Sales at Dutch non-food discounter Action continue to rise substantially: in the first half of 2024, they grew by more than 20 % to 6.2 billion euros. Further growth should come from Italy, among others.
Continuing expansion
The growth comes both from an influx of new shops (119 already this year) and a stronger performance from already existing shops (with a like-for-like growth of 9 %). Moreover, the chain points out that volume growth was even stronger than revenue growth, but the chain invested heavily in the price reduction of 1,300 products. Despite this, profits also grew strongly: the chain’s EBITDA climbed as much as 23 % to 843 million euros.
Action proudly reports that it now serves more than 17 million customers every week in its 2,685 shops in twelve European countries. They especially appreciate its private brands, CEO Hajir Hajji says: “Our customers value the own brands tremendously because of the great value for money. We therefore continuously invest in the quality and sustainability of these products.”
The chain is also continuing to expand: the aim is to open 330 new stores over the full year. A new distribution centre in Italy should enable expansion into the heel of the boot: for example, a first branch recently opened in the southern province of Puglia. This also creates a lot of new jobs: as many as 3182 this year alone, the chain says, meaning that more than 72,000 people are now active at Action.
