French retailer Carrefour will invest R$1.8 billion (€441.7 million) in Brazil this year, according to the company's CFO Sébastien Durchon.
During a meeting with investors, Durchon said that the investments will focus on the Atacadão wholesale business, and the integration of physical and online stores.
This year, a total of 50 new stores will be opened in Brazil, including 20 Atacadão wholesale outlets, ten Carrefour supermarkets and 20 Carrefour Express convenience stores.
However, the retailer added that there is a potential to open 120-140 new Atacadão stores in 80 cities by 2022.
The executive president of Atacadão, Roberto Müssnich, said that 13 of the retailer's hypermarkets have already been converted to the wholesale format, while at least five more units have been identified for conversion in the next two years.
Thanks to hypermarket revitalisation, Carrefour achieved a 5% gain in traffic from 2014 to 2017, ending last year with 84 new generation stores.
Last year, Grupo Carrefour Brasil reported sales of R$49.7 billion, up 7.2% compared to the previous year, as a result of its store refurbishment programme.
Expansion Plans
The plan for the next three years, according to Carrefour Varejo president José Luis Gutierrez, is to double the sales area of proximity stores, as part of the group’s omni-channel strategy, which also foresees the expansion of gas stations and drugstores, and the development of online grocery.
Carrefour Brasil's offering of private label brands and local products will be increased so that they each account for 15% of FMCG sales, increasing from the current 4% and 8%, respectively.
The group's executive director for digital transformation, Paula Cardoso, revealed that the 'click and collect' service will be available in 12 stores in the first half of the year, before being expanded to all hypermarkets and supermarkets by end-2018.
Additionally, Carrefour Brasil plans to expand its online shopping platform, which was launched last October, and was initially available for orders in São Paulo via the Meu Carrefour app.
The company will also launch a mobile payment solution, called Carrefour Pay, allowing customers to pay for their groceries in-store using an app on their phone.
Looking ahead, Durchon added that the company is not ruling out M&A operations, admitting that the acquisition of technology companies is "a possibility".
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
