Winter 2025 Retailer Appreciation Report: how Belgian shoppers' expectations are evolving and who stands out

Which retailers are leading the way this winter according to Belgian shoppers?

The Winter 2025 Retailer Appreciation Report provides a comprehensive snapshot of how Belgian shoppers evaluate the retailers they have recently visited. As part of a biannual study (alongside the summer edition), this study tracks perceptions across seven equally weighted criteria, including prices, attractive offers, cleanliness, fresh department, assortment, quality and friendliness of personnel.

What are the key shifts in this winter’s performance landscape?

This winter’s results show a retail landscape that is progressing on several fronts. Overall shopper appreciation has improved, Belgian retailers are evaluated more favorably on average, confirming that the market is steadily strengthening its performance.

More specifically, this wave reveals several subtle but meaningful shifts in shopper perception:

• Value perceptions strengthen, with noticeable improvements in prices and attractive offers compared to last winter.
• Experience indicators remain stable, particularly appearance and friendliness, which continue to score strongly across retailer formats.
• Discounters strengthen their value leadership, widening their advantage on price while narrowing the gap with the market average on experience elements such as fresh department and friendliness, signaling a more balanced value–experience offer.
• Hypermarkets and Supermarkets remain stable but are under pressure. Hypermarkets keep their edge in assortment but see their gap versus the average retailer widen on experience‑related aspects, while supermarkets continue to lag behind on price.

Together, these shifts illustrate a shopper base that remains price‑aware but unwilling to compromise their daily experience.

Which retailers stand out this winter?

Colruyt is named top national retailer, achieving the highest overall appreciation score among national chains, with OKay and Delhaize completing the national top three. Colruyt's strong performance on prices and attractive offers, two core value drivers measured in the study reinforces its well‑established position in delivering consistent everyday value to Belgian shoppers.

Jumbo earns the title of top regional retailer, just ahead of Albert Heijn, supported by high ratings in key experience-related criteria such as fresh department, assortment, quality and especially friendliness. These strengths translate into a solid, reliable in‑store experience that continues to boost the retailer’s momentum in the Belgian market.

Aldi is recognized as the most growing retailer, showing the strongest index improvement versus last winter, followed closely by Delhaize Proxy and Lidl in second and third place in year‑on‑year growth. Aldi gains across both value and experience elements, including friendliness and fresh categories. This illustrates a retailer closing the gap with the market average while reinforcing its core value proposition.

Interested in the full picture?
For deeper benchmarks or category‑specific insights, get in touch with our team for a tailored report or in-depth analysis.