Retailer PT Sumber Alfaria Trijaya, the operator of Alfamart Group convenience stores, has reported a decline in market share to 30.3 percent in the first quarter from 31.3 percent in the corresponding period last year.

Sumber Alfaria Trijaya president director Anggara Hans Prawira said on Thursday that the company had been less aggressive in opening outlets since early last year.

“Meanwhile, our competitor is more aggressive,” he said in a press briefing, referring to Indomaret convenience stores.

In its report to the Indonesia Stock Exchange (IDX) earlier this week, the company said Alfamart convenience stores controlled 30.3 percent of market shares as of the first quarter from 31.3 percent in the corresponding period last year.

Meanwhile, the market shares of Alfamidi, the larger version of Alfamart, also declined to 5.2 percent from 5.4 percent in the same period last year.

In the report, the company said it was focusing more on digital services, which the company believed to be more prospective. It says that apart from serving its customers through its own platform Alfacart, the company had also cooperated with PT Go-Jek Indonesia to boost sales.

However, Sumber Alfaria Trijaya said it planned to open more outlets this year by allocating Rp 2.2 trillion capital expenditure both to rent buildings for new outlets and to extend the contracts of the existing outlets.

Kontan.co.id reported on Friday that Alfamart would open 800 outlets around the country this year. (bbn)