120 million BGN investments and 12 new stores are planned by BILLA in Bulgaria in 2024 – Business

By the end of the year, BILLA will open 12 new stores, which will create 250 jobs. Two of them will be in cities where the chain has not had a presence so far – Teteven and Tutrakan.

The total investments that the chain plans in Bulgaria for 2024 are for BGN 120 million

There will be 73 million of them investments in new sites and the modernization of existing onesand BGN 47 million in the completion of new warehouse near Stara Zagora, which started in September last year.

This year, the challenge for the company will not be inflation, but maintaining discipline, as required by the deflation that has been reported in recent months.

They report in the chain deflation at regular prices of 2.6% on an annual basis in March. According to NSI, the annual inflation in Bulgaria for March 2024 compared to March 2023 is 3.0%.

The most noticeable is the drop in prices for fruits and vegetables by nearly 11%, dairy products by just over 5% and cosmetics – by nearly 4% compared to March 2023.

“During all the months since the beginning of the year, starting from January, we have observed deflation. However, we must be very careful with it, because in such a situation the opportunities to grow and develop are smaller.” said the company’s CEO Vigintas Shapokas.

“Our prices are compared daily and adjusted if needed,” he added.

Consumers’ response to the deflation is that they take advantage of more promotional offers as well as the loyalty programs that Billa offers.

Total 80% of customers prefer to buy products on offermore than half say that the leading factor in choosing goods is quality.

At the moment, the offers are on average over 1300 and weekly. As part of the chain’s turnover, the promotional share for March 2024 exceeds 48%, which is 3% more than the same period of the previous year.

Easter basket

The lower prices of goods in recent months will allow the chain to make the consumer basket for the coming Easter cheaper, by around 2%, than last year.

It traditionally includes products such as lamb, eggs, cottage cheese, vegetables, potatoes and cheese. The price of lamb this year will be around BGN 20 per kilogram, and of goats – from under BGN 2 to BGN 30.

This year, customers of the chain have the opportunity to online shopping, since very recently, in addition to Sofia and Varna, customers from Pleven also have one.

Financial results

For 2023, the company notes a growth of 15% compared to 2022, reaching turnover of BGN 1.423 billion. This places it in third place in terms of turnover of all companies of the REWE concern, of which it is a part.

At the same time, the total number of chain customers increased by 5.4%.

Last year she maintains its leadership position in terms of number of stores in Bulgaria with 159 sites in 25 regions and 50 cities in the country. In 2023, 14 sites were renovated and 14 new stores were opened. For the first time, the chain enters the cities of Sozopol, Chirpan, Troyan, Silistra and the village of Graf Ignatievo.

Nearly 5,000 products are now offered online, and between 300 and 400 orders are generated online every day, with a turnover equal to that of a medium-sized chain store.

“One of the main changes in Billa is that if before we were mainly a grocery chain, in the last year or two, we have also offered many more non-food items to meet market demand and consumer needs,” explained Shapokas.

Customers in Bulgaria prefer local products, and this is one of the ways in which the company respects the principles of sustainable development, he added.