Carrefour was founded in 1958 and its headquarters is in Paris. 1963, the first super-large supermarket (HM for short) with a business area of 2,500 square meters opened in the suburbs of Paris. Since then, Carrefour has developed and expanded smoothly in France, mainly in super-large supermarkets (HM). 1999 Carrefour's global stores reached 444 1 and its sales reached 245 1 100 million francs, making it the second largest retail enterprise in the world that year.
From the perspective of store development, "Carrefour HM Time-division Store Number Shift Table" reflects the global development of Carrefour HM. HM, which is bigger than ordinary supermarkets, has achieved success in operation. However, due to the friction and disputes with small and medium-sized retail stores, the government had to intervene. Carrefour is keenly aware that the government will introduce a policy to restrict large retail stores, and the domestic market is becoming increasingly saturated. Started to set foot in overseas markets in the late 1960s.
Carrefour entered Holland 1969, Switzerland 1970, Britain and Italy 1972, Spain 1973. But soon withdrew from the Netherlands and Britain. In 2000, Carrefour had HM32 1 in Europe. It accounts for 62.25% of the total number of head offices, of which France accounts for 55.58%. After that, although Carrefour also entered other countries in Eastern Europe, it also began to look to other continents.
1975- 1997 Carrefour mainly develops in Central and South America. In 2000, the number of shops in Central and South America reached 1 12, accounting for 2 1.79% of the total number of head stores, mainly in Brazil and Argentina. 1996 began to develop in Asia. In 2000, the number of major stores in Asia reached 8 1, mainly in Taiwan Province Province, Chinese mainland and South Korea.
In terms of sales volume, domestic sales of 1999 accounted for 62.3% of the total sales volume, Europe outside France accounted for 2 1.7%, Central and South America accounted for 10.7%, and Asia only accounted for 5.3%. Therefore, it can be said that before Carrefour entered Japan, its main source of income was still Europe including France.
However, as can be seen from the table, the number of shops in Europe has remained at a certain level throughout the 1990s, but the Asian market has been growing, and there is a trend of geometric growth. It is imperative to pay attention to developing Asia. Japan is the richest country in Asia, and Carrefour has always attached great importance to the Japanese market. Carrefour failed to enter the Japanese market early because Japan also has a "big store law" similar to the French "Loiroyer law" to restrict large-scale retail. However, in May 2000, Japan finally abolished the "big store law" and Carrefour finally had the opportunity to enter the Japanese market. So it is possible to open a shop in Chiba Prefecture near Tokyo on February 8th, 1999.
Operating characteristics and competitive advantages of Carrefour
Carrefour can become the second largest retail enterprise in the world, and its ability to maintain growth and good model can be summarized as follows.
(1) low price strategy
The competitive advantage of retail industry is low price strategy, and Carrefour is no exception. Since the first HM opened in the suburbs of Paris in 1960s, it has been known for its low price strategy. Carrefour's biggest feature is to achieve a low price strategy that is 2-50% cheaper than competitive enterprises through direct transactions with production enterprises.
The 1960s was a period of high economic growth in France after World War II, but with the oil crisis and the improvement of French consumers' purchasing power, the inflation rate reached 14%. Carrefour's low-price strategy has played a role in offsetting inflation and has been welcomed by consumers, so HM is successful in France.
(2) large-scale operation
Carrefour has been a 2,500-square-meter store since its first store. The definition of general supermarkets in France is 400 ㎡-2,500 ㎡, and those over 2,500 square meters are called super-large supermarkets. Now there are more and more super-large retail enterprises, and the second store opened by Carrefour in Japan has reached 2994 1 square meter, which is close to 30,000 square meters. Large-scale is characterized by many kinds of goods, strong ability to collect customers and low price.
(3) Chain operation mode
Carrefour's business model is chain operation. As mentioned above, the total number of Carrefour stores in the world reached 444 1 1 in 1999. The characteristic of chain operation is that it can realize the scale effect, that is, the bargaining advantage formed by unified procurement, which is one of the means to maintain the low price policy.
(4) Location model
Looking at the distribution of Carrefour's stores in the world and analyzing the successful cases of various countries, we can determine the existence of * * * market conditions. Whether it is Spain in Europe, Brazil and Argentina in South America, Taiwan Province Province and China in Asia and other countries and regions, Carrefour has defeated the local similar retail industry with overwhelming advantages and won the top sales rankings in this country or region.
Looking at the reasons for Carrefour's success, we can find that the countries or regions invested by Carrefour are underdeveloped places. Summarize the investment characteristics of these places and sort out the following similarities:
First, some countries and regions with relatively weak or backward retail industry choose to invest in opening stores;
Second, the government has no restrictions on large-scale retail;
Third, there are no large supermarket chains in the local area;
Fourth, the land price is relatively cheap, and you can get enough space;
Fifth, there is no local specialty store for home appliances or clothing.
(5) store opening strategy
Carrefour's slogan is the strategy of "the suburbs surround the city center". General stores choose to open 3-6 stores within 20km from the city center and 1 hour drive. On the one hand, it prevents customers from flowing into the city center, on the other hand, it competes for some customers from the city center. This strategic model was first successful in France and then extended to other countries. For example, Taiwan Province Province and Chinese mainland are both successful examples.
Comparison between Carrefour's investment standard and Japanese reality
Carrefour's operational advantages
The current situation in Japan
1. Countries and regions with weak or backward retail industry
The government has no restrictions on large-scale retail.
There are no large supermarket chains in the local area.
The land price there is relatively cheap, so you can get enough space.
5. There is no local specialty store for home appliances or clothes.
6. Low price strategy
7. Shop opening strategy
1. 1.999 After Japan's "Big Store Law" was abolished, large retail stores began to saturate. Japan is a developed country with complete retail formats.
2. Although the "big store law" was abolished, the "venue law" replaced it also imposed certain restrictions on large retail stores. Compared with other countries, Japan is a country with very strict restrictions on opening stores.
3. There are often food supermarkets around Carrefour, and the freshness of Japanese shopping streets has certain competition for Carrefour's similar products.
Although the land price in Japan has decreased a lot after the bubble economy burst, it is still very high compared with other countries in the world.
But there may be no large-scale home appliances or clothing stores, but Japan is a country with a high penetration rate of home appliances, and the sales of home appliances are no longer the source of profits for enterprises. In addition, the channel integration of Japanese household appliances industry is very high, so it is difficult to give full play to Carrefour's advantages.
6. The circulation channels in Japan are considered to be complicated and long. Although Carrefour has achieved direct transactions with 55% of the production enterprises, the Japanese retail industry has never reached this figure. Even so, it has only achieved low prices for some goods.
As mentioned above, the cost of living has decreased, but the entertainment expenditure has increased. For example, 1990 accounted for 9.6% of the total consumption expenditure, and rose to 10% in 2000. Although the increase is not much, it is a big expenditure relative to the overall decline in consumption. Carrefour prevents customers from flowing into the city center, and it is difficult to achieve the strategy of competing for customers from the city center.