Introduction

Earlier this year, we made ‘10 predictions’ (link to this article). One of those predictions was that, unlike last year, Delhaize would emerge as the winner in March.In this article, we use our insights derived from our location data to check whether or not our prediction is correct.

1.   Situation summary

Delhaize supermarket lost many visits in the past year (2023) due to strikes that occurred in March and April. Although Delhaize supermarket lost these visits in March last year, it’s remarkable that this loss does not apply to AD and Proxy. In fact, Delhaize supermarket lost a large proportion of its visits to its own shops.

In total, Delhaize supermarket lost 1.8 million visits in March 2023 compared to February 2023. With that, the top three retailers to whom it lost visits are Colruyt, Proxy Delhaize and Aldi.

2.   Return of Delhaize supermarket

This year, things are different. Delhaize supermarket recovered in March 2024 and is the only retailer to get more visits compared to last year. For instance, Delhaize supermarket's visit share increased from 22% in March 2023, to 26% in March 2024. Furthermore, all other retailers are making losses, except for Spar and Intermarché, which managed to keep a stable visit share.

3.   Analysis of Delhaize supermarket's return

An in-depth analysis of Delhaize supermarket's return shows how it recovered last year's loss of 1.8 million visits. The analysis reveals that Delhaize supermarket gained these visits back from all retailers to whom it had lost its visits. This includes the loss due to cannibalisation of its own shops (AD & Proxy). Delhaize supermarket won back the most visits from Colruyt and Aldi, not entirely illogical as it had lost the most visits from these retailers last year.

 

What is remarkable, however, is that Delhaize supermarket is gaining fewer visits back from Lidl than it lost to this retailer. This is shown by Lidl's ranking in 7th place on the chart below, compared to the previous chart where it was in 4th place. This explains why Delhaize supermarket regained fewer visits in total in March 2024 (1.6 million), than it lost in March 2023 (1.8 million).

 

Conclusion

So our prediction turns out to be correct. In March 2024, most retailers experienced losses, with one exception, Delhaize. The retail market is always changing. Retailers need to pick up changes quickly and react to them. This requires deep retail insight that can be gained through the use of location data. We offer this location data to retailers so they can make better decisions through real-world insights