E.Leclerc has retained its leadership position at the top of the French retail market, according to the latest Kantar Worldpanel market-share data for four weeks to 21 January 2018.
E.Leclerc sits on 21.1% market share, some 60 basis points ahead of Carrefour, which holds a 20.5% share.
At this point last year, the difference between the two market leaders was marginal, with E.Leclerc on 21.0% share and Carrefour on 20.9%, according to the data for the corresponding period in 2017.
The current Kantar Worldpanel data shows that Intermarché holds on to a comfortable third place in the market, with 14.5% market share (compared to 14.1% for this period last year), while the battle for fourth place intensifies, with Casino (11.2% share), Auchan (10.8%) and Système U (10.4%) all within a percentage point of each other.
Lidl sits on 5.4% market share, which is roughly on a par with its market share for the corresponding period last year. Rival Aldi is on 2.4%.
Market Trends
In its appraisal of the current state of the market, Kantar Worldpanel said that household spending was down 2.1% in the period, however, it added that there was an improvement in ‘buying morale’ towards the end of the year – a trend that has continued into 2018.
“The financial situation of households [is now] perceived less pessimistically, whereas it had been decreasing for some time,” commented Gaëlle Le Floch, strategic insight director at Kantar Worldpanel France.
Kantar Worldpanel data indicates that the supermarket channel saw the most growth in the period, rising by 30 basis points, while the online (20 basis-point gain) and the convenience/proximity channel (ten basis-point gain) also saw increases.
All is not lost for the hypermarket sector, however, with Casino's Géant banner seeing a 20 basis-point increase due to what Kantar Worldpanel said was “improved loyalty” among its shoppers.
In terms of individual supermarket performance, Kantar identified Intermarché as a strong performer, with the retailer seeing improved customer loyalty and an increased share of TV voice. Lidl, too, was a major investor in marketing, with Kantar saying that the discounter was the leading media investor during the period.
Analyst Viewpoint
Commenting on Kantar Worldpanel’s findings, analysts Barclays European Food Equity Research said that the decline of 2.1% in food retail sales should be seen in the context of the robust 4.2% growth in the previous period. This 28-day Kantar reporting period started on 25 December 2017, compared with the comparable period, starting on 26 December 2016.
“That clearly will be to the detriment of reported sales growth across the industry in the latest period because 25 December generates almost zero sales for the industry.”
Barclays added that for this reason, this particular set of data is “not especially useful” in determining the underlying growth of the industry in France, however, “it should still be meaningful to understand the relative ranking of the individual retailers. Consequently, we would focus more on basis points won and lost, rather than percentage growth rates. Overall, food retail sales are up by an average 1.1% over the past twelve months.”
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
