According to TBC Research, number of stores of selected Georgian FMCG retailers were up by 55% y-o-y to 768 in 2018 and is expected to exceed 1,000 (+21% y-o-y) in 2019.
New store openings in the regions (+260) is expected to surpass the new store openings in the capital (+173) for the two year period in 2017-2019. Top players are expanding more slowly to the regions, compared to the overall market.
Concentration of number of stores in Tbilisi of Top 4 players by sales is expected to decrease by 8 p.p. to 78% in 2019, compared to 2017. This is less than the overall market shift, but we expect that it will be accelerated in the following years, considering low concentration in the regions.
Also, one of the main regional players, Daily started to operate under SPAR franchise from 2018. Wholesale trade format of the retailer JIBE Cash & Carry could be interesting strategy for other retailers. Jibe Cash & Carry mainly operates in the regions with the main focus on wholesale trade. According to the company financials, retail trade accounted to only 18% of total sales in 2018.
Sale of the products is carried out directly from the wholesale warehouse and the main customers are legal entities.
Fresco and Goodwill cooperate with Clean House10 to increase the offered product varieties to its consumers. Clean House is a non-food retailer which concentrates on housekeeping goods. The retailer operates 82 stores and generated GEL 78mln sales in 2018.
