Retail sector sales in Portugal fell one per cent last year compared to 2013, to just under €19 billion, according to the Retail Barometer of the Portuguese Association of Distribution Companies (APED).
The most affected segment was food retail, which saw sales decrease by 1.2 per cent to almost €10 billion. This was mainly due to the effects of deflation that penalised food products.
The non-food segment was able to recover part of the significant losses that have occurred in recent years, falling 0.7 per cent to €8 billion.
According to APED, in the food sector alone, 36.7 per cent of the products sold were on promotion, compared with 27.4 per cent a year earlier.
Hypermarkets (+0.7 per cent) and supermarkets (+0.9 per cent) were the only distribution channels to grow, with both the discounters and others seeing a drop in market share.
By product category, perishables fell the most (-0.8 per cent), despite being one of the areas with the highest investment by distribution chains. This was mainly due to the Russian embargo on perishable products, leading European producers looking for alternative markets.
Brand name products grew by 2.3 per cent to 65.4 per cent, while private label products decreased by 2.3 per cent to 34.6 per cent over the previous year.
For 2015, APED expects positive sales for both food and non-food retail, although with "timid and slow" growth.
© 2015 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic
