BERLIN, Feb. 4 (Xinhua) -- The sales volumes of Germany's large full-range grocery chains outgrew those of discount supermarkets in 2019, according to the consumer index published by the market research institute GfK on Tuesday.
Traditional supermarket chains, such as Edeka and REWE, increased sales by around three percent, while discount supermarkets, such as Aldi and Lidl, only achieved an overall increase of 0.9 percent.
"In addition to acceptable prices, the shopper demands a pleasant shopping atmosphere and an attractive range of ecologically sustainable products," stated GfK.
Full-range grocery chains as well as drugstores had achieved this balance in the perception of shoppers more effectively than discount supermarkets, GfK noted.
According to GfK, drugstores in Germany grew even faster than supermarkets in 2019 and achieved sales increases of 4.6 percent.
German consumers are increasingly paying attention to quality when shopping. In 2019, 55 percent were focusing on quality, while only 45 percent looked primarily at the price. Ten years ago, most consumers were still mostly price-driven, GfK noted.
At the same time, the financial situation of German consumers has improved significantly. Back in 2009, only 27 percent of German households said that they could "afford almost everything," whereas the figure today is 42 percent, GfK noted.
Consumers paying more attention to quality coupled with a positive assessment of private finances have led to a "solid development" of the market for frequently traded fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG), such as food, toiletries or house cleaning products, GfK noted.
