Portuguese retailer Sonae plans to open around two dozen new Continente Bom Dia supermarkets in the domestic Portuguese market during 2015.
Currently Sonae has 42 such convenience stores and smaller supermarkets in urban locations, designed for more frequent purchases of everyday life, with a sales area of around 800 m2.
Food distribution, which accounted for 69.1 per cent of consolidated sales in the first quarter of 2015, will remain in Sonae's expansion strategy in Portugal.
The Meu Super grocery store franchising format registered a very positive Like For Like sales growth and added ten new stores in the period, ending the quarter with a total of 150. Meu Super shops offers Continente private label products as well as fresh local products and now also benefit from additional promotions through the Continente loyalty card.
Online sales grew six per cent y/y, with hypermarket Continente leading online food sales in Portugal, with a market share of approximately 70 per cent.
As for expansion to Angola with its Continente brand, Sonae is still awaiting a formal response from Angolan businesswoman about the partnership.
Sonae reported €20 million profits for the period January to March 2015, a 96 per cent growth on the same period last year.
© 2015 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic
