1704538994
Mass distribution giant Coop recorded moderate growth in 2023, driven in particular by wholesalers but slowed by fuel sales. Sales reached 34.7 billion francs, an increase of 1.4% compared to the previous year.
In the retail trade, sales stagnated at 19.9 billion francs, as the Basel cooperative announced on Thursday. Excluding the fuel business, sales growth was 1.0%. The Coop supermarkets and the online grocery store Coop.ch generated sales of 11.8 billion, an increase of 2.4 percent. In its press release, the Basel giant claims to have attracted more customers to these brands.
The development is seen as positive for the “special formats” category, which includes Coop City branches, Import Parfumerie and Coop Vitality pharmacies. Update Fitness brand sales increased 33.4%. The hotel and catering industry, including the BaleHotel chain, increased its sales by 12.8%, the press release said, without providing further details.
Wholesale is on the rise
Coop’s other mainstay, wholesale, developed better overall, as reflected in a 3.8 percent increase in sales to 16.3 billion francs, of which 11.4 billion were at Transgourmet.
The latter benefited from strong volume growth, was able to gain numerous additional customers and consolidate its “dominant position in the self-service and wholesale delivery sector” in Europe, according to the Rhine Cooperative Group. Manufacturing activity generated revenue of 5.4 billion (+4.5%).
Growth of online sales
The distributor also takes stock of its online sales, which grew by around 8 percent to around 5.3 billion francs. With its 21,000 references, Coop.ch shows an increase in sales of 8.7%. In wholesale, online sales rose by 12.5%. Absolute numbers for these two activities are not given.
Group-wide sales of 6.7 billion francs (+7.3% or +457 million) were achieved with sustainably labeled products. The Naturaplan brand sold better, with its product increasing by 8.7%.
Coop will publish the full results on February 15th.
ats/ami
#Coop #Group #recorded #moderate #growth #rts.ch