Will mass consumption look bleak in October? As temperatures drop and the French XV is eliminated from the Rugby World Cup, the sector has lost two levers that ensured a brilliant month of September. According to figures from panelist NielsenIQ, the month of September was one of the highest ever observed in mass distribution during the last decade. With cumulative sales of fresh consumer products and self-service (PGC-FLS) reaching 3.56 billion units in 2023 as of October 8, only the month of September 2020 fared better with 3.60 billion during the same period. Over the course of a year, we observed a stabilization of volumes.
In detail, the top 20 categories showing the highest growth during the period from September 4 to October 8 are “summer” products such as natural still waters (+20.5% compared to 2022), carbonated non-alcoholic drinks (+14.5%) or even sugary frozen foods (+43.1%). NielsenIQ also adopts a “geographical” reading grid to analyze this rebound in consumption:
Thus, the cities whose hypermarkets, supermarkets and convenience stores register greater growth in value from September 4 to October 8 compared to 2022 are Mulhouse (12%), Limoges, Bayonne, Poitiers (11%) and Chambéry, Caen, Amiens and Metz. (10%).
Spikes on Blues match days against All-Blacks and Italy
According to NielsenIQ, “we cannot ignore the contribution of some matches of this Rugby World Cup, which will logically have attracted numerous tourists to the region, and the performance of the local urban circuit can only confirm this observation.” Despite a drop in FMCG-FLS sales in supermarkets (-0.8% from September 4 to October 8 compared to 2022), hypermarkets (-1%) and discount stores (-1 .6%), convenience stores were a success, whether located in urban (+3.4%) or rural (+3.3%) areas. Of the five weeks studied, three Saturdays achieved higher yields than the average for a classic Saturday in 2023 (September 9 and 30 and October 7). Even more significantly, Friday 8 September and 6 October generated 5% more PGC-FLS sales compared to an average Friday in 2023: these were the days of the two main French XV posters in Group A, namely the opening match against New Zealand and the match against Italy.
A festive event par excellence, the Rugby World Cup benefited all host cities of the competition, especially in terms of beer sales in hypermarkets, supermarkets and local brands. In Saint-Etienne, its beer turnover increased by 16.3% between September 4 and October 8 compared to the same period in 2022. The city of Saint-Etienne is closely followed by the capital (+15 .9%) and then Toulouse (+14.8%). ) and Nantes (+14.7%). Brewers can also count on CHR establishments (cafes, hotels, restaurants) to sell their liters of beer since more than one in four people who plan to watch the World Cup have done so or will do so in these types of establishments, bars (48% of people), cafes (40%) and casual restaurants (36%) are clearly in the lead.
Source: BFM TV
