With comparable sales growth of 8.4% in the third quarter, Carrefour reported the best performance in more than 20 years. Online sales even grew by 65%. In Belgium, the retailer is once again gaining market share.
Higher customer satisfaction
The group recorded a turnover of 19.6 billion euro in the third quarter and also managed to post positive figures in its French home market. The accelerated transformation of the hypermarkets resulted in comparable growth of 2.5%, supermarkets (+4.9%) and proximity stores (+5.3%) also performed strongly. The retailer invests in customer satisfaction and that pays off, says top executive Alexandre Bompard, who attaches great importance to a rising net promoter score.
In Belgium, comparable growth was 5.4% and the retailer again gained market share, as in the previous quarters. The retailer is investing in its price image with the ‘Healthy Prices’ campaign launched at the beginning of September. The group also achieved a strong performance in Spain (+6.3%). However, in Italy (-8.0%) sales suffered from the absence of tourists, in Poland (-1.4%) hypermarkets suffered from declining shopping centre traffic and in Romania (+0.0%) strict travel restrictions hampered the retailer. A positive outperformance was Latin America: in Brazil Carrefour recorded record growth of up to 26% on a like-for-like basis, in Argentina it was even +41.4%). Finally, turnover in Taiwan grew by 0.6%.
Investing in e-commerce and private brands
Carrefour continues to give priority to customer satisfaction and price competitiveness. The retailer is also investing in expanding e-commerce capacity with automated distribution centres. After all, online groceries grew by more than 65%. Carrefour wants to focus on both pick-up points (‘drives’) and home delivery. As is well known, Belgium plays a pioneering role in the retailer’s online plans: an exclusive partnership with software specialist Food-X Technologies should significantly improve the productivity and profitability of e-commerce activities.
The further development of the private brands and the organic offer is also a spearhead for Carrefour. Top executive Bompard also insists on financial discipline and cost control. The group remains open to targeted acquisitions in order to strengthen its market position.
