Franchised supermarkets: proximity as a driver of expansion

Madrid, August 13, 2025

The franchise system in Spain is experiencing a decade marked by capillarity: more brands, more stores and, above all, more convenience formats. Within this landscape, the food and supermarket sector remains the leading block by turnover, supported by replenishment shopping, the rise of “ready-to-eat” offerings and expansion into neighborhoods and medium-sized municipalities where franchising provides speed and proximity.

Over the past ten years, the sector has expanded its network and its brands despite adverse cycles marked by the pandemic, inflation and high energy costs. The trend seems clear: fewer large-format stores are opening and more proximity stores instead, with lower individual investment and returns supported by high turnover and controlled operating costs. The franchise model, together with cooperative models, has been the lever that has made it possible to bring brands that traditionally operated at a national scale to peri-urban and rural Spain, where the franchisee’s knowledge of the micro-market is a key differentiator.

Among the leading brands, Grupo DIA has strengthened its convenience proposition with a highly capillary network. Everything suggests that its roadmap for the coming years once again relies on openings under this model and on improving its neighborhood commercial offering, focused on boosting its private label, fresh products and customer loyalty. Carrefour, for its part, has made Carrefour Express the spearhead of its proximity growth: fast-to-set-up stores and a strong omnichannel lever (click & collect, last mile) that drives customer traffic.

EROSKI maintains a consistent franchise strategy with its City and Rapid formats, combining price, local product and convenience, with a fairly steady flow of annual openings. Likewise, Alcampo has accelerated its proximity presence (Mi Alcampo/City) following the reconfiguration of its network and recent corporate operations, and is promoting franchising in locations where its large hypermarket model does not fit.

At a regional level, La Despensa Express (Grupo Eco Mora) clearly illustrates the role of regional chains: local know-how, agreements with nearby producers and selective expansion in formats of 200–400 m².

It is not only about network size. If we look at competitive levers, the chains that grow best through franchising share four vectors: operational efficiency (“plug & play” stores, optimized assortments and agile replenishment); private label with a clear price–quality value proposition; fresh products and “ready-to-eat” as incremental traffic drivers during lunch and dinner time slots; and profitable omnichannel strategies, prioritizing pick-up options and dense delivery routes.

Future challenges include sustaining margins in an environment of still relatively high fixed costs—especially energy, transport, rents and wages—as well as in-store talent management and regulatory demands related to sustainability. Added to this is competitive pressure from discount players on basket price and from foodservice in immediate consumption.

At the same time, trends in organized foodservice are having a direct impact on food retail. QSR (“Quick Service Restaurant”) and specialty concepts are growing, delivery is becoming normalized with a more profitable mix between take-away and click & collect, and customer relationships are being digitalized through kiosks, apps, advanced loyalty programs and retail media. This convergence is leading supermarkets to consolidate “grab & go” areas and prepared-food corners with foodservice standards: high lunchtime turnover, short assortments, proprietary recipes and an increasingly gastronomic approach to products.

What can we expect in the next cycle? Greater franchised proximity, with selective openings in high-density neighborhoods and municipalities of 5,000–30,000 inhabitants, a rationalization of food e-commerce toward lower-cost models, and a private label that will continue to gain share in key categories. In this field, DIA, Carrefour Express, EROSKI, Alcampo and La Despensa Express start with an advantage due to their capillarity and accumulated experience in working with franchisees.

For this reason, franchising will continue to be the preferred vehicle for growth in food retail and supermarkets in Spain. The difference will be made by execution—simple manuals, training and franchisee support—and by each group’s ability to turn convenience into experience, not just proximity.