Retail Communication Mix

Sales Promotion

Sales promotion is the promotional tool that stimulates consumer purchasing and dealer interest by means of short-term activities. Let’s give some example of the tools they use. 10% off all their house brands if you used POSB Everyday Card. Special events are organized each time they open a store (and this is quite frequent, especially in China!). In each supermarket and hypermarket, they have a reserved zone where they make special displays to present new products.They also use bonuses (buy one, get one free), especially one they want to get rid of their stock.

Public relations

In order to inform the public of the changes that are being made by Carrefour, and to show how this is a good thing to customers, Carrefour has a very efficient information programme. They had set up a website providing relevant information to their customers and if you had signed up with the website, they will send you information regarding the new promotions. Moreover, as Carrefour is one of the biggest French firms, there are many newspaper articles about the group. Overall, these publications are a good publicity for Carrefour.

Merchandise Presentation and Store Design

Carrefour uses Grid Store Layout for their store, where long gondolas are placed in long rows throughout the stores. This layout is most suitable for supermarkets/hypermarkets as they have many merchandises; with the grid layout, they are able to categorise them. With the proper signs at each rows, this store layout enables customers to locate their merchandise easily. It also helps with merchandise exposure as customers will browse through other merchandises as well. However, this layout discourage customers from exploring the store as they will just grab what they wanted and leave the store, leading to limited browsing. It also makes the store look plain and uninteresting as it normally lacks in decor.

Carrefour had always been an innovator when it comes to store design. e.g. softening the look of its warehouse-size buildings by installing wood floors, non-fluorescent lights in some departments and etc. As Carrefour sells many different kinds of merchandise, it uses many different methods to display their products. Especially, for apparels, where they will put up mannequins at the display area or simply hanging them up.

Outline 3 HR practices carried out by Carrefour which are unique in Singapore

The success of Carrefour is largely due to Carrefour’s No.1 asset: Employees. Carrefour possess strong HR principles and policies which they practice worldwide and here are some identified being unconventional in Singapore.

Constructive Listening - LES EXOUTES DU PERSONNEL
To improve job satisfaction, Carrefour is using “Les Ecoutes du personnel” (Listening to Staff). In this programme, groups of employee representatives anonymously express their views, thus enabling Carrefour to identify areas in need of improvement. Being an International Retailer, Carrefour monitors compliance with trade union rights on the basis of an agreement signed with Union Network International (UNI).

In 2007, 20,504 employees participated in the groups, representing 180 hypermarkets
and 109 supermarkets in Argentina, Brazil, China, Columbia, Spain, France, Greece, Indonesia, Italy, Poland and Turkey.

As an example, Carrefour Turkey signed a collective agreement in 2008 with the commerce union, a sign of real progress for employees in the areas of compensation and benefits. Carrefour encourages negotiations on improving working conditions at every level. Within the retail sector, Carrefour and UNI collaborate in European Union discussions on sector-specific labour issues.

At Group level, in the early 1990s Carrefour created one of the very first European Committees, called the European Consultation and Information Committee (CICE ), which brings together management and labour from throughout Europe for constructive and in-depth dialogue. The CICE is also involved in the Group’s CSR efforts. At country level, management oversees local social dialogue.

Such dialog is not common or even non-existence in Singapore as Singaporean company often see this as a unnecessary program that is a waste of company's resources.




Wide-ranging Career Opportunities Encouraging Diversity in Local Hiring- TRAINING FOR SUCCESS
Worldwide, Carrefour hires approximately 100,000 new employees every year. The large number hired and the wide varieties of jobs (over 120 different occupations) allows Carrefour to offer job and career opportunities for all population segments including young people, seniors, men, women, disabled individuals, graduates and non-graduates. Diversity comes naturally to Carrefour and its equal opportunities policy powers the career ladder. 75% of all Group managers have risen through the ranks.

This policy largely relies on a significant investment in training as well as the “Cap Careers” tool, which provides a detailed assessment of managerial employees. This tool thoroughly and objectively assesses managers’ skills and performance during individual interviews. Tested in France, Poland and Belgium in 2007, it is now being implemented in every country.

The training policy takes different forms. For example, a management and customer focus for managers in China, a campaign against illiteracy in French hypermarkets, and the creation of a Carrefour Institute in Djakarta, Indonesia.

Managers of Carrefour and its Alfa Retailindo subsidiary will be receiving training, with the goal of 20,000 training days for over 1,900 employees every year.

In Singapore, train of staff by company evolves mainly on the company's aim or goals to gain the "Singapore People Developer" certification. Not many company in Singapore adopt employee-centric training programmes benefiting employees more than employers.

Carrefour's Social and Ethical Approach
Carrefour is world's 7th largest private employer worldwide with over 495,000 employees. Carrefour's everyday HR policy evolve around its Code of Conduct as shown:

9) Customer Service

Outline and describe 5 pitfalls of inadequate or poor customer service give by retailers.


1) Hardly See any Customer Service Officers Around
Even though Carrefour is a very big and has many varieties, but whenever customers need help, we always cannot get anyone to help us. There aren’t customer service officers around the booths or department.

2) Can’t Depend on Their Service
Even if we were able to find a customer service officer, he/she will tell us to wait and he/she will check it out for us. But in the end, we have to depend on ourselves to check it or walk all the way back to the counter to get help as the customer service officer will not get back to us or cannot be found after that.

3) Rude
There was once I needed help, I waited very long for a customer service officer to appear. When I saw a customer service officer, I went straight to approach him and asked if there are other colours for the product that I want to buy. He replied rudely saying ‘all there la, go see by yourself, I am very busy.’ I think this behavior is unacceptable.

4) Fitting Room
The fitting rooms at Carrefour are always very messy and dirty. The floor is very dusty; it makes me feel very uncomfortable to try on their clothing. Not only that, there are hangers all around and I cannot hang my handbag and clothes.

5) Cashier Counters
There are quite a lot of counters in Carrefour. However I realized that they only open one or two cashier counters, not like NTUC or Giant; they always open most of their cashier counters. This makes customers queue for a very long time.

Carrefour's Customer Service Approaches

Much of today's focus on service excellence is on customer service training. Equally important is the ned for innovative ideas that look beyond service training to improve customers' shopping experience. Carrefour's service initiatives demonstrate their active pursuit of innovative solutions to enhance their service.

One of the hypermarket's initiates is the retail industry's first "Queue Busters" that consist of mobile teams that scan and pack customers' purchases to speed up the payment process. Using wireless technology, the new system saves up to 25% of customers' time spent in queues.

Another first in the industry is Carrefour's new electronic shelf label system (ESL). With constant new promotions in the grocery section, the system ensures consistent prices reflected on the shelves and at the cashier, and minimizes human errors during price updates. Also, staff who were previously handling the labelling manually can now spend more time at the sales floor, attending to customers.

Carrefour has even introduced a complimentary internet service at its customer service counter to cater to male customers who tend to wait outside the store while their spouses shop. Other thