Is internationalization a form of survival for large distribution?

Abstract

In the early 1960s, the Fordist economic system emerged in France, especially through takeovers of U.S. multinationals in French companies and the reconstruction effort after the war. The market is huge and the development of the supermarket is inseparable from the rise of consumer society. The trade was organized and focused in 1960 through the chain stores (Casino, The Hive Picard, Guyenne and Gascogne).

However, the small independent retailers who were sedentary and itinerant represented nearly 65% of trade. The state gave a boost to the supermarket by the Fontanet circular of March 1960 which prohibited practices that restrict competition. The power industry was thus reduced. The media and advertising sectors emerged and the budget was quintupled between 1952 and 1972 in constant francs. So the producer / consumer relationship was totally depersonalized, and a form was found in the brand. Self-service was initiated.

Park believes that 10% per decade reach 64% of the total weight distribution. By 1970, competition was increasing due to the increasing number of supermarkets. The argument of price became necessary. By 1980, the crisis of saturation of growth potential with a decrease in consumption (oil shock of 1973) and a market share of almost 100% of the total distribution for retail materialized.

There was a development of new markets for retail chains such as jewelry, computers and the internationalization of brands was a novel phenomenon. We will get into first a description of the arrival of hypermarkets in a changing industry. Its arrival was followed by an internationalization that may seem like a choice to some or as a necessity for others.

Finally, we will study this internationalization through the two types of examples: supermarkets in Spain, and secondly the case of Carrefour worldwide.

The history of hypermarkets began with big men such as Edouard Leclerc or Gerard Muller, who tried to offer a different product.

The first supermarket was established in the Paris suburbs by Carrefour in 1963. Then followed the E. Leclerc hypermarket Landerneau in 1964 and in Roubaix in 1967, Auchan, Cora Garges-les-Gonesse Geant Casino in 1969 and in 1970 in Marseille. The term "supermarket" was coined in 1966 by Jacques Pictet, creator of the trade magazine LSA (Libre Service Actualites).

On June 15, 1963, Carrefour opened in Sainte-Genevieve des Bois in Essonne, the first French hypermarket. The store is over 2600 m2 and has 400 parking spaces, a petrol pump and large carts with wheels. It is also the first time that store offers a broad assortment under one roof: fresh produce, groceries, bazaar, textiles and appliances.

The success was immediate: more than 5,000 customers rushed into the store on the first Saturday opening.

The great innovation of this type of store appeared in Europe in the 1960s, but largely inspired by Bernardo Trujillo, is the generalization of the principle of self-service (implemented in the United States in the 1930s), carts are being available to customers who use directly on the shelves, and the importance of matching for finding "all under one roof", and the ease of access (large parking, on major roads).

As such, the development of hypermarkets is related to the growth of automobile use. In addition, the station offers cheap petrol as a loss leader.


Tags: supermarkets and hypermarkets; Carrefour worldwide; internationalization as a form of survival