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INTERVIEW
What is your outlook for
2014 in Europe?
France and Spain must continue the same
trend, assuming equal economic conditions.
Italy has begun to reposition. In Belgium,
Carrefour is finally back in the race. Poland
and Romania are well in hand. We will conti-
nue to capitalise on the European market,
where we are very well positioned and the
consumer culture is strong.
Are you equally confident about
your growth markets, such as Brazil
and China?
Those countries will continue to be growth
leaders for the future. Income levels will
increase substantially in emerging countries,
which should bolster our business over the
medium term.
Brazil, where we are a leader in food retail,
is our second-largest market. We have
already strengthened our management
there and plan to step up the pace of devel-
opment, re-energise our offer, take a pro-
fessional approach to asset management,
and put down deeper local roots. InArgentina,
where Carrefour is a market leader, the
company is weathering the country’s current
difficulties well.
In Asia, Carrefour is continuing to expand its
market share in China and is now looking
to newly developing urban areas. In Taiwan,
the company has good locations and a
multiformat presence on which to capitalise.
In short, we are continuing to move forward
and do good work. Carrefour is gaining
ground in all its markets with a multiformat,
multi-local model.
Do you have any prospects
in newmarkets?
We recently signed a very promising partner-
ship with CFAO, a group that has been pres-
ent in Africa for more than a century, to open
our stores in West Africa. We also have a
long-standing partnership with Majid Al
Futtaim for other countries in Africa and the
MiddleEast. We have excellent partners, both
in French overseas territories and in other
countries.
In conclusion,
what is your challenge?
Our challenge is simple: make Carrefour a
pioneer again, an innovator. That is the
attitude we need to return to if we want to
satisfy our customers in all our countries, on
quality, traceability, tradition, as well as
consumption habits. The real challenge is
simply to conduct our traditional business
well and successfully connect our stores
with new forms of commerce.
OUR CHALLENGE
IS SIMPLE:
MAKE CARREFOUR
A PIONEER
AGAIN,
AN INNOVATOR.
COMPETITIVE
PRICING
IS ESSENTIAL
AND WE GUARANTEE
IT EVERY
SINGLE DAY.
The more our stores can interact with their
environment, the more they’ll be able to offer
local products, get involved in local life, and
work together with local communities, asso-
ciations and companies. By adapting, mee-
ting local needs, and taking their customers’
profile into account, they will strengthen our
fundamentals. Understanding the demand is
critical.
Are you focusing on all store formats?
Carrefour has a real advantage with its four
formats: hypermarkets, supermarkets,
convenience stores, and cash & carry stores,
not tomention online shopping and the drive
service. In the near future, this will strength-
en a multichannel organisation where our
customers can choose what they want,
when they want, where they want.
Carrefour has made a real comeback
in the price field…
Competitive pricing is essential, and we gua-
rantee it every single day. We apply a
consistent, constant pricing policy to offer
our customers the best value for money
without sacrificing product quality. And in fact,
our price image improved markedly in 2013.
What other factors supported
the upswing in 2013?
The most important factor, apart from the
technical solutions we needed to provide,
was our employees’ confidence, energy, and
drive. It is up to us to support their dedication
to this approach through training, by offering
the best possible working conditions, and by
respecting their diversity.