Small Prices and Big Smiles

Retailer Action

Conquers Europe; Affordable And Sustainable Can Co-Exist

With the adage ‘Small prices and big smiles,’ Action is Europe's fastest-growing retail chain. It is currently mainly non-food in its assortment. The share in private label products is still relatively small, with 73 products in 2022, but poised for growth due to consumer demand.

Action started 30 years ago as a small store in the Netherlands. The company now operates 2,263 stores in the Netherlands, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, Austria, Poland, the Czech Republic, Italy, and Spain. Nearly 15 million customers are served weekly in stores and another 6.5 million online. And its network of stores and distribution centers, as well as the logistical infrastructure, is still expanding rapidly, with Portugal the next country in line.

Logistics and consistency seem to be Action’s driving force. You can visit a store in France, the Netherlands, Germany, or Spain in one week, buying the same products and getting the same promotions without noticing you are in a different country. Approximately 95 percent of the assortment is the same all over Europe. According to Action CEO Hajir Hajji,

Wherever Action starts now, it seems to hit consumers from day one, which is reflected in the company’s value. In March 2022, the British investor 3iGroup, which has owned Action since 2011, noted a value of 4.5 billion; in 2022, this was 7 billion, and at the latest presentation of the annual figures, in March 2023, over 10 billion was realized. 3iGroup has invested in expansion, modernization of the brickand-mortar network and the staff.

Image Building

Despite the growth of Action, the perception of many consumers – especially in the Netherlands – is of cheap throw-away items and an assortment mainly consisting of batch goods, only made in China. CEO Hajji is determined to change these perceptions. “It is impossible to serve millions of customers in 11 countries in almost 2500 stores with only batches of goods. In the beginning, the share of batches was bigger indeed, but since then, the company has also worked with vast suppliers and producers that grew along with them. As a result, at least 40 percent of our products we buy in Europe now, and this percentage still grows because we take sustainability seriously”, Hajji stated in the Dutch newspaper Telegraaf.

Next to enhancing the sustainability of stores and processes, the company strives to make the assortment more and more climate and environmentally friendly. Some private label products of Action have already received awards for this, including the bamboo underwear from the private label Ziki, a winner in the Salute to Excellence contest from PLMA, and the bed sheets from the label Hotel Royal.

According to Hajji, sustainability and affordability can go hand in hand. “Quality and sustainability are important to us, and still, we can serve our customers with affordable prices,” she states. Ninety percent of the cotton and ninety-two percent of the wooden products the company sells are certified sustainable. “Without scaling up our prices,” Hajji emphasizes. Action works with modest margins within the interest of the customers.” She asks herself why some companies in 2023 still ask such high prices.

Transparency is key

Suppliers wanting to land on the Action shelves must pledge to work responsibly, ethically, and transparently. “Action not only strives to create a positive impact within our organization but also throughout our value chain. Together with our suppliers, NGOs, governments, international certification bodies, and standards, we work to strengthen the sustainability of our value chain”, the company states on its website.

To create positive social and environmental impact and identify supply chain risks, Action focuses on transparency, working together with ImpactBuying. “We jointly aim to improve the circumstances of workers and their families and lower the environmental impact of the products,” says Laurien Dwars, Social Compliance Specialist at Action. With a rapidly changing assortment and many suppliers, having full transparency in the supply chain is a very challenging task, she admits. Action has already achieved 100% final product manufacturer transparency for all its private label products in 2022. For all its white label products (brands owned by Actions suppliers), Action aims to be fully transparent by 2025.

Hans Kraak

Hans Kraak is educated in biology and journalism and wrote three books about nutrition and health. He worked for the Dutch ministry of Agriculture, Nature and Food quality and the Netherlands Nutrition Centre. As editor in chief he publishes in the Dutch Magazine for Nutrition and Dietetics, as a food and wine writer he published in Meininger’s Wine Business International and reports for PLMA Live EU and PLMA USA.

BY PERRY SEELERT