8
Our strategy
Our strategy for profitable growth is designed to
accelerate identical sales growth, improve returns,
and build on our strong foundation to continue
creating value for shareholders.
Ahold
Annual Report 2010
Groupataglance
Performance
Governance
Fi nancials
Investors
In 2010 we launched a new vision aimed at offering all our stakeholders better choice, better
value, better life, every day. To help achieve this, we have further aligned our business objectives
and priorities and adopted a common strategic framework across the Group.
We are looking at opportunities to grow our operations in our existing markets and new ones.
We are also working to expand our non-food offering, online businesses and other services.
To drive our strategy, we have a company-wide business model. The model is a virtuous circle
in which we continuously work to lower our cost base in order to invest in price, value, and the
products and services we offer. This allows us to drive sales, win new customers, and allocate
capital to further grow our business.
We continue to reduce costs by streamlining and standardizing processes and simplifying how
we operate to improve efficiency. We are ahead of plan with our three-year €350 million cost
reduction program (2010-2012) that will enable further investment to benefit our customers.
The program focuses on all aspects of our business, including store expenses, supply chain,
and overhead, and will also deliver additional sourcing cost savings over the same period.
