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European Grocery Power Index · Q3 2026 · LM-2026-016

22 European retailers.
4 axes. One index buyers actually read.

22 Retailers ranked
4 Strategic axes
0–100 Score range
May 2026 Updated

22 European grocery operators. 4 axes that matter for strategic positioning. One analyst reading the filings, walking the stores, and forming a view — not a consensus average. All scores fully public. Click any row to see the radar.

Rank 1 / 22
🇩🇪 Schwarz / Lidl
DE · hard-discount
89
Momentum
88
Margin
84
Expansion
97
Tech
86
Rank 2 / 22
🇩🇪 Aldi Süd
DE · hard-discount
78
Momentum
80
Margin
87
Expansion
72
Tech
74
Rank 3 / 22
🇪🇸 Mercadona
ES · mainstream
74
Momentum
84
Margin
81
Expansion
63
Tech
69
Full Ranking — All 22 Retailers

22 retailers. Sort by any axis. Filter by segment or geography.

Click any row to load the radar chart below. Scores are 0–100 (higher = stronger). Composite = unweighted average of 4 axes.

Segment Market
Click column headers to sort · Click a row to load the radar chart
# Retailer Mkt Momentum Margin Expansion Tech Score Discuss
1 🇩🇪 Schwarz / Lidl DE 88 84 97 86 89 Discuss →
2 🇩🇪 Aldi Süd DE 80 87 72 74 78 Discuss →
3 🇪🇸 Mercadona ES 84 81 63 69 74 Discuss →
4 🇵🇱 Biedronka (Jeronimo) PL 78 76 88 54 74 Discuss →
5 🇳🇱 Picnic NL 73 39 68 96 69 Discuss →
6 🇳🇱 Albert Heijn NL 71 68 48 82 67 Discuss →
7 🇳🇱 Ahold Delhaize NL 67 64 55 78 66 Discuss →
8 🇩🇪 Aldi Nord DE 61 82 52 68 66 Discuss →
9 🇧🇪 Colruyt Group BE 58 72 28 89 62 Discuss →
10 🇩🇪 REWE Group DE 63 60 44 61 57 Discuss →
11 🇳🇱 Jumbo NL 48 55 31 59 48 Discuss →
12 🇩🇪 Edeka DE 46 59 35 52 48 Discuss →
13 🇬🇧 Ocado GB 31 22 41 98 48 Discuss →
14 🇬🇧 Tesco GB 55 51 22 57 46 Discuss →
15 🇨🇭 Coop (CH) CH 44 61 24 48 44 Discuss →
16 🇫🇷 Leclerc FR 49 53 33 42 44 Discuss →
17 🇬🇧 Sainsbury's GB 52 49 19 51 43 Discuss →
18 🇨🇭 Migros CH 41 58 21 46 42 Discuss →
19 🇮🇹 Coop Italia IT 37 47 20 38 36 Discuss →
20 🇫🇷 Carrefour FR 34 43 18 44 35 Discuss →
21 🇪🇸 Dia Group ES 28 31 16 27 26 Discuss →
22 🇫🇷 Casino Group FR 14 18 8 32 18 Discuss →
Radar — Selected Retailer

Per-axis breakdown.

Click any row in the table above to compare this retailer's 4-axis profile. The radar defaults to Schwarz / Lidl (rank 1).

Selected
Schwarz / Lidl
Rank 1 / 22 · Score 89
Momentum
88
Margin
84
Exp.
97
Tech
86
See full briefing →
Click any row in the table to update · scores 0–100
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38 data points behind every score.

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Methodology

How scores are assigned — and why the numbers are defensible.

This index exists so a strategy director can forward it to their team and stand behind the numbers. Every score maps to a primary source. No third-party data provider consensus; no industry committee averaging.

Axis 01 · Momentum

LFL component: average of Q3 2025 and Q4 2025 LFL sales growth, sourced from published trading statements. Where LFL is not disclosed, estimated from market share movement via NielsenIQ.

Footprint delta: net store count change H2 2024 → H1 2026, normalised against starting estate size. 40%/60% weighting.

  • Retailer Q3/Q4 2025 trading statements (primary)
  • NielsenIQ European Grocery Panel H1 2026
  • IGD store count database (verified quarterly)

Axis 02 · Margin Discipline

EBITDA trend: 24-month direction of reported or estimated EBITDA margin. For listed operators: direct from annual report. For private: estimated from gross margin disclosures.

Private-label hedge: PL basket share as a structural margin buffer. Mercadona and the Aldi/Lidl group dominate here by design.

  • Annual reports 2024/2025 (EBITDA disclosures)
  • Kantar Worldpanel Take-Home panel (PL share by banner)
  • IRI European Category Benchmarks Q4 2025

Axis 03 · Expansion Velocity

Net new stores: openings minus closures over 24 months, normalised against estate size. A chain with 200 stores opening 40 net beats one with 5,000 opening 40.

Market entry bonus: first entry into a new national market scores a 15-point bonus. Lidl's Balkans moves and Biedronka's Romanian push both scored here.

  • Retailer annual reports and investor presentations
  • Bloomberg deal and expansion tracking
  • Reuters property and planning database

Axis 04 · Tech Adoption

ESL penetration: share of estate with full electronic shelf label deployment, sourced from GS1 ESL tracker and company capex disclosures.

Digital density: app MAU relative to store count, ecommerce revenue share, and warehouse automation capex intensity.

  • GS1 Global ESL Industry Tracker 2026
  • Company capex disclosures (annual reports)
  • App store ranking data and disclosed MAU figures
  • Ecommerce revenue disclosures / Kantar online panel
Composite scoring: unweighted average of all 4 axes. Deliberate — different strategies legitimately optimise for different dimensions. Ocado (rank 16) scores 98 on Tech Adoption but 22 on Margin Pressure; that tension is the point. Weighting would mask it.

Update cadence: scores refreshed monthly. The Sunday 22:00 CET cron recomputes from the same data pipelines feeding the Weekly Pulse tracker.

This is not a third-party audit. It is editorial judgment, sourced from primary material. That is the point: one analyst who walks the stores, reads the footnotes, and has an opinion worth paying for. If you want to challenge a score, book a call and bring the data.
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