Online trade was supposed to retire supermarkets. The reality is that in Spain they do not stop opening

Despite all its uncertainties and The unknowns sown by the tariff war, 2025 promises to be a good year for the supermarket sector. At least if we trust Growth forecasts and shared figures A few days ago by Asedasthe Spanish Association of Distributors, Self -Services and Supermarkets. According to their estimates, during the first four months of the year 244 stores have opened in Spain, 25% more than during the same period last year. Not just that. The sector expects to say goodbye to 2025 with 850 new establishments.

If confirmed, the map of establishments distributed throughout Spain could exceed the 26,000 barrier.

A figure: 778. He arrives at the majority of cities and large municipalities in the country to verify the trend, but besieged, the employer of the sector, has put figures: In Spain there are more and more supermarkets. According to their latest annual report, in 2024 they opened 778 new stores that raised the total map of points of sale of the country (self -services, super and hypermarkets) to 25,585. Once the closures are discounted, that leaves a “Net growth” of 352 businesses with respect to those operated in 2023.

And how will this year go? Although 2024 closed with a map of the sale map, the inaugurations rhythm was somewhat lower than that of recent years. In 2024, 778 openings were registered, but in 2023 they were 787 and the previous year 889. Asedas, which Agglutina To companies such as Savoramas, Aldi, Covirán, Día, Lidl or Mercadona, hope that this “slight descent” is “passenger”. The reason: So far this year the association has already registered 244 openings, 25% more than during the same months of 2024. Their forecasts pass because the year ends with 850 new premises.

Changes in the sector. Beyond its opening data or the size of the National Park, The report Asedas is interesting because it leaves some ideas about the trends that govern in the sector. The most interesting probably is that the supermarket format “strengthens itself as the most successful”, compared to others such as self -service or hypermarket. The association also requires that more than half of the stores (about 50.6%) “They are framed in proximity and coexistence formulas.”

Interesting is also the speed with which the market changes. Asedas estimates that since 2021 almost a quarter (23%) of the network has been renewed or renovated. For the collective the key to that “dynamism” connects mainly with associative trade, such as franchises and cooperatives, which in 2024 were behind approximately 60% of the openings. “They have a great impact on the rural world, since a third of these inaugurations occurred in municipalities with less than 10,000 inhabitants,” They emphasize.

“Regional leaders”. Another of the keys to the growth of the sector is, In Asedas opinionin the “regional leaders.” In fact, in its report, the focus on 25 companies (audited in total 320 companies) that increased their average commercial area from 2021, which far exceeds the general tendency of the sector, which also grew, but only 4.3%, were audited. It is not the first to point in that direction. In 2024 Kantar He already pointed out in Another sectorial study How the super regional were planting the white brands and large chains.

“In a context of market stability, the organized distribution sector has registered a 0.6% growth in volume during 2024, mainly driven by short assortment chains and regional supermarkets,” Kantar collected in February, in February Another report in which he calculates that regional ones have reached a quota of 18% after having grown 0.7 points. The reason: its supply of frescoes, personalized service and expansion to new geographical areas.

Pending rural. Asedas slides another interesting idea: despite the urban exodus, their data shows that in Rural the retail Food continues to register more openings than closures. Between 2020 and 2024 he estimates that they have opened their doors 1,117 new stores In municipalities with less than 10,000 inhabitants, which means that almost a quarter (23.6%) of the openings were concentrated in rural environments.

The employer also highlights the role of small businesses and family chains with networks of 10 or even less stores, although the truth is that smaller businesses do not always endure the thrust of the chains. Kantar slides That the growth of the “organized distribution sector”, including regional supermarkets, has been achieved in part by the “volume transfer” from the “traditional trade”, which has punctured almost 4%.

Their February data They corroborate that operators with the highest market share in value are Mercadona, Carrefour, Lidl, Eroski, Dia, Consum, Alcampo, Aldi and IFA. Among the nine bind a quota that touches 70% of the market. In total Asedas estimates that the sector set has 25,585 active establishments (14,486 supermarkets, 10,589 self -service and 510 hypermarkets) that give direct employment to about 414,100 people. The annual investment in new construction of the Round collective between 1,000 and 1.3 billion of euros.

Are all opportunities? No. Despite the opening data or the increase in the benefit (together the main companies added 2,141 million of euros in 2023, with an ascending profitability curve), the sector also faces challenges. The main one: although the business expect to growwill do it in a very competitive scenario.

“In a market that barely grows in volume, the challenge is to gain share of other competitors. It requires having a clear and differential value proposal, which attracts and fidelize better to consumers and exploit roads of inorganic growth,” Comment to The avant -garde Enrique Porta, consumer partner and retail of the KPMG audit.

Another key is to adapt to new market trends, such as less and less weight relative of the hyper, or adjust the size of the network to the demand. After all, although the sector expects to register hundreds of new openings throughout the year, which could even raise the points of sale above 26,000, Nor is it alien to closures, layoffs and readjustments.

Images | Alcampo and Eroski

In Xataka | In full expansion, Mercadona and white brands have encountered an unexpected rival: the super regional