On the shelves, promotions are becoming increasingly rare

Some examine them in advertising catalogs, others directly in stores, but they are becoming increasingly rare. Promotions are in sharp decline over the first eleven months of the year, at -4.6% compared to the same period in 2022, points out a study by Circana, relayed by BFMTV. In particular, they fell by 14% from May, according to NielsenIQ, at the same time as negotiations took place between manufacturers and mass retailers.

If “the promotions are fewer, they are also less interesting,” explains Emily Mayer, business insights director at Circana, to our colleagues. The average discount increased from 28.5% in 2022 to 27% this year. We remind you that for consumers, an interesting promotion is -31% on average.” These discounts are all the more important for customers given that in two years food inflation in supermarkets amounts to 21.1%, according to Circana. Logically, promotions are fewer in French shopping carts, with a share which increased from 15.6% in 2022 to 15.1% in 2023.

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Differences, and not the least, are also observed between brands. Carrefour Market stores are those which removed the most promotions from their shelves in the second quarter of 2023, with 16.5% fewer discounted references. Leclerc is behind, with 15.1% fewer promotions on its shelves. Next come Casino Hyper Frais (-10.9%) and Carrefour (-10.7%) which recorded the biggest decline, according to NielsenIQ. At Intermarché (-3.5%) and in Auchan hypermarkets (-1.3%) the decline is more contained. Only the Auchan and Monoprix supermarkets increased the number of promotions in their establishments, to 5.1% and 0.1% respectively.

In the detail of discounted products, the major brands are less represented, with a decline of 6.5% in their references over one year. Conversely, distributor brands benefit from more discounts and an increase of 45% over one year. There are also strong disparities between the rays. Hygiene and beauty contains 10% fewer discounted products, followed by groceries (-4%) and self-service (-4%). The only exception is the liquids section which recorded 1% additional promotions in one year, particularly on soft drinks (10%) and beers (8%), while discounts on water were down 17%. An observation which could, perhaps, have harmful consequences on the health of the French in the long term.