An Analysis Of Carrefour “ One of the world’s largest retailers”

An Analysis

 Of

 Carrefour

“ One of the world’s largest retailers”

Overview

A Carrefour is a French international hypermarket chain. Its head quartered is in Levallois- Perret-France. It has 11,000 stores and more than 30 countries and areas. It has 495,000 employees in 2009.

The Carrefour Company was founded in 1950’s  by

• ·         Marcel Fournier
• ·         Denis Defforey
• ·         Jacques Difforey

Carrefour opens its first supermarket in Annecy, Haute-Savoie. Later Carrefour invents a new store concept: the Hypermarket.

When we talk about History

1969 – The first overseas hypermarket was built in Belgium.

1973 – Hyper market in Spain

1975 – Hyper market in Brazil

1982 – Hyper market in Argentina

1989 – First hypermarket in Asia, in Taiwan

1990 – First hypermarket in Philadelphia, United states

1991 – Second hypermarket in New Jersey

1993 – First hypermarket in Italy and Turkey

1994 – First hypermarket in Mexico and Malaysia

1995- First Hyper market in china mainland

1996 – Hyper market in Thailand, Korea and Hong Kong.

Carrefour Strengthens Customer Loyalty and Brand Affinity :Business Challenge Carrefour has grown to become the  second largest retailer and operates four main formats: hypermarkets, supermarkets, discount and convenience stores. To maintain its leadership in the hyper-competitive retail grocery industry

Carrefour vision for CSR

 “Doing our job well” at Carrefour means provide high-quality products to our customers ; act and invest to limit the depletion of our natural resources ; guarantee the sustainability of our offer.
This commitment is endorsed by of the women and men who work for Carrefour ; the focus is on three main areas:

■ Working to eliminate all forms of waste ;

■ Protecting biodiversity

■ Providing support to the company’s partners.

SWOT ANALYSIS of Carrefour

Strength

1. Wide Market Presence and a strong brand name.

2. World’s second largest and Europe’s retailers of groceries and consumer goods in terms of  revenue with over 11,000 stores worldwide.
3. Multi Format Strategy-hypermarkets, supermarkets, hard discount stores and convenience stores.
4.  Own popular private-label brands.

5.  Pioneer in Hypermarket format.

6. High Quality maintenance.

Weakness

1. Limited presence in emerging economies of Asia and Middle East

2. Recent happenings attracted negative media coverage, diluting its public image

3. Limited Performance in the e-commerce online retail channel

Opportunity

1.Leverage on its international brand equity to establish in emerging economies

2.Focus on growth through strategic tie-ups and innovative marketing

Threats

1.Rising competition from other discount stores in France and abroad.
2.Rising Labour costs and Economic slowdown to increase costs.

Summary

The French Fournier and Defforey families founded Carrefour in 1959 as a supermarket retailer. It was not until four years later in 1963 that the group opened its first hypermarket, which eventually led Carrefour to its success. In 1969 the company decided to expand internationally and opened its first hypermarket in Belgium In 1977, “Produits Libres” or unbranded products were introduced as a substitute to popular brands and were dubbed just as good. This pioneer idea led the company to create its own brand in 1985, which led the way for supermarket and hypermarkets worldwide. The idea was to help create even lower prices at the markets. Extremely low prices were one of the guiding strategies the company used to compete and buy out other chains.

Carrefour’s key to success is the hypermarket, the all-in-one shop that sells everything from bananas to baby strollers at discount prices. It was the company’s original idea and has now expanded worldwide, its players among the greatest business giants history has known. As part of its Firm Specific Advantages, it is the global leader in hypermarkets having pioneered the concept, giving it significant advantages among its competitors in operating the concept. Secondly, it has developed its private label portfolio of products that enables Carrefour to offer lower prices. Third, it has a very strong brand for quality and value in markets, and as a result has gained global recognition, evident by its number two status as the world leader in the hypermarket segment. Furthermore, Carrefour had developed significant First Mover Advantages in having been the first to enter into many emerging markets. Some Firm Specific Disadvantages include Carrefour’s various entry failures in other markets and the negative connotations associated with the company’s conviction of false advertising and charge for undermining capitalism. Also, as a First Mover Carrefour faces the increased costs associated with infrastructure development and extensive advertising. Finally, Carrefour must greatly adapt its product because food is a multi-domestic product and local consumers have diverse preferences and functional requirements.

As a French company, Carrefour has several Country Specific Advantages (CSAs). First, French companies were considered to have high quality goods and specialty items. In particular, French goods had a reputation for being luxurious, unique and beautiful. Second, countries like the United Arab Emirates and cities like Dubai considered France an ally, given the strong political relationships between the countries. Eventually, France decided to locate a French permanent military base in the UAE in 2008 due to the strong relations. However, France also developed Country Specific Disadvantages. One of these perceptions was that the French were considered uptight and that the French considered their ways of doing things superior. Compared to English, the French language was not widely spoken worldwide and thus a language barrier existed. Last, although goods were luxurious, a disadvantage was that French goods were deemed too fancy for everyday life.