Sweden


	The Japan Times WORLD EYE REPORTS SWEDEN

©THE JAPAN TIMES	Saturday, November 15, 2003

Northern Europe’s corner store

ICA Ahold, the largest retail group in the Nordic region, employs some 40,000 personnel. More than 3.4 million customers pass through its stores everyday. As a market leader with a focused approach to customer demands and local needs, the group refuses to rest on its laurels – instead it is striving for further success in Sweden, Norway and beyond.

Founded in 1917 as a small cooperative, the ICA Group has achieved its success through operating close to the market and meeting the needs of its customers on a local level. Kenneth Bengtsson, president and CEO of ICA Ahold, explains the unique strategy that has set ICA apart from the competition.

“Our retailers own their own stores and act as local entrepreneurs who are able to listen to customers and adapt to the local environment. We don’t have a centralized pricing system, so they are responsible for setting their own prices. We provide opportunity for local adaptation, something which our competitors can never duplicate.”

Kenneth Bengtsson, president and CEO of ICA Ahold

A mature company in a mature market, ICA faces two main challenges. First, there is the “Nordic” challenge: an “infrastructure battle” involving logistics, marketing and finance to maintain market share. Bengtsson is adamant that the second biggest challenge, the “local battle”, remains equally significant.

Working in local convenience stores, supermarkets and modern day hypermarkets, motivated employees are the vital keys to the success of each store. With customer needs varying from store to store, each of ICA’s 3,000 stores in Scandinavia and the Baltic countries require local employees with a passion for retail, something with which Bengtsson can strongly identify.

“I know how it is out there,” he explains. “I was a retailer for years.”

Having begun his career at the age of 13 working on the shop floor in his local ICA store, Bengtsson decided his vocation was going to be in retail. Following years of experience in the industry and opening the first ICA Hypermarket in Stockholm, Bengtsson became the company’s president and CEO in 2001, and is relishing the prospect of leading ICA into the future.

Operations today span Sweden, Norway and the Baltic region -- ICA is reaping the rewards of strategies set in motion over 85 years ago. Having seen ICA grow in Sweden and Norway, Bengtsson believes there is now tremendous potential in the Baltic region.

“We have a market share of 36 percent in Sweden and 23 percent in Norway,” he notes. “In the next three to four years we expect to grow significantly in the Baltics too.”

ICA’s set goal is to become the leading retailer in Northern Europe, and this is looking increasingly attainable. With a strong brand, private label products, careful utilization of economies of scale within the group and continued profitability, the company looks ahead from the forefront of Scandinavia’s retail food industry.

TOP

Home About Us Careers Contact Us Reports Advertisers About Japan Times