The French retail market is becoming more polarised, with some operators lowering their prices while others engage in price increases, according to the latest Distri Prix price survey carried out by independent consultant Olivier Dauvers.
The data shows that E. Leclerc, the longstanding leader in the French market on price, now has a price index of 93.3, compared to 93.4 the previous month.
Other independent operators such as Intermarché (96.0, compared to 96.3) and Système U (96.1 compared to 96.4) have also lowered prices.
As Olivier Dauvers points out, Intermarché has now seen its price index fall 1.6 points in the past year, an indication of Les Mousquetaires' increased focus on competitiveness.
On The Increase
Going the other way, however, are retailers such as Monoprix (price index of 118.7, compared to 118.3 the previous month), Casino supermarkets (112.5, compared to 111.6) and Carrefour hypermarkets (95.6 compared to 95.4).
The most notable shift, however, has arguably been at Casino's Géant hypermarket operation, which increased its price index to 94.8, up from 94.6 the previous month, and 93.8 the month before.
As Olivier Dauvers notes, while Géant remains the second cheapest banner in France, its price gap with Leclerc is now 1.5 points.
In addition, four banners are all within one point of the Casino operation - Colruyt, Carrefour, Intermarché hypermarkets and Hyper U, something that has been "never seen" before.
© 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.
