Retail in 2024: The big picture
Retail sales registered modest growth in current value terms in 2024. Growth was stronger in 2023 but this was largely fuelled by inflation.
Retailer profit margins under pressure
Despite Belgium slowly moving out of its inflation crisis, the country’s retailers still experienced strong pressure on their profit margins in 2024. This factor led to many well-known retailers going bankrupt and closing their outlets in 2024.
Online retail continued to gain share in 2024
Retail e-commerce experienced slower growth in current value terms in 2023, mostly due to the inflation crisis and due to consumers looking for promotions and low prices in physical stores, while they were also less willing to pay extra fees for home delivery. As prices stabilised in 2024, and pressure on purchasing power started to ease, customers became more willing to buy online again.
What next for retail?
As pressure on purchasing power progressively wanes, consumers are likely to become again more inclined to spend more on premium and non-essential products again. This factor is set to benefit both grocery and non-grocery sales.
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Overview:
Understand the latest market trends and future growth opportunities for the Retail industry in Belgium with research from Euromonitor International's team of in-country analysts – experts by industry and geographic specialisation.
Key trends are clearly and succinctly summarised alongside the most current research data available. Understand and assess competitive threats and plan corporate strategy with our qualitative analysis, insight and confident growth projections.
Data and analysis in this report provides further detailed coverage dedicated to the following key categories, where applicable:
- Convenience Stores
- Discounters
- Hypermarkets
- Supermarkets
- Traditional Grocery Retailers
- Apparel and Footwear Specialist Retailers
- Electronics and Appliance Specialist Retailers
- Health and Beauty Specialist Retailers
- Home and Garden Specialist Retailers
- Department Stores
- Variety Stores
- Warehouse Clubs
- Direct Selling
- Homeshopping
- Vending
If you're in the Retail industry in Belgium, our research will help you to make informed, intelligent decisions; to recognise and profit from opportunity, or to offer resilience amidst market uncertainty.
The Retail in Belgium report includes:
- Analysis of key retail trends
- Detailed segmentation of offline and online retail sales
- Historic channel sizes (retail value sales, outlet counts, and selling space)
- Company and brand market shares (retail value sales and outlet counts)
- Five year forecasts of market trends and market growth
- Robust and transparent research methodology, conducted in-country
This report answers:
- What is the market size of Retail in Belgium?
- Which are the leading retailers in Retail in Belgium?
- How are products distributed in Retail in Belgium?
- How is the rise of e-commerce and the expansion of modern grocery retail impacting traditional retail?
- How significant are discounters and private label in Belgium?
- To what extent are sales shifting towards digital channels?
- What is the long-term outlook for bricks-and-mortar?
- How is macroeconomic and political uncertainty affecting the retail industry?
- What types of retailers are seeing the fastest growth in digital sales?
- What is the future of retail?
Retail in Belgium
Retail in 2024: The big picture
Retailer profit margins under pressure
Online retail continued to gain share in 2024
What next for retail?
