INFOLine specialists conducted a comparative analysis of prices and product ranges across Almaty’s largest grocery chains and delivery services. The study revealed a notable feature of the market: the segment combining a relatively narrow assortment with consistently low prices is currently almost entirely unoccupied.
For the analysis, INFOLine compiled a comparable basket of 23 popular products and measured its cost against the breadth of each retailer’s assortment. The market broadly split into several groups: chains offering wide assortments at relatively high basket prices, players with more limited selections but similarly high prices, and companies combining broad product ranges with more affordable pricing.
One of the most interesting findings was the positioning of Carrefour. Despite its limited presence in Almaty, the chain recorded one of the lowest prices for the comparable basket at around KZT 12,500, while offering approximately 11,800 SKUs. Toimart also sits in the relatively affordable segment, with a basket price of around KZT 13,000 and an assortment of approximately 5,900 SKUs.
By comparison, the same basket costs KZT 16,000-19,000 at several major retailers. Higher prices do not always correspond to a broader selection: some chains and delivery services offer just 3,000-5,000 SKUs while charging significantly more than the market average for the basket.
The study’s main conclusion is that Almaty has virtually no classic grocery discounters combining a limited assortment with consistently low prices. This segment of INFOLine’s positioning map remains effectively vacant.
Traditional markets and bazaars no longer fully meet consumer demand for low prices. They continue to offer a broad range of products, but across many categories they are no longer clearly cheaper than modern chain retailers.
INFOLine analysts expect this vacant niche to gradually fill over the next few years. With consumers remaining highly price-sensitive and Kazakhstan’s modern retail sector continuing to develop, new discount concepts are likely to emerge, while existing retail chains may also expand more actively into the format.
“Almaty’s retail market has developed a clear opening for a grocery discounter: a relatively limited assortment, high inventory turnover and genuinely low prices. Today, we see virtually no major players occupying this position. That makes discount retail one of the more promising growth areas for Kazakhstan’s grocery market,”
says INFOLine founder Ivan Fedyakov.
This article was translated with the assistance of artificial intelligence.
