The performances of Conad’s concept stores

It offers the opportunity to purchase healthy products and raise awareness among customers of self-care and life-styles: this is the idea behind the creation of the ConCURA concept stores, 11 of which were implemented at the end of 2022 in the Spazio Conad channel, with a selection of products dedicated to personal health, well-being and care.

The ConCURA Concept is divided into two separate departments: ConCURA, il tuo Benessere a Tavola (Your Well-Being at the Table, healthy eating) and ConCURA, abbraccia il tuo Benessere (Embrace Your Well-Being, parapharmacy plus optician).

1. ConCURA - abbraccia il tuo Benessere is the concept that integrates Parapharmacia and Ottico, offering a wide range of personal care products, specialised cosmetics, health care and medication, non- prescription human medicines, veterinary medicines with and without prescription, supplements, natural remedies and eye and sight care products (glasses, contact lenses, liquids, eye drops and more). The Concept, which combines orange (Conad's distinctive colour scheme) and water-green tones with the idea of cleanliness, purity and relaxation, is always manned by health professionals (pharmacists and opticians) and is proposed in a logic of synergy with the Hygiene and Personal Care areas, so that customers can find everything they need in terms of care, beauty and well-being in a single area of the shop. In addition to the parapharmacy and optician line, the "ConCURA - abbraccia il tuo Benessere" area focuses on "counselling areas": reserved and well-equipped booths where customers can benefit from health, screening and measurement services, provided by specialised external personnel.

2. ConCURA - il tuo Benessere a Tavola offers a wide selection of organic products, especially fruit and vegetables, but also packaged foods - fresh or frozen - and a selection of products for special dietary needs, such as celiac disease or lactose intolerance. The area is marked by its green tones, which evoke the ecological well-being that people increasingly prefer, and in synergy with the Health Concept, which combines parapharmacy, optician and services.

Within Conad shops, parapharmacies have become an important point of reference for clients. In the almost 180 shops nationwide, there are more than 6,000 products for the health and well-being of the whole family: non-prescription, veterinary and homeopathic medicines, supplements and natural remedies, high quality creams and cosmetic treatments. And, on a daily basis, discounts and offers that make buying health products and services accessible and more convenient for everyone.

More than 5 million clients can rely on the advice of highly qualified and always up-to-date pharmacists, also thanks to training courses dedicated specifically to their profession. When shopping, clients can also take time out to look after the health and wellbeing of the whole family, picking up professional advice and tips on healthy lifestyles and nutrition. In larger shops, the parapharmacy is part of the ConCURA Concept together with the optician, and also offers prevention and screening services. With Conad parapharmacies and ConCURA areas, customers avoid putting off and forgetting the most important appointment: the one with their health.

During the pandemic experience, parapharmacies provided a very useful public service, reinforcing the network of private and municipal pharmacies in the area. Since the beginning of the pandemic, Conad parapharmacies have offered protective devices and self-testing for Covid-19 at very low prices, guaranteeing wide product availability and savings. To date, parapharmacies and large-scale retail outlets account for almost 9% of the total typical pharmacy market (not including prescription drugs), which is worth a total of €15.9 billion and a growth rate of 3.3% (MAT April 2023. Source: Iqvia).

With changing habits, optimising time and travel has become a priority. This is why combining shopping time with the time for an eyesight check-up becomes a great convenience, from which Conad customers can benefit in large shops, where Conad opticians are present: modern and comfortable shops where they can find professionals and functional equipment at the service of the wellbeing of their eyes and sight.

The guidelines of the Conad System, which recommend customer satisfaction in terms of both affordability and service, are thus put into practice in these concept stores, where opticians and optometrists work professionally, offering measurements, first contact lens fitting, frame repair or replacement, high quality products and great savings opportunities. In some commercial realities, the Conad optician joins the Parapharmacy and becomes ConCURA: a single large space dedicated to personal health and wellbeing.

The optical sector is returning to growth after the pandemic and aims to resume the path of evolution abruptly interrupted by Covid. Already in 2021, it will show significant growth: +10% (€3.3bn total) with a slight decrease in 2022 (€3.2bn). Worldwide, vision defects represent the number one disability with around 2.5 billion uncorrected people. Furthermore, it is estimated that half of the world's population will be myopic in 2050 and that in 2030, in Italy, the over-65s will be 1 in 4 and there will be 250,000 potential new wearers every year (Source: IRSOO).

The major KPIs in this sector indicate growing margins and trends.

In 2022 there was an almost complete return to normality following the pandemic, with a parallel recovery of oil consumption, unfortunately also accompanied by an increase in prices due to a particularly complex international geopolitical scenario.

Conad once again remained fully committed to stemming the impact of these increases on the incomes of Italian households, by continuing to ease pressure on the communities served through average prices (including petrol, diesel and LPG) of around 7.5 centres per litre below those published by the Ministry for Economic Development.

Average monthly spending by an Italian family on refuelling at Conad stations came to 164 euros, as compared with 171 euros recorded nationally; all this resulted in annual savings of approximately 90 euros. However, considering the period from the first opening in Gallicano (LU) in 2005 through to today, the progressive savings assured to customers came to 292.4 million euros, out of a total of more than 3.5 billion litres supplied, with an average benefit of 8.3 cents per litre.

There are now more than 100 locations of the Conad PetStore brand, which has become a fixture in the lives of pet-lovers. Since the first two stores were opened in Modena and Perugia in 2016, growth has not only been constant, but clearly exponential – proof that the Consortium succeeded in identifying the right market to target and expand into. Located near Conad hypermarkets and superstores, over the last year the pet stores have undergone a thorough restyling to allow them to meet the needs of our furred and feathered animal friends even more effectively. Over 11,000 SKUs offered, from food (including products with animals with particular pathologies), to grooming and well-being products, not to mention accessories for outdoor use, transport and play, as well as the essential mats and litter-boxes. At PetStores, Conad also focuses on marketing strategies based on value for money with rotating promotions for approximately 400 products every month, discount vouchers and other benefits for Conad cardholders.

Since 2019 the most extensive store format has also included the Bubble Pet area: a professional grooming salon, booth with self-service tub for washing cats and dogs and washing room for accessories with special machines. Special attention is devoted to training specialised personnel – an essential factor for the satisfaction of customers and their pets. Traditional training is accompanied by the Conad PetStore Academy, a Web platform with all useful updates. As part of the network development plan, opening walk-in veterinarian’s offices with basic services near the pet store and pet-sitting services is also being considered.

In addition, the numbers show how much Italians can’t do without their pets.The phenomenon, driven by the pandemic, brought 64.8 million into our homes (data: Euromonitor, processed by Assalco-Zoomark 2022): 8.7 million dogs, 10.1 million cats, 29.9 million fish and even birds, small mammals and reptiles. As a result, in 2022 the turnover for pet food alone came to 2,419 million euros in Italy (data: Iri, processed by Assalco-Zoomark 2022).