer's investment was targeted towards actions to ensure maximum security and safety for both customers and employees, attention will now turn toward driving consumer purchasing power.
The customer support measures will be in place until 30 September and focus on around 2,000 Coop branded SKUs, in partnership with the retailer’s network of suppliers and producers, which is over 90% Italian.
Coop Italia has introduced a weekly package of five products, consisting of two Coop-branded meat products (white or red), one seafood product and two fruit and vegetables products, on which shoppers will be able to avail of a 20% discount.
The retailer has also launched a special basket of 10 products priced at €10, consisting of shelf stable products (pasta, oil, biscuits, milk, beer, tomatoes, toilet paper) under the Origine Coop brand.
Other Measures
Among the other measures the retailer has undertaken in recent months are a price freeze on some 18,000 SKUs, the issuing of a 10% discount to the most vulnerable shoppers, the rollout of additional home delivery measures, and the supply of 4.4 million surgical masks to civil protection services.
Coop has registered sales growth in its proximity (+25% in the period March-April and 14% in May) and supermarkets (+16% and 12%, respectively) divisions, while sales in hypermarkets and large superstores dropped (-11% and -8%, respectively).
Private label sales increased by 25% in March-April and by 21% in May, and now account for over 30% of total sales.
Coop forecasts that the expected GDP drop of over 10%, increasing unemployment and signs of rising inflation indicate that the economic and social situation for the remainder of the year could be worse than that of the 2008 crisis.
© 2020 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
