Carrefour Aims to Get Bigger Niche of Chinese Market

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, February 28, 2003

Carrefour Aims to Get Bigger Niche of Chinese Market

France-based Carrefour, one of the three leading retailers in the world, has vowed to get a bigger niche on China's retail market in the future.

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France-based Carrefour, one of the three leading retailers in the world, has vowed to get a bigger niche on China's retail market in the future.

Jean-Christophe Voynet, Carrefour Global Sourcing China Manager, said occupying the Chinese market means that the "future is in our hands."

Carrefour has been striving to take root in China and open stores all around the country, Voynet said.

Carrefour had opened 35 stores in 20 Chinese cities by the end of last year since it first entered China in 1995. The number is expected to reach 49 this year.

By contrast, Wal-Mart has 23 stores in China and Metro of Germany, the third largest retailer in the world, has 16 stores in China.

Carrefour's total sales in China was approximately 1.2 billion US dollars last year, two times that of Metro and much higher than that of Wal-Mart.

As the second largest retailer in the world following Wal-Mart of the United States, Carrefour has opened more than 9,200 chain stores in 31 countries worldwide. It registered 78 billion euros in global sales in 2002.

Leading Carrefour officials are happy with their booming business in China.

Voynet used the words "stability" and "potential" to describe their understanding of the Chinese market.

He listed the reasons of political stability, sustained and steady economic growth, proactive financial and monetary policies the Chinese government has adopted to stimulate domestic demand.

Voynet said leading Carrefour officials held that the huge potential was likely to make China's market a "pole" in the growth of the world's retail business, and Carrefour was confident of creating a "miracle" in retail business like the economic "miracle" created by China.

Voynet said Carrefour's strategy for taking root in China is to localize its businesses, shown by moving its global purchasing center to China from Southeast Asia and India.

Statistics show that commodities purchased in China, totaling 3.5 billion US dollars, accounted for 61 percent of Carrefour's total procurement in 2001, and the figures rose by a big margin in 2002, according to Voynet.

Currently, Carrefour has set up purchasing centers in 11 Chinese cities with an advanced manufacturing industry, including Beijing, Shanghai, Wuhan, Guangzhou, Dalian and Ningbo.

Now, Carrefour has granted decision-making power to its regional purchasing centers in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and Wuhan, based on which, it has established a logistics system spreading all over China.

At present, Carrefour has a very stable consumer group in China among people of low to medium income levels. According to Voynet, among those who visit Carrefour stores, 28 percent come by foot, 15 percent by bicycle and more than 20 percent by bus.

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