France-based Les Mousquetaires said its total sales rose 5.9%, excluding fuel, and by 7.7%, including fuel, across its operations in Europe. The organisation was able to report a positive performance at all its divisions, with its retail brands generating sales of €40.5bn, including fuel, and its agribusiness division producing €4.0bn.

Good performance at a group level

Les Mousquetaires said its Intermarché and Netto banners generated a combined turnover of €27.0bn, excluding fuel, and €36.5bn, including fuel.

…Driven by France…

In its home market, Les Mousquetaires said Intermarché enjoyed sales growth of 2.9%, to €23.06bn, excluding fuel, and €31.5bn, including fuel. Les Mousquetaires said 2018’s performance outstripped that for the two preceding years: sales rose 1.3% in 2016 and 1.7% in 2017.

The organisation said the pace of sales growth had enabled it to gain market share and underlined the positive effect of its transformation programme. The initiative has put a greater focus on helping shoppers to eat better and how goods are produced better.

At Netto sales rose 1.9% to €1.1bn, excluding fuel, and €1.27bn, including fuel. The pace of sales growth at Netto was the same in 2018 as versus 2017, but lower than that it enjoyed in 2016, at 3.9%. Les Mousquetaires said Netto’s performance had been boosted by shoppers’ search for value.

…And replicated in Belgium and Poland

Outside its home market, Les Mousquetaires reported a positive performance. In Belgium it said Intermarché had led the market in terms of sales growth, reporting that sales had risen 7.5% in 2018.

In Poland, Les Mousquetaires saw sales rise 5.5% to PLN7.5bn (€1.7bn) across its two banners, Intermarché and Bricomarché. By business, Les Mousquetaires said sales had risen by 3.4% at Intermarché, to PLN5.2bn (€1.2bn) and by 10.3% at Bricomarché to PLN2.3bn (€0.5bn). During 2018 Les Mousquetaires invested PLN100m (€23.3m) in its operations in Poland to open new stores, lower prices and operate more eye-catching promotions.

At a net supermarket level, Les Mousquetaires ended 2018 with one fewer store in Poland after opening four and closing five. In 2019, Les Mousquetaires will aim to open four new stores in the country, while also investigating opportunities to add Drive collection points.

As Auchan looks to drive its Vision 2025 strategy faster it has announced operational changes in France and the launch of Horizon International Services. Meanwhile, at a local level it continues to evolve its channel presence, driving growth in its small store estate and with its online fulfilment.

Horizon International Services is officially launched

Following approval from the relevant competition authorities, Auchan, Casino, Metro and DIA have officially announced the launch of Horizon International Services. First announced in July 2018 the alliance will cover 47 countries across Europe, Asia and Latin America where the four companies operate.

Announcing the launch, a press release from Metro said: “Horizon International Services will enable Auchan Retail, Casino Group, METRO and DIA to pool their resources to forge balanced and innovative relationships based on a catalogue of common, scalable services, in the best interests of all actors in the supply chain, from the manufacturer through to the consumer.”

Auchan Retail France appoints new management committee

Lineaires has reported that Auchan Retail France has established a new management committee. The new structure will see the retailer move away from organising itself by channel, choosing instead to group itself into eight multi-format geographical regions and one that covers franchising and partnerships.

The new management committee, with someone to be appointed to the Grand-Est region in the future, will be made up of:

• Serge Lalleman, Nord-Pas-de-Calais
• Olivier Barbry, Normandie / Picardie / Littoral
• Christophe Carreyre, Centre / Loire-Atlantique
• Frédéric Davignon, Île-de-France / Paris intra-muros
• Olivier Louis, Île-de-France / Paris grande couronne
• Béatrice Felter, Auvergne / Rhône-Alpes
• Anthony Nobis, Occitanie / Méditerranée
• Emmanuel Zeller, franchising and partnerships

Auchan reopens Pedestrian Drive in Paris…

Adding further to the competitive environment in Paris, Auchan has reopened its Drive site in rue Saint-Charles in Paris under the Auchan Drive banner. First opened in April 2014 the store enables shoppers to collect orders made on auchandrive.fr, auchan.fr and through its app between two to four hours of making the purchase.

…Expands partnership with OMV for MyAuchan banner in Romania

Auchan and OMV have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) that could lead to the expansion of their partnership. If carried through the MoU could lead to the addition of further MyAuchan stores on the latter’s forecourts. The two companies have been working together since 2017, when the trial of 15 MyAuchan stores on OMV’s forecourts began. The stores were opened in both urban and rural areas to enable the two to test the effectiveness of the business model.

Commenting on the results, OMV’s directorate for downstream oil, Radu-Sorin Caprau, said: “The results so far are encouraging, and we are happy to negotiate the expansion of the partnership and have more MyAuchan proximity stores on our Petrom stations. This association aims to add more substance to the promise of the Petrom brand, with MyAuchan stores perfectly complementing Petrom’s classic benefits: affordable, efficient fuels and stations anytime…”

For subscribers wanting more on Auchan’s outlook, read our strategic outlook for the retailer.

As competition in the channel continues to rise in France, Leclerc’s members have looked to build on their online lead through the opening of new pedestrian Drives throughout the country.

New sites open in Paris, Montpellier, Toulon and Tours…

Leclerc’s members have opened new sites, under the E Lecerc Relais brand, in Paris, adding to the already competitive market. The store, which is at 36 boulevard Saint Michel, is the second in the city, and comes as Leclerc has said it is targeting operating 80 in Paris within four years. Elsewhere, two Relais have been opened in Montpellier and one in Reims, amongst others.

…While trials continue to widen their appeal

Meanwhile, Olivier Dauvers has reported how Leclerc members are using their Drives to enable shoppers to collect orders from a wider number of retailers. Dauvers has shown how the Leclerc Drive in Attin, Pas-de-Calais is enabling shoppers to collect their IKEA orders alongside products from the retailer itself. Using Leclerc’s collection point will help IKEA by enabling shoppers who use the site regularly to easily collect orders from the retailer. Ultimately, Leclerc’s Drives could amalgamate orders from more retailers, creating more reasons for shoppers to use its collection points over others.

Want more on online? Subscribers can visit our channel hub page.