Historic high for sales at supermarkets

Supermarket sales recorded a 15-year high in 2020, being one of the very few winners during the pandemic.

Data collected by Nielsen researchers showed a 9.7% rise in organized food retailing during 2020. This concerns supermarkets of at least 100 square meters on mainland Greece and Crete, including retail chains.

This increase was universal, across all product categories sold at supermarkets: Products sold in bulk saw turnover grow 7.2%, homeware and apparel items registered a 10.7% advance, even though their sale was banned at supermarkets in the last few weeks of last year, while the most popular category, comprising food, detergents and personal hygiene items, recorded a 10.5% jump.

The last category received a major boost thanks to the 18% rise in turnover for cleaning products, due to coronavirus concerns, while packaged food and drinks also posted a 9.8% expansion. The growth rate was significantly lower (at 5.4%) for cosmetics and personal care products.

The increase appeared greatest in Thessaloniki (11.8%) and smallest on Crete (3.1%), likely due to the slump in tourism.