E.Leclerc’s position as France’s leading grocer has been cut back slightly, according to the latest Kantar Worldpanel market share data for the 12 week period to 15 November, with the retailer on 21.1% share, 90 basis points ahead of rival Carrefour (20.2%).
Kantar Worldpanel said that Carrefour’s hypermarkets in particular were returning to growth, with a 20 basis point rise, and now account for a market share of 10.7%. This was partly thanks to the ‘Le mois Carrefour’ (Carrefour Month) promotion the retailer operated across its larger stores.
At Casino, which posted a share of 11.6% for the period, the Giant hypermarket business was also up, albeit marginally (10 basis points), while its Monoprix operation also posted a 10 basis point rise. Géant and Monoprix account for 2.7% and 2.1% share respectively.
Top Performers
The best performer in the French retail market was Intermarché, which posted a 30 basis point rise to 15.5% share, as a result of an extra 200,000 shoppers visiting its stores, Kantar Worldpanel said.
Lidl, which also saw a 30 basis point increase, and stands on 5.4%, welcomed an additional 279,000 shoppers through its doors, thanks to an improved image and continued focus on low prices.
Carrefour Performance
Commenting on Carrefour’s performance in the Kantar Worldpanel findings, Bernstein Research said, “While on the face of it this looks like a much improved performance it probably reflects the shifting of Carrefour's annual promotional campaign from September to October rather than any underlying improvement.
“The fact that despite moving the promotional campaign, hypers are still only flat market share (not gaining) suggests that the underlying trend is still one of losing ~50bps share YoY. In our view the weakness seen this year is driven by consumers switching to Leclerc for their stronger online proposition and increased promotions.”
© 2017 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.
