The influence of consumer behaviour within the Spanish food retail industry

In Spain, food distribution has been revolutionised over the past 15 years. Traditional food stores are in the process of slowly disappearing, while hypermarkets and supermarkets are increasing their presence, and more importantly, their market share. To understand better the causes behind this revolution, examines the existent literature on distribution trends, generally, in Spain. The Spanish distribution industry is marked by governmental deintermediation, consumers’ orientation toward value and competitors’ quest for efficiency through centralisation, as well as the development of new services and micro marketing actions, with the objective of increasing customer loyalty. Focuses on Spanish food product distribution, marked by the progressive drop in the number of traditional stores, the appearance of discounters specialising in the sale of own‐brands and having aggressive prices, the notable growth of hypermarkets because of their diversified offering and near‐cost prices, and the success of supermarkets, rooted in their ability to open multiple points of sale, positioning themselves between hypermarkets and discounters.