Trends Real Canadian Superstore: 2025 opportunities for Quebec SMEs

For Quebec SMEs, large grocery banners like Real Canadian Superstore are no longer just competitors: they are also channels for growth, visibility and exports. In 2024, parent company Loblaw generated more than 61 billion in revenuesThis includes approximately $3.9 billion in online grocery sales, up nearly 17% year-on-year, with e-commerce channel growth of 18.4% in the fourth quarter of 2024 (loblaw.ca). By 2025, Loblaw and its banners (including Real Canadian Superstore) will represent around 32% of the grocery market in Canada (grocerytradenews.com).
For Quebec SMEs, understanding these trends is essential to adapting their offer, optimizing their digital positioning and leveraging the power of these distributors, both in-store and via their online platforms.

In this article, we analyze the 2024-2025 trends for Real Canadian Superstore and the Canadian grocery market, and how Quebec SMEs can benefit through digital,artificial intelligence and chatbots, e-commerce and better customer relationship management.

1. Real Canadian Superstore in 2024-2025: a growing giant… in search of value

Real Canadian Superstore is one of the flagship banners of Loblaw, Canada’s number 1 grocer with an estimated $61 billion in revenues and ~32% market share by 2025 (grocerytradenews.com). According to 2024 results, Loblaw’s food retail segment saw comparable sales increase from 1.5% to 2.5%, while e-commerce sales jumped from 16.9% to 18.4% over the year (loblaw.ca).
In 2025, an article in Supermarket News points out that the ” Hard Discount” and Real Canadian Superstore outperform conventional stores, benefiting from a consumer shift towards value-oriented formats, while Loblaw’s quarterly revenues increase by 4.6% and online sales climb by 18% (supermarketnews.com).

Some key trends for Quebec SMEs :

• Value-seeking and discount formats: in times of food inflation, consumers turn to low-price banners. Local products offering good value for money, family or club formats are at an advantage.
• The rise of e-commerce and click-and-collect: in Canada, the online grocery market is estimated at $3.6 billion in 2025 and should reach around $5.3 billion in 2031, with a CAGR of around 6.7% (mordorintelligence.com). The click-and-collect model will account for over 46% of the market in 2025, making it a well-established habit.
• The power of loyalty programs: the PC Optimum program, widely used at Real Canadian Superstore, stimulates purchase frequency and basket size. In fact, Loblaw has seen a marked increase in engagement and redemption rates, to the point of having to upgrade its points liabilities (loblaw.ca).
• Massive investments in the network: Loblaw has opened 52 new food and drug stores in 2024, and plans to open around 80 new stores in 2025, many of them in discount format (loblaw.ca). These openings create opportunities to enter the chain as a supplier or local partner.

For Quebec SMEs, Real Canadian Superstore is at once a volume channel (physical stores), a lever for digital visibility (online ordering platforms and applications) and a testing ground for innovative products: specialty foods, organic products, ready-to-eat foods, ethnic products, and so on.

2. Quebec consumer behavior: hybridization between in-store and online

To take full advantage of the opportunities offered by Real Canadian Superstore, we first need to understand the behavior of Quebec consumers. According to the NETendances 2024 survey, some 75% of adult Quebecers make online purchases, a proportion that has remained stable since 2021 (transformation-numerique.ulaval.ca). The study also shows that international platforms such as Amazon and Temu still dominate general e-commerce, but that retailers’ own sites (such as those of Loblaw/Real Canadian Superstore) account for over 60% of online grocery sales in the country (mordorintelligence.com).

For groceries, however, attachment to the in-store experience remains strong. A recent Dalhousie/Caddle study cited by Retail-Insider indicates that 57.8% of Canadians still do all their grocery shopping in-store, without an app, and only 2.5% buy exclusively online (retail-insider.com). Nevertheless, around 30% of consumers have used at least one online option (order with pickup, delivery, third party such as Instacart) in the last three months (competition-bureau.canada.ca).

For a Quebec SME, this means that the strategy must be omni-channel:

• Strong in-store presence: visual highlighting, tastings, point-of-sale displays, promotions tied in with Real Canadian Superstore flyers, formats adapted to families and multi-generational households.
• Optimized online product sheet: clear description, high-quality photos, emphasis on desired attributes (Quebec origin, allergen-free, organic, ready-to-serve, etc.), keywords consistent with customer searches.
• Local storytelling: Quebec customers increasingly value local purchases. Highlight Quebec origins and regional economic impact in your product sheets, on your website and in your campaigns.

At the same time, a study commissioned by Commerce International Québec points out that SMEs account for 65.3% of the value of Quebec’s international exports of goods, i.e. over $83.5 billion, and 98.7% of exporting companies (gimxport.org). Yet over 70% of these companies exportto just one country. Relationships with pan-Canadian banners like Real Canadian Superstore can become a springboard for diversifying your markets elsewhere in the country, and eventually internationally.

In this context, having a solid digital foundation – a high-performance site, e-commerce presence, CRM, automation – becomes a major competitive advantage. An agency like Nuaweb can help you build that foundation.

3. Real opportunities for Quebec SMEs with Real Canadian Superstore

Beyond the numbers, how can a Quebec SME turn these trends into concrete sales? Here are several strategic avenues directly linked to the 2024-2025 evolution of Real Canadian Superstore and the market.