Informal retail
Opening hours for physical retail
Seasonality
Christmas
Back To School
DISCLAIMER
Convenience Retailers in Belgium
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Convenience stores see slower growth in 2024 as competition from supermarkets increases
Increasing competition from foods e-commerce
Smatch stores close as competition intensifies
Convenience stores earmarked for positive growth but the channel could face stronger competition
Colruyt to expand its network of Okay convenience stores
Convenience stores concept coming under pressure from other retail channels
Supermarkets in Belgium
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Amid price stabilisation, supermarkets sees a more positive performance in 2024
Delhaize switches to franchised supermarkets to make Sunday trading easier
Louis Delhaize sells off Match as its struggles continue
Supermarkets expected to benefit from improving economy
Colruyt to test Sunday openings
Supermarkets expected to focus more on their online sales
Hypermarkets in Belgium
KEY DATA FINDINGS
A difficult year for hypermarkets as competition grows
Carrefour remains the king of hypermarkets despite declining sales
Despite another tough year Louis Delhaize decides to hold onto Cora
Hypermarkets expected to struggle for growth despite a more positive economic outlook
Carrefour expected to focus more on other grocery channels
Cora hypermarkets to keep losing shares
Discounters in Belgium
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Price stabilisation negatively affects discounters
Key players reduce their number of stores
Rise of food e-commerce presents a new challenge to discounters
Discounters expected to invest in new outlets and higher quality products
Lidl looking to become a leader in sustainability
Aldi to expand into city centres via smaller concept outlets
Small Local Grocers in Belgium
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Small local grocers face strong competition from convenience stores and supermarkets
Some independent players struggle to overcome financial challenges resulting in store closures
Holland & Barrett wins shares
Small local grocers value sales to keep declining
Pressure on profit margins and increasing competition likely to result in more store closures
Small local grocers could find success by focusing on health and wellness products
General Merchandise Stores in Belgium
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Galeria Inno comes under new ownership in 2024 as department stores struggle
Variety stores delivers growth in 2024 driven by the success of Action
Wibra continues on downward spiral
Static performance for department store over the forecast period
Bright outlook for variety stores as consumers go in search of a bargain
New owners propose expanding the network of Galeria Inno department stores
Apparel and Footwear Specialists in Belgium
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Apparel and footwear specialists see muted performance as competition grows from other channels
Growing pressure on profit margins leads to outlet closures and the bankruptcy of Bristol
Limited-service restaurants taking over retail space in shopping malls
Apparel and footwear specialists face a challenging future despite Belgium’s improving economy
Growing competition from e-commerce
Fast-fashion likely to remain popular but sustainability concerns could also influence the market
Appliances and Electronics Specialists in Belgium
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Amid competition from retail e-commerce, appliances and electronics specialists offline sales declined
Krefel ditches its kitchen production and furniture in favour of its kitchen appliances
Consumer electronics outperform consumer appliances
More outlets expected to close as independent operators struggle to remain competitive
Demand for appliances set to increase but store-based retailers could lose out to online retailers
Logistics innovation could help reduce pressure on profit margins for appliances and electronics specialists
Home Products Specialists in Belgium
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Negative performance in 2024 for homewares and home furnishing stores
Poor weather puts a dent in sales through home improvement and gardening stores
Ikea and Jysk standout performers
Demand for homewares and home furnishing products set to grow
Amid premiumisation, pet shop shops and superstores to score growth
E-commerce to develop in home products specialists
Health and Beauty Specialists in Belgium
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Beauty specialists bounce back
Fewer pharmacies, more health and personal care stores
Competitive landscape undergoing changes as pure online retailers open physical stores and The Body Shop exits the market
Health and beauty specialists projected to see steady growth over the forecast period
Health and personal care stores set to continue growing at the expense of pharmacies
Beauty specialists likely to see mounting competition with a growing focus on omnichannel strategies
Vending in Belgium
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Vending sales slump in 2024 as consumers tighten the purse strings
Soft drinks and foods vending dominate sales but see contrasting fortunes
Sales of non-grocery products through vending remain limited
Some opportunities remain in vending amid busy on-the-go lifestyles and consumption behaviours
Investment from key players should benefit sales of hot and soft drinks vending
Consumer electronics vending seen as an area with potential
Direct Selling in Belgium
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Direct selling sales fall due to growing competition from e-commerce
Herbalife wins shares amid growth of foods and consumer health direct selling
