ALDI GAINING FAVOUR WITH AUSTRALIAN SHOPPERS
GERMAN discounter Aldi is taking a bigger share of the $100 billion Australian supermarket sector as IGA and Foodland fall further behind, new figures show.
Metcash (which supplies IGA and Foodland) has 7.5 per cent market share, while Aldi now has 8.6 per cent, according to industry market researcher IBISWorld. A year ago Metcash had a 7.2 per cent share and Aldi was at 7.9 per cent.
IBISWorld senior industry analyst Nathan Cloutman says while Metcash’s portion of the market has increased, it will continue to fall further behind Aldi.
“Aldi is rapidly expanding in the industry, in particular the company’s move into WA and SA in 2016 helped the company boost its market share recently,” he said.
Mr Cloutman said Coles was also feeling the pressure from an expanding Aldi and a more buoyant Woolworths during the 2017 financial year. Woolworths continues to lead with 36.8 per cent of the market, while Coles has a 30.9 per cent share.
IBISWorld said Metcash’s attempts to increase revenue through advertising and discounting, including matching the prices of Coles and Woolworths on a core basket of goods, have had “minimal success”.
“The chain’s profit margins have declined over the past five years, as price discounting strategies have lowered profit margins across many of its stores,” IBISWorld said.
Competition is likely to further intensify after the German supermarket chain Kaufland confirmed it will expand into Australia, and on expectations Amazon’s pending arrival will eventually include its online supermarket business. Other players in the sector include Costco, with an estimated 2 per cent share.