«Thus customers saved 677 million»- Corriere.it

The result of which Giorgio Santambrogio, CEO of the Végé Group is most proud – one of the protagonists of large-scale Italian retail with 32 associated companies, 3,052 points of sale and brands such as Bennet, Iper Tosano, Decò, Migross, Isa -, presenting the data budget 2022, it is neither the growth for the ninth consecutive year of turnover (12.7 billion euros in revenues, +6.7% on 2021), nor the market share of 7.9%, which makes the group the fifth in Italy.

The most important fact concerns the real savings transferred to its customers, in an attempt to give them breathing space in a year in which they have been suffocated by inflation. «We are talking about around 677 million euros, a number made up of hundreds of discounted products, every week of the year and applied to the entire network throughout Italy – explains Santambrogio -. Although we have few discount stores among our members, we have preferred to reduce our margins to help the consumer as much as possible».

The dear life effect

Inflation has restored importance to promotions, to which “according to the latest research, 60% of Italian families are paying attention today”, says the CEO of Végé. The group’s strategy is not to give as much discount as possible or to discount the greatest number of products, but to “offer quality products at reduced prices – says Santambrogio -. To do this, and also to dilute the price spikes as much as possible, we have to deal with suppliers, who increased their price lists by 25% in 2022 and by 15% in the first months of 2023». For now, the negotiations have had some success, contradicting those who predicted a mass migration to discount stores. «According to a research by Iri, in the first months of 2023 Italian supermarkets gained 12.1% in value and lost 1.4% in volume, while the discounter achieved +9% in value and a – 5.3% by volume – explains the CEO -. The discounter has reached a 25% market share, but 75% remains in the hands of modern distribution».

PTo obtain a stronger contractual position at the negotiating tables with suppliers, above all with multinationals, the large-scale retail groups, competing with each other, form alliances and purchasing super-centrals. Végé has one at European level with the Ifa Group, one of the most important operators in Spain and Portugal, while the partnership with Carrefour, which began in 2018 with the Aicube 4.0 plant, will not be renewed at the end of the year «The alliance could no longer go on , due to the strategy of Carrefour France, which wanted to create a super internal international purchasing center, based in Madrid and called Eureka, within which various brands are converging. We therefore preferred not to renew the agreement, while remaining in excellent relations, both personal and commercial, between the two organisations», explains Santambrogio. Which does not exclude further partnerships in the future: «We are talking to some Italian groups for new alliances».

The future

Meanwhile, the group wants to continue its growth, according to the three carriers that have led it to increase its revenues tenfold in over 10 years (in 2011 they were 1.5 billion euros): “increase in the number of customers within individual stores, opening new points of sale, and incorporating new businesses into our group», says the CEO. THEThe focus also concerns technology, with the launch of the partnership with Smart Sommelier — a service that allows you to get in touch with a certified professional sommelier via video call for advice on wines, beers and spiritis present in the catalog — and the introduction of «a “business intelligence” project, with the aim of having information that allows us to optimize prices, assortments and promotions thanks to analytics», explains Santambrogio.

Just as the initiatives regarding sustainability and training continue. “We focus a lot on the social aspect: for example, together with Decathlon, we carry out a project of nutritional sustainability and food education, which makes it possible to carry out campaigns in support of sporting practice, carried out by amateur associations recognized by Coni – explains the CEO —. This project allows them, through the shopping made by our customers, to receive Decathlon gift cards necessary for the purchase of material for sporting activities”. In the first edition, one million 300 thousand euros were raised for more than 2,500 associations.

As far as training is concerned, however, the group has created the Végé Academy five years ago. «It is held weekly, both face-to-face and online, and does not concern technical training, which remains the responsibility of the individual brands, but deals with all those topics that may be of use to our entrepreneurs: from artificial intelligence to how to increase leadership, from how better manage our departments and how to improve marketing», concludes Santambrogio

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