Premium Supermarket Design Strategies Driving Growth, Loyalty and Performance.

Azbuka Vkusa in Moscow, Carrefour Gourmet Market in Milan, and Fresh & Fresh supermarkets exemplify three of Europe’s premium supermarket brands, demonstrating how brand identity, store experience, and commercial performance can be seamlessly integrated in demanding urban environments.

Benchmarking: Azbuka Vkusa, Moscow, Russia – Agency: In-house team. Carrefour Gourmet Market, Milan, Italy – Agency: Allways Design. Fresh & Fresh, Moscow, Russia – Agency: CampbellRigg

Above Azbuka Vkusa, translates in Russian as the ABC of Taste - Below Carrefour Market: Both brands operate at the intersection of premium grocery, convenience, and lifestyle, serving affluent residents, professionals, and international consumers who demand quality, speed, trust, and inspiration. Their success is rooted in positioning supermarkets not simply as retail destinations, but as daily lifestyle partners.

Format-efficient premium retail strategies designed to increase sales performance.

Premium supermarket marketing strategies prioritise authority, curation, and provenance over price-led promotion. Storytelling around food culture, local sourcing, health, sustainability, and craftsmanship builds emotional connection and long-term loyalty. Premium private-label ranges strengthen differentiation and margin, while digital engagement and personalised CRM reinforce repeat visitation.

Store design is calm, intuitive, and experience-led, with fresh food acting as the emotional and commercial anchor. Carefully zoned layouts guide customers through bakery, produce, deli, patisserie, and ready-to-eat destinations, supported by café and food-to-go zones for fast urban missions. Merchandising balances theatre with efficiency: curated assortments, premium materials, restrained signage, and live preparation areas maximise impact while preserving operational discipline.

Azbuka Vkusa succeeds by reflecting Moscow’s sophisticated food culture. Assortment is tailored to local tastes, dietary preferences, and seasonal behaviours, while still offering global discovery. Service counters and fresh preparation reinforce authenticity and trust. The experience feels personal, knowledgeable, and reassuring, critical in a premium urban market where choice is abundant and expectations are high.

Why It Fits: This format works in Moscow city-centre because it combines premium positioning with operational discipline. It scales quality, not excess, and delivers relevance through curated range, efficient layouts, and consistent execution. The format works across daily convenience, special-occasion shopping, and food-to-go missions.

KPI Impact: Higher sales per square metre driven by fresh food and ready-to-eat penetration. Increased dwell time through experience-led fresh zones. Strong private-label margin contribution. High repeat visitation and loyalty in core urban catchments. Resilient brand equity in a competitive premium landscape.

Azbuka Vkusa demonstrates how premium supermarket retail can deliver both emotional connection and commercial performance at scale.

The Problem:
Premium urban supermarkets face mounting pressures from rising operating costs, intensifying competition, and increasingly fragmented shopper behaviour. Affluent consumers demand superior food quality, convenience, and engaging experiences, yet legacy store formats struggle to deliver with dated store designs and digital branding solutions. The challenges include weak zoning, inconsistent KPI's, merchandising, disconnected customer journeys, and difficulties integrating brand identity, digital engagement, and fresh food performance at scale. Retailers need next-generation strategies that simplify complexity, enhance relevance, and drive measurable commercial results in high-end urban markets.

The Strategic Solution:
High-performing premium supermarkets embrace experience-led, data-driven formats that seamlessly integrate brand, design, and commercial execution. Fresh food serves as the strategic anchor, complemented by flexible zoning, premium merchandising, food-to-go ecosystems, and engaging digital touchpoints. Personalized CRM, curated local assortments, and premium private labels strengthen loyalty and margin. This integrated approach drives consistent growth across daily convenience, destination shopping, and urban food missions, while ensuring operational efficiency, scalability, and enduring brand relevance.

Customer Experience Trends - Phygital:
Customers no longer separate digital and physical. They expect a unified, effortless experience that combines speed, relevance, and inspiration at every moment of interaction. Successful retailers translate data into spatial intelligence: flexible store planning, locally curated assortments, bold visual merchandising, and digitally informed layouts work together to increase dwell time, expand basket size, deepen loyalty, and maximise lifetime value. Turning every store visit into both a commercial and emotional brand engagement.

