As I have advertized earlier this week, French channel France 5 was broadcasting yesterday "L'hyperduel", the story of the business fight Edouard Leclerc (E. Leclerc) and Marcel Fournier (Carrefour) undertook together. The TV Show is available in French here for only 6 days.
Duels : Edouard Leclerc / Marcel Fournier, l... par france5
Why did I switch for English? Because I believe this story goes by far out of the French market. Those two people had clearly changed the way retailing is. Especially obviously through Carrefour which is one of the most international retailer in the world.
The show was great, and despite my extensive knowledge on the topic, I found very good information that I did not know of.
What I highly appreciated was the mention of Bernardo Trujillo, the wizzard of discount retailing. I am actually waiting for a great biographic that does not seem to exist yet.
What I wanted to highlight in this video, beyond the two different characters, were their vision of discounting and modern commerce.
- Edouard Leclerc believed in cutting intermediaries in order to save some bucks and to give it back to customers. It was his core plan, and actually, he wanted to keep the business that way. It allowed him to buy cheaper, and therefore to have competitive pricing.
- Marcel Fournier believed in having wide product ranges and large stores, in order to lower the price of good sold, and hence to be more efficient in the operations, to sell lower. This is the reason why he embraces supermarket and self service.
What is interesting, is that the best retailers of our modern times have been able to mix both: Cut intermediaries and buy better, cheaper, and to lower their operating costs, to remain lean.
Great piece of work.
Duels : Edouard Leclerc / Marcel Fournier, l... par france5
