Serbian supermarket chain consolidates leading position

REAPING THE FRUITS of its success in the Belgrade area (where it accounts for 60% of the trade in food and consumer goods), C Market is looking for opportunities beyond Serbia’s borders.

C Market is the largest and best known supermarket chain in Serbia. Possessing the highest volume of sales and the greatest number of customers–76 million used its shops last year–it has established itself as the dominant retail outlet for food and consumer goods in the country.
The last few years have hardly been an ideal period for the retail trade in the region. The incessant conflicts of the last decade have taken their toll on the economy. Infrastructure has been devastated, imports were hit badly by international sanctions and consumer spending power collapsed.

C Market has, however, managed to weather the storm and is now determined to take advantage of the opportunities that are available with the advent of a new political climate.
“The last two years were very tough for business in general,” explains Managing Director Slobodan Radulovic. Sanctions hit the spending power of the people and hyperinflation meant that any profits would be eaten away immediately.”
The only way to protect the business from the ravages of inflation was to plow back any surplus into the company, investing in new technology and improved equipment.

According to Mr. Radulovic the policy paid dividends because not only did the business survive intact, but it is now one of the most advanced supermarket chains in the whole of Eastern and Southeastern Europe.
C Market opened its first modern supermarket back in 1958 and has been at the forefront of development in the sector ever since. Its operations are primarily concentrated in and around the Belgrade area, where it has a 60% share of the total trade in food and consumer goods.

This year the company is aiming to open its first hypermarket and to establish e-commerce facilities that will facilitate purchases over the internet from both home and abroad.
Expansion plans are well under way and the company has set a target of reaching across the of the country a similar market share as it has in the Belgrade area. It is also looking for opportunities beyond the Serbian borders.
“We want to find a strategic partner who is interested in cooperating with us so that we can expand into Eastern Europe,” says Mr. Radulovic who believes that his company’s knowledge and expertise would be an invaluable asset to any business aiming to tap the largely unexploited potential of the region.