The retail trade in Switzerland is growing slightly: consumers spent CHF 33 billion on their purchases in 2017. Consumers are again shopping more frequently: an average household goes on a shopping trip 139 times a year. On average, everyday products worth around 41 Swiss francs ended up in the shopping basket.
Three-quarters of consumers plan their shopping in advance, yet 60 percent also tend to make spontaneous purchases in stores. Nearly 64 percent like to visit well-organized shops with a pleasant ambience.The search for special offers is still popular. 63 percent of consumers prefer special offers to cover their daily needs. 57 consumers compare the prices of private labels and brands. In 2017, 27 percent bought more private labels than in the previous year. 57 percent of consumers attach great importance to healthy products. Quality is important for 55 percent - they are willing to pay more for quality products. Although consumers are increasingly focusing on quality, price sensitivity is also increasing. Meanwhile, 52% of Swiss consumers state that they know the prices of everyday products.
In 2017, the retail trade in Switzerland generated a turnover of almost 33 billion Swiss francs. This is a slight increase of around 1 percent. The number of stores, which has been declining for years, fell further to a good 6,650.
The small supermarkets (+3.1%), Superettes (2.7%) and hard discounters (+4%) were again able to increase sales. Sales of Traditional Grocers (+0.3%) and Large Supermarkets (+0.4%) hardly changed at all. Hypermarkets, on the other hand, suffered a slight drop in sales (-1.4%).
Gross advertising expenses amounted to 6 billion Swiss francs in 2017. This represents an increase of more than 11 percent. Print media and TV achieved the highest spending, closely followed by the Internet. However, the Internet is showing the highest growth in media spending. Spending on Internet advertising more than doubled last year.
These and many more facts from 2017 and 2018 can be found in the new app "Nielsen Consumers 2018".
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You can download last year's version as PDF here.
For the second time, Nielsen is publishing an overview of the retail landscape in Switzerland. These data are supplemented by consumer attitudes and advertising spendings. The data is based on Nielsen consumer panel and retail panel data as well as a number of Nielsen studies. Further information is available in our app in the iOS and Android app stores. For the first time, the app now also contains information on Germany and Austria. Search for "Nielsen Consumers".