With Profit Falling, Carrefour Rethinks Strategy
In a fresh effort to win back shoppers, the new chief executive of Carrefour SA plans to look at scaling back some international expansion, open different store formats and increase the product selection at its core hypermarkets.
Jose Luis Duran, who five weeks ago assumed the helm of the world's second-largest retailer in sales after Wal-Mart Stores Inc., said yesterday that Carrefour's board, at his request, has given him the rest of 2005 to test new strategies to get the company back on track. "I am not in a hurry to dispose of assets," Mr. Duran said of his intention to review underperforming international operations. "I will give time for our country managers to devise a new plan" to win market share, he said in an interview.
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It is clear Mr. Duran will have a tough job reversing Carrefour's declining fortunes. Thursday, the company reported a 15% decline in 2004 net profit to �1.39 billion ($1.86 billion) from �1.63 billion in 2003. The 2004 results included a �90 million charge to sell its stores in Japan, where it had operated for four years and was never profitable.
At Carrefour's French stores, where it derives more than half of its profit, sales slid 8.3%. Overall, revenue rose 3.1% to �72.7 billion from �70.5 billion in 2003. Carrefour doesn't break out fourth-quarter results.
Carrefour, one of the major champions of the hypermarket -- the concept of a supercenter store selling everything from food to television sets to clothing -- has struggled for several years, hurt by a double punch of its own strategic missteps and constraining government regulation in its home market. For the past year, Mr. Duran's predecessor, Daniel Bernard , has laid out turnaround plans to lower the prices and boost sales. They haven't worked, and Mr. Bernard resigned last month. Mr. Duran, then chief financial officer, became CEO.
If Carrefour can't be one of the top three retailers by sales in an overseas market, it would likely leave the territory, Mr. Duran said yesterday. He declined to say which countries he might exit, but Carrefour isn't among the top three retailers in such countries as Czech Republic and Slovakia, for example.
Such a strategy marks a significant change for Carrefour, the most international of retailers, with operations in 30 countries. By contrast, Wal-Mart has stores in 10. But Carrefour is now facing an assault from Wal-Mart and the United Kingdom's Tesco PLC, both expanding aggressively into Asia, especially China. Tesco also is expanding in Eastern Europe.
Carrefour this week solidified its plans to leave Japan by agreeing to sell its eight stores there to local retailer Aeon Co. Carrefour had just 1.4% market share in Japan, Mr. Duran said. He also plans to sell Carrefour's stores in Mexico, where Carrefour has been operating for 10 years but failed to win enough market share to continue.
Mr. Duran said he is looking to open different types of stores -- traditionally Carrefour has operated its very large hypermarkets, medium-size supermarkets and small discount stores. Now, he wants to try opening unusually large bargain stores showcasing clothes or electronic items to draw in shoppers and going far beyond Carrefour's traditional stock of private-label groceries and general merchandise.
For example, discount stores generally have about 600 square yards of floor space; Mr. Duran envisions new ones double or triple that size. Hypermarkets generally cover more than 10,000 square meters.
Carrefour's struggling hypermarkets have focused too much on trying to compete on price, Mr. Duran said. Under Mr. Bernard, Carrefour cut prices on its groceries but, as the 2004 financial results indicate, shoppers still didn't return.
"Pricing is still a key issue, but we need to look at store layout and improving customer service," Mr. Duran said. Shoppers will return to Carrefour if they perceive that they are getting better other services under one roof, such as health screenings and eyeglass services, he said.
Price has been particularly difficult for Carrefour hypermarkets in France where regulation prohibits how much it can lower its prices on branded merchandise. Carrefour has been hurt by competitors, such as two German chains, Aldi and Lidl, both of which sell private-label merchandise that isn't subject to the French rules and thus can be priced more cheaply. Both those stores have opened aggressively in France, winning Carrefour shoppers.
Mr. Duran said he wants to increase the range of private-label products offered by Carrefour. His goal is to introduce about three to five new products a month, he said. Currently, 30% to 32% of Carrefour's products are private label. Mr. Duran aims to raise that to about 43% to 45% -- and to spur new items, he vowed to raise the research-and-development budget.