Fashion direct selling on the decline
Increasing competition from other channels likely to stifle the growth of direct selling
Blurred lines between direct selling and e-commerce
Health and wellness trend could still offer growth opportunities for direct selling
Retail E-Commerce in Belgium
KEY DATA FINDINGS
Retail e-commerce posts solid growth in 2024
Grocery retailers invest in home delivery, boosting demand for foods e-commerce
Temu and Shein win share at the expense of category leaders thanks to highly competitive prices
A bright outlook for retail e-commerce
The rise of Temu and Shein could threaten Amazon’s leadership
Second-hand market set to develop online
The following categories and subcategories are included:
Retail
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- Convenience Stores
- Forecourt Retailers
- Supermarkets
- Hypermarkets
- Discounters
- Warehouse Clubs
- Food/Drink/Tobacco Specialists
- Small Local Grocers
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- Department Stores
- Variety Stores
- Apparel and Footwear Specialists
- Appliances and Electronics Specialists
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- Home Improvement and Gardening Stores
- Homewares and Home Furnishing Stores
- Pet Shops and Superstores
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- Beauty Specialists
- Pharmacies
- Optical Goods Stores
- Health and Personal Care Stores
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- Bags and Luggage Specialists
- Jewellery and Watch Specialists
- Sports Goods Stores
- Traditional Toys and Games Stores
- Other Non-Grocery Retailers
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- Fashion Vending
- Health and Beauty Vending
- Appliances and Electronics Vending
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- Alcoholic Drinks Vending
- Hot Drinks Vending
- Soft Drinks Vending
- Tobacco Products Vending
- Foods Vending
- Home Products Vending
- Other Products Vending
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- Apparel and Footwear Direct Selling
- Personal Accessories Direct Selling
- Eyewear Direct Selling
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- Beauty and Personal Care Direct Selling
- Consumer Health Direct Selling
- Tissue and Hygiene Direct Selling
- Appliances and Electronics Direct Selling
- Drinks and Tobacco Direct Selling
- Foods Direct Selling
- Home Products Direct Selling
- Other Products Direct Selling
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- Apparel and Footwear E-Commerce
- Personal Accessories E-Commerce
- Eyewear E-Commerce
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- Beauty and Personal Care E-Commerce
- Consumer Health E-Commerce
- Tissue and Hygiene E-Commerce
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- Consumer Appliances E-Commerce
- Consumer Electronics E-Commerce
- Toys and Games E-Commerce
- Drinks and Tobacco E-Commerce
- Foods E-Commerce
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- Home Care E-Commerce
- Home and Garden E-Commerce
- Pet Care E-Commerce
- Other Products E-Commerce
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- First-Party (1P) Marketplace E-Commerce
- Third-Party (3P) Marketplace E-Commerce
- Grocery E-Commerce
- General Merchandiser E-Commerce
- Apparel and Footwear Specialist E-Commerce
- Appliances and Electronics Specialist E-Commerce
- Home Products Specialist E-Commerce
- Health and Beauty Specialist E-Commerce
- Leisure and Personal Goods Specialist E-Commerce
- Other E-Commerce Retailers
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Retail
Retail is the sale of new and used goods to consumers from a business for personal or household consumption from retail outlets, kiosks, market stalls, vending, direct selling and e-commerce. Retail is the aggregation of Retail Offline and Retail E-Commerce. Excludes specialist retailers of motor vehicles, motorcycles, vehicle parts. Also excludes fuel sales, foodservice sales, rental transactions, and wholesale sales (e.g. Cash and Carry). Sales value excluding or including VAT/Sales Tax. Retail also excludes the informal retail sector. Informal retailing is retail trade which is not declared to the tax authorities. Informal retailing encompasses (a) sales generated by unregistered and unlicensed retailers, i.e. retailers operating illegally, and (b) any proportion of sales generated by a registered and licensed retailer that is not declared to the tax authorities. Unregistered and unlicensed retailers operate predominantly (although not exclusively) as street hawkers or operate open market stalls, as these channels are harder for the authorities to monitor than permanent outlets. Activities in the illegal market, which is usually understood to refer to trade in illegal, counterfeit or stolen merchandise, are included within our definition of informal retailing. Activities in the “grey market”, which is usually understood to refer to trade in legal merchandise that is sold through unauthorized channels – for example cigarettes bought legally in another country, legally imported, but sold at lower prices than in authorized channels – will be included as informal retailing if no tax is paid on sale by the retailer. However if the retailer pays tax – for example on cigarettes bought legally in another country but sold at a lower price than standard – the sale is included within formal retail.
See all of our definitionsWhy buy this report?
- Gain competitive intelligence about market leaders
- Track key industry trends, opportunities and threats
- Inform your marketing, brand, strategy and market development, sales and supply functions
This report originates from Passport, our Retail research and analysis database.
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