+33 680 38 14 46
Popularity of "drive" does not help margins
France
Wednesday 06 June 2012
MD
"drive" contributes to the growth of the supermarket business but not their margins.
There are now over 1000 "drive" points for collecting orders made by internet in French supermarkets and hypermarkets.
Last April the number of "drives" in France passed the threshold of 1000 units and their market share is estimated at 2.3% for food products, and should increase to 6% by 2015, representing a turnover of 4.75 billion euros.
But this multiplication,
if it provides a real service to customers, does not reassure retailers as clien's do not make any more impulse purchases that contribute to the margins. They also only stock 7,000 to 12,000 references for most part, low margin items.
The traditional model of the supermarket is likely to evolve rapidly and "drive" could rob stores that are already seeing their non-food departments hit by competition from specialty stores.
The traditional model of the supermarket is likely to evolve rapidly and "drive" could rob stores that are already seeing their non-food departments hit by competition from specialty stores.
source : les echos