Our Focus and Expertise:
CampbellRigg partners with supermarkets and convenience retailers to deliver high-impact retail branding, format development, store design, and marketing systems. We specialise in multi-format convenience strategies, experience-led layouts, fresh food merchandising, and omnichannel brand activation. Using data-driven insight, predictive modelling, and scalable design platforms, we translate investment into measurable commercial growth, increasing loyalty, profitability, and brand equity across complex retail portfolios.

Carrefour Gourmet Market succeeds by embedding itself in Milanese culture. Local sourcing, regional specialities, and seasonal storytelling reflect the rhythms of the city. The experience feels distinctly Italian yet globally relevant, combining artisanal heritage with contemporary convenience. Service counters, tastings, and live preparation reinforce authenticity and emotional connection.

Why It Fits: This format works in Milan because it aligns with consumer expectations of quality, design, and gastronomy while maintaining Carrefour’s operational scale. It delivers premium positioning without sacrificing accessibility, allowing Carrefour to compete with specialist food retailers and upscale independents.

KPI Impact: Increased sales per square metre through fresh and ready-to-eat dominance. Higher dwell time and basket size driven by experience-led zones. Strong private-label margin contribution. Improved customer lifetime value and loyalty engagement. Enhanced brand equity and premium market share in urban locations.

Concept: This specific format is designed for food lovers, creating an enhanced shopping "experience" with a focus on premium products and varied displays, departing from traditional supermarket layouts.

Product Assortment: The wine selection is extensive, featuring hundreds of red, white, and rosé wines, as well as champagnes and sparkling wines from top wine regions around the world.

Below: CampbellRigg’s Fresh & Fresh supermarket branding illustrates how premium grocery retail can simultaneously build powerful emotional connection and deliver measurable commercial performance at scale. Свеж & Fresh (Svezh & Fresh), translates in Russian as Fresh & Fresh.

In collaboration with the former owners of Kopeika supermarkets and the founders of Fix Price, CampbellRigg was tasked with creating Свеж & Fresh, a next-generation premium supermarket brand.

Conceived as Moscow’s premier urban food destination, the brand brings together exceptional fresh produce, globally inspired curated assortments, and service that sets a new standard. Its strategy weaves together immersive, experience-led store design, a compelling portfolio of premium private-label products, and deep cultural resonance with local consumers, driving loyalty, boosting spend per visit, and securing sustainable commercial success over the long term.

Amid economic uncertainty in 2026–2027, premium supermarket growth will favour retailers who combine brand authority with disciplined execution and localized relevance. Retailers will focus on agile multi-format portfolios, balancing urban convenience stores, flagship city-centre locations, and curated suburban outlets. Predictive demand planning, integrated logistics, and clear performance KPIs will ensure capital-efficient growth. Premium brands that combine operational agility with disciplined expansion and strong brand storytelling will outperform competitors in fluctuating European economic conditions.

Key trend: Portfolio agility and capital discipline as resilience levers.

Our Four-Step Process:
1. Book a consultation call for free
2. Co-create a bespoke brief 
3. We execute the creative work fast
4. You see sales, brand loyalty and market share uplift

Schedule your consultation today and receive a free quote.

Cost-Effective Excellence:
Our pricing structure is highly competitive, offering exceptional value without compromising on quality or creativity.

Rapid Execution:
We move fast. From concept to implementation, our agile team ensures your project is delivered on time and to the highest standards.

Multidisciplinary Expertise:
Our team brings together seasoned brand strategists, architects, interior designers, and graphic designers, collaborating to create seamless, end-to-end brand environments.

Global Reach, Local Insight:
With successful projects delivered across Europe, the Middle East, and Asia, we combine international experience with local market understanding.

Scalable Project Delivery:
Whether it's a flagship city supermarket or an urban convenience store, we manage and execute projects of all sizes, efficiently and effectively.

Proven Track Record:
Our designs evolve branch networks from purely transactional spaces into experiential, relationship-focused brand environments, enhancing engagement, elevating customer experience, and driving tangible business results.

Full-Service Creative Agency:
From rebranding and marketing campaigns to spatial design and rollout, we provide an integrated service tailored to your goals.