3.1. Capitalizing on the growth of online grocery shopping

The Canadian online grocery market, estimated at $3.6 billion in 2025 and projected at $5.3 billion in 2031 (mordorintelligence.com), still represents only a fraction of the total, but is growing steadily. To take advantage:

• Ensure consistency between your online store and your presence at Real Canadian Superstore: identical descriptions, harmonized photos, same brand promise.
• Optimize your product sheets for the platform’s internal search (keywords, structured fields), so that they appear in the “organic”, “Quebec”, “gluten-free”, etc. filters.
• Use data from your direct sales (via your website or online store) to make the case to banner buyers: re-purchase rate, average basket, areas of high demand.

3.2. Position your product on value, not just price

Retailers such as Real Canadian Superstore rely heavily on value for money and discount formats. But that doesn’t mean that price wars are the only thing that counts. Canadian consumers remain committed to freshness, food safety and transparency. Studies show that nearly 60% of consumers still want to see and touch fresh food before purchasing (retail-insider.com).

Your advantage as a Quebec SME :

• Emphasis on local origin: Aliments du Québec certification, regional labels, short distribution channels.
• Product innovation: new flavours, healthy options, vegan, allergen-free, ready-to-eat for busy families.
• Differentiating packaging and design: legible, modern, compatible with online sales (clear visuals, even with thumbnails).

Branding and user experience support, backed by a well-designed site, can reinforce this advantage. This is the type of mandate that teams like Nuaweb web design regularly carry out for food brands.

3.3. Using data and AI to better negotiate with banners

Large chains like Loblaw are increasingly relying on data andartificial intelligence to optimize assortments, promotions and logistics. SMEs that can speak the same language are at an advantage in negotiations.

In practical terms, you can :

• Centralize your customer and sales data in a CRM to demonstrate your brand traction, key segments and re-purchase rates. A solution tailored to SMEs, deployed with a partner such as Nuaweb (CRM management), makes this easy.
• Set up dashboards: sales by SKU, by region, by channel; promotional performance; seasonality.
• Test AI and chatbots on your own site to better understand recurring customer questions and then improve your product pitches to banner buyers.

4. Strengthening its digital ecosystem to capture value around Real Canadian Superstore

Being present at Real Canadian Superstore, in-store or online, is not enough. For a Quebec-based SME, the challenge is to capture the full value of the customer journey: before, during and after the purchase, whether it’s made on the Loblaw platform, in-store or directly on your site.

4.1. Your website as the hub of your strategy

While the big banners invest billions in their own platforms, your website remains the only space you have complete control over. It must therefore :

• Clearly present your product range and points of sale (including Real Canadian Superstore).
• Integrate an e-commerce section or at least a detailed catalog with links to retailers.
• Capture customer information (newsletter, customer account, forms) to feed your CRM and marketing actions.

A specialized agency like Nuaweb can help you design a fast, SEO-optimized site designed to convert, both for direct sales and to reinforce your distribution channels.

4.2. E-commerce, CRM and automation: turning every customer into an asset

Faced with the firepower of Real Canadian Superstore, the strength of an SME lies in its proximity to the customer. This involves :

• Clean e-commerce, even if some sales are made via banners. Your margins are often higher and you have full control over the experience.
• A CRM that centralizes customer information (B2C or B2B) and automates follow-up: reminders, personalized offers, segmentation.
• Email and SMS campaigns synchronized with grocery store promotions (e.g., announcing a discount at Real Canadian Superstore to drive traffic to this channel).
• Chatbots and AI tools to answer 24/7, recommend complementary products, collect reviews and reduce pressure on your customer service.

AI, chatbot and automation technologies are now accessible to SMEs. Properly integrated with your CRM and online store, they enable you to compete on customer experience, even against the giants.

4.3. Measure the impact of Real Canadian Superstore on your growth

Finally, to make the most of Real Canadian Superstore trends, it’s crucial to measure what this banner really brings to your business:

• Track sales by banner (Superstore vs. other chains) and by region.
• Analyze volumes during flyers or PC Optimum promotions involving your products.
• Observe traffic peaks on your site when you are promoted in-store or online.

This data feeds not only your production and marketing decisions, but also your negotiations with major chain buyers and your requests for shelf space or digital prominence.

Conclusion: turn Real Canadian Superstore into a growth lever for your SME

Between 2024 and 2025, Loblaw and its banners such as Real Canadian Superstore will consolidate their dominant position: over $61 billion in revenues, e-commerce growth of almost 17-18%, massive investments in the store network and technologies, and a customer base in search of value, but still attached to the in-store experience (loblaw.ca). For Quebec SMEs, these trends should be seen not just as a threat, but as a structuring opportunity:

• Position ourselves as a benchmark local brand in a pan-Canadian network.
• Useonline grocery and click-and-collect to gain visibility without investing in a national physical network.
• Rely on a robust digital ecosystem (website, e-commerce, CRM, AI) to build customer loyalty and better negotiate with major banners.

If you are a Quebec SME and would like to :

• Strengthen your presence at retailers like Real Canadian Superstore,
• Structure your website and e-commerce to support your sales,
• Set up a CRM, chatbots and marketing automation adapted to your reality,

Nuaweb can support you: from digital strategy to technical implementation (site creation, online store, CRM, AI, automation). Schedule a free consultation with our experts now via our contact form, and turn Real Canadian Superstore trends into a real engine of growth for your SME.