Due to financial crisis reasons, supermarkets in Ro and all over the world seem to increase communication in order to re-gain or retain customers. In Romania one of the retailers that is loosing serious ground is Billa. Although they hold a pretty strong marketshare other retailers have incresead their marketing efforts and now it seems that Billa is seriously affected. Lately they have been trying a repositioning strategy using a new insight – freshness. As you can probably see from the spot below they are also celebrating 10 years in Romania and they are using this anniversary to introduce the new – old positioning. Since they are stating that they have been bringing fresh products for 10 years this insight seems old but in fact it really new for them. Previously, they used different approaches like, „there’s nothing cheaper than Billa” or similar positioning statements.
Since the retail market is really crowded on the discount segment Billa decides to move up and change the positioning strategy leaving competitors like Kaufland or even Carrefour behind. I think this could be a bad move but I also think that this comes due to a very tempting premium postioning that is not at all covered by any retailer. So, I ask myself, could Billa be the first premium retailer and would this be a good positioning strategy? I think yes! Natural fresh products are and will be more and more present in the mind of premium consumers but I guess we’ll just wait and see!
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I went there once, it was full of old people. I swore I would never go again. Nice spot tho.
I’m not a marketer like the other „marlans” but I don’t think this will affect the competition. Usually the customers are buying from their old, well known, supermarket. In my case even if I move near Billa I think I would take my groceries from „the shopping-land” (or Kaufland in german). anyway maybe I just represent a small part of the market 🙂
BTW.. why are you writing in English?
@Marlanul cel Chetros: We all are just small parts of the market but those of us who are alike form segments and these segments are noticeable. This is why brands and brand owners try to adapt to each segments’ needs. I think there is a very significant market share that consists of premium customers who would pay more just to have the warranty of freshness. And to answer your question, I decided to blog in english for a simple reason: target segmentation.
in the current economic environment, I also don’t believe that a move towards the premium section of the market is a good idea, though as you mentioned this segment is not covered yet. But what do you understand by a supermarket for premium consumers? a place where you may find caviar and expensive French wine or tomatoes from X country?
Moreover, Billa supermarkets are located in neighbourhoods that are not famous for their high life population. Since the beginning Billa has positioned itself in locations where it would be considered attractive for its pretty low prices.
You mentioned Kaufland and Carrefour, they already have lower prices than Billa..so in order to attract customers Billa is playing the freshness card.
Will it work or not..we shall see
In my opinion, Kaufland will have the most to gain from the economical crisis. They have the cheapest products. It doesn’t matter the quality as long as you get the best price in town.
Ok, now that I am officially a costumer in both stores I can give my 2 cents on the subject. The Billa store in Iasi is small, crowded, and looks dirty. One could get claustrofobic in there. Like really, the lights are weak and the shelves could use more space between them. I won’t even mention ( ok, I will ) the ammount of gypsy kids you see in the parking lot ( really, would you park your car there? ). Guess that’s because of the small space they had to build the store in. Leaving aside the bad parts, I found in Billa some products I couldn’t find anywhere, and that makes a huge plus.
Enough about the Iasi store, let’s talk about the ones in Bacau. They’re clean, the lights are good, it’s almost shiny. You have lots of space to move and you ( at least I ) feel really welcome when you enter them.
As for the subject: they could position themselves as premium-stores, their prices are a little higher than the average hypermarket ( I think you can fit them as a hypermarket, they sure aren’t supermarkets ), but they usually are your neighbourhood stores. You pay a little extra, you don’t have to use transportation.
Thing is, if they want to be a premium store, they really have to extend their policy for return-customers. Gift cards, give-for-pay cards, or smth like that. About 5-10% wouldn’t be much and you can be sure that the money the customer „saved” on the card will be used for groceries in their store. I’m talking about special Billa cards, not debit-credit cards. I know I’d use’em.
BACK …
These commercial won’t make me shop al Billa. I dislike. Not the communication part is the problem.
When I choose my supermarket, the main deciding factor is the proximity. The shooping land is 100 m near me, the price is fair even the fruits and vegetables are not very fresh. But policy „no expired products in the store”, the space between the shelvs, the parking area … are all in favour of the german supermarket.
„sarbatoreste 10 ani DE BILLA”? not very smart…