Carrefour and Cora join forces

The year begins with one more retail buying alliance in France. Carrefour and Cora have decided to join forces on purchasing, and the move consolidates the number of major retail purchasing groups in the country from seven to four.

This is the third agreement in recent months. In September, Systeme U and Auchan announced their alliance, which was followed by Intermarché and Casino in October. The latest alliance does not involve private label, products developed by SMEs and fresh fruits and vegetables, but does include negotiating about purchasing products of national and international brands, food and bazaar, according to LSA.

Cora, with nearly 60 hypermarkets, 145 supermarkets and a 3.3% market share, felt the need to belong to a larger purchasing group, according to trade sources. An analyst for Kepler Cheuvreux said that Cora is an excellent retailer but “given its relatively small size, it suffered to keep pace with the price reductions in the French market.”

Source: PLMA