Carrefour opens 34th outlet on its 15th anniversary in Taiwan

December 20, 2004

Retail giant Carrefour opened its 34th outlet in Taiwan at the end of November. The French retailer teamed up with Taiwan's Uni-President to establish its first Taiwanese outlet in Kaohsiung in 1989. After fifteen years, it now has outlets in 25 cities and counties around Taiwan.

Located in Sindian on the southern edge of Taipei City, this is the eighth Carrefour to open in Taipei County. Carrefour invested NTD 1.35 billion in the establishment of this new shopping center, the largest of its kind in Taiwan. Designed as a multi-purpose shopping mall, the site is also home to a B&Q furniture store, Alexander fitness center, a golfing center and a variety of eateries.

Carrefour is the largest retailer in Europe and the second largest in the world. It has achieved an equally impressive status here in Taiwan where it is the second largest retailer, the number-one mega-store brand, and the ninth largest service sector enterprise. Carrefour's stores employ nearly 10,000 personnel and generate annual revenues in excess of NTD 50 billion.

Of Carrefour's 34 store managers, 18 are women. Carrefour's managers are also quite young, with ages averaging in the early thirties.

Carrefour's partner Uni-President is Taiwan's top retailer. In addition to pairing up with Carrefour, Uni-President represents the Taiwanese side of other joint ventures in Taiwan, including 7-Eleven convenience stores, Starbucks coffee shops, Japanese home furnishings seller MUJI, and Japanese delivery service Takkyubin.

Carrefour plans to open four new stores in 2005, one in Taipei City, two in the Taipei suburbs of Neihu and Dazhi, and one in Taichung City. By 2008, the retailer intends to be running 50 outlets around Taiwan.

One of the keys to Carrefour's success is its investments in consumer surveys. The retailer spends NTD 400 million to conduct consumer surveys each year. Not only does it query its own customers, it also targets shoppers in front its competitors' establishments. This allows it to keep on top of consumer demand.

In an apparent affront to intuition, Carrefour accepts selling its fresh produce at a loss. Nonetheless, it says offering a wide variety of products is fundamental to its strategy of being a one-stop shop, a tactic it says that has been successful in bringing in shoppers that inevitably buy other products.

Also, in an interesting act of kindness blended with pragmatism, Carrefour points out that in addition to taking care of its employees, each Carrefour store supports an average of 50 homeless people. Company executives say that these disadvantaged visitors help themselves to Carrefour's prepared food, but that as long as they do not interfere with other shoppers, store managers see no need to stop them.

Carrefour's unique qualities and attitudes may be at the root of its exceptional success here in Taiwan. As Vice president Annette Lu said while addressing guests at the store's opening ceremony banquet, Carrefour has not only made money in Taiwan, it has also won the hearts of the Taiwanese people.

(United Daily News)

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