家乐福欲重整河山
为了挽回在消费者心中的形象，家乐福(Carrefour SA)新任首席执行长何塞?路易斯?杜兰(Jose Luis Duran)推出新举措：缩小某些国际业务扩张的规模，开设新型店铺，并丰富核心业务──大型超市的产品种类。
上任仅5周的杜兰在3月10日表示，家乐福董事会批准了他的请求，允许他在2005年的剩余时间里试行重振公司雄风的新战略。杜兰表示准备评估表现不佳的国际业务，并不急于剥离资产。他还说，将给各地区主管留出时间，让他们酝酿夺回市场占有率的新方案。
显而易见，要想扭转家乐福业绩的下滑势头并非易事。周四，家乐福公布2004年净利润从2003年的16.3亿欧元降至13.9亿欧元（合18.6亿美元），降幅达15%。2004年的业绩包括出售日本业务产生的一笔9,000万欧元的支出。家乐福打入日本市场已有4年之久，但从未盈利。
至于贡献了半数以上利润的法国业务，销售额则下滑了8.3%。公司2004年全年收入增至727亿欧元，比2003年的705亿增加了3.1%。家乐福没有公布第四季度的业绩。
作为全球大型超市的主要运营商之一，由于自身的战略失误以及在本土市场的扩张受到政府监管规定的限制，家乐福近几年来处境不佳。过去1年来，杜兰的前任丹尼尔?伯纳(Daniel Bernard)制定了一系列降低产品售价、提振销售额的计划，但并没有收到成效。伯纳上个月引咎辞职。时任首席财务长一职的杜兰临危受命，从伯纳手中接过掌门人的职位。
杜兰在3月10日表示，家乐福海外业务的销售额如果不能进入当地的前三甲，那么家乐福就可能选择撤离。虽然杜兰并未透露准备从哪些国家撤资，但在捷克共和国、斯洛伐克等国，家乐福的销售额就无法跻身当地前三甲。
这表明家乐福的经营战略发生了显著转变。在诸多零售商中，家乐福的经营分布范围最广，足迹遍布30个国家。相比之下，沃尔玛连锁公司(Wal-Mart Stores)的触角只是伸到了10个国家。但家乐福的地位现在受到了沃尔玛和英国Tesco PLC的挑战。后两家企业正在亚洲，特别是中国大举扩张，而且Tesco还在进军东欧市场。
家乐福本周敲定了剥离日本业务的计划，向竞争对手Aeon Co.悉数售出旗下8家店铺。杜兰表示，家乐福在日本的市场占有率仅有1.4%。他还计划出售墨西哥的业务，家乐福在当地已经营10年之久，但市场占有率没能达到继续经营下去的地步。
杜兰表示准备推出新型店铺，而家乐福以往的店铺主要是规模庞大的大型超市，中等规模的超市，以及小型的廉价超市。现在，杜兰希望开设超大型廉价商店，出售服装、电器以吸引消费者。这种超大型廉价商店将在家乐福自营品牌杂货和日常用品以外推出品种大为丰富的商品。
例如，廉价店的规模一般在600平方码左右，杜兰希望开设的超大型廉价商店的占地面积要比这大一到两倍。大型超市的占地面积一般要超过10,000平米。
杜兰表示，家乐福处境不佳的大型超市过分片面地强调价格优势。在伯纳执政时期，家乐福下调了百货店产品的售价，但从2004年业绩报告来看，客流量并未回升。
杜兰表示，产品售价固然重要，但也要注重店内布局和提高服务质量。杜兰认为，只要顾客觉得能够在健康诊疗、配镜等其他方面获得更好的服务他们就会重新回到家乐福购物。
家乐福位于法国的大型超市面临著尤为严峻的价格问题，因为法国监管部门对品牌商品的降价幅度做出了限制。包括Aldi和Lidl两家德国连锁店在内的竞争对手发起攻击，经营不受管制所以可以更便宜的自营品牌商品，侵蚀了家乐福的市场占有率。这两家德国连锁店在法国大举扩张，吸引走了家乐福不少的客户。
杜兰表示，他希望扩大家乐福自营品牌产品的范围。他的目标是每月向市场推出3到5种自营品牌产品。目前，家乐福30%-32%的产品都属于自营品牌产品。杜兰准备把这个比例提高至43%-45%，并丰富产品的种类，为此他准备提高研发预算。
