Thanks Carrefour: The Evolution of Grocery Shopping

enoVate’s own, Faye, gives a first person experience of the evolution of supermarkets since her childhood in the 80′s

I still remember how big a deal it was when LianHua opened a supermarket in my neighborhood in the 80′s. Before then, it was completely unthinkable for us to go into a shop and actually pick products ourselves! Obviously, the supermarket was not as big as it is now, neither was the product selection. I think they probably only carried some packaged food, and household products. And you had to check your bag before going in because of rampant thievery. Nevertheless, as kids we would go to the store just for fun -walking through the aisles, picking up food.

A couple years later the LianHua closed down, and replaced by bigger and better. There it was. A big step forward: Carrefour! It was almost legendary when you think about it, how a French company decided to enter the China market at such an early stage.  Carrefour entered with the Chinese name 家乐福 (Jia Le Fu), which means family, happiness and luckiness.  That was a great name later turned into a great brand.

One important thing Carrefour brought to China was private label packaged goods. These products are sold under the Carrefour brand, but are produced by other brands.  The concept was already popular overseas, because of its benefits to both the manufacturer and the retailer. The manufacturer utilizes excess capacity, while allowing the retailer to add a low-price/high margin option on shelves.

Carrefour was also the first to bring a quality shopping-space design, and great customer service.  For the first time, we could shop in a well categorized, ordered store.  Grocery shopping was made logical. This type of model has since been adopted by retailers all over China. You can also thank Carrefour for importing refunds and exchange policies.

Carrefour’s entry benefited the whole industry by setting the bar much higher. We now have first class retail spaces that did not exist prior to Carrefour’s entry. My local Jia De Li even sells non-processed cheese now! Thanks Carrefour.