Throughout the world, the COVID-19 crisis has brought inevitable changes to our daily lives and to all industries, including retail. Adapting its strategy and operations to the new reality, Maxima Latvija has defined its top three priorities for the next 12 months: 1) lowering prices on high quality products; 2) public health and sustainability; and 3) cautious growth and balanced expansion of the store chain, with a total of 50 million Euro planned for investment in these priorities.
“We recognise that the impact of the pandemic on the economy and society as a whole will be very significant, which is why we have revisited Maxima Latvija’s growth strategy to put a greater focus on supporting people. We recognise that we must do everything we can as a leading retailer to ensure that our customers in Latvia have better access to high-quality products at lower prices every day. These efforts will promote a balanced diet while enabling people to put the money they save towards costs where savings are not possible, such as bills or medical treatment. We will continue to look after the well-being and growth of our employees as carefully as before with an investment of nine million Euro. Meanwhile, the introduction of effective business management solutions allows us to adapt to new circumstances, continuing cautious, yet well-considered growth and the development of the store chain in 2020, thus bringing added value to the Latvian economy as a whole,” explains CEO of Maxima Latvija Viktors Troicins.
Lower price
Bearing in mind the economic circumstances and the crisis created by the pandemic, increasing numbers of people (68% of respondents
[1]) are paying more attention to their daily spending and attempting to reduce expenses. This is why the company is continuing its long-term price lowering programme, reducing prices by up to 40% within a year for several thousand fresh produce and basic items. The company has allocated 7.2 million Euro for investment toward this goal.
Public health and sustainability
Maxima Latvija will continue its active collaboration with the relevant government institutions for the benefit of public health, ensuring strict preventative and controlling measures to control COVID-19. To support the Latvian public, particularly more vulnerable groups, Maxima Latvija will continue to actively support the health and rehabilitation of children and young people, youth sports organisations, as well as local initiatives and a range of support measures for non-governmental organisations and, in a new area - cultural initiatives. Maxima will continue its environmental sustainability policy, and will actively lobby for key public issues, such as VAT reduction for fresh groceries (such as meat, fish, milk and bread) to make these items more accessible.
Focussed investment
New and renovated stores make shopping more convenient, ensure social distancing, and create new jobs and offer support to several industries such as construction and local producers. This year, we plan to open twelve new and seven renovated stores in Riga and elsewhere, with total planned investments of 34 million Euro. This will also include investment in new technologies and digital solutions for customer and employee convenience, such as self-service checkouts, digital price tags, and the expansion of online supermarket Barbora.lv in Riga and regions.
2019 – a year of stable growth and investment
Last year, Maxima Latvija operated with a turnover of 836.7 million Euro—7.7% up on 2018. Total investment of 2019 in the growth of the company, employee benefits and support of public initiatives reached 49.5 million Euro, while tax contributions grew to 110 million Euro, 22.7 million of which was in social taxes. Maxima Latvija generated a net profit of 27.5 million Euro – this allows the retailer to continue lowering prices, implementing targeted initiatives in customer and employee convenience, and making significant investments in employee benefits for 2020, a total of 50 million Euro earmarked for this year.
Information for the media:
Liene Dupate-Ugule
Head of Communications
[1] Research commissioned by
Maxima Latvija on the impact of COVID-19 on consumer shopping trends in March and April 2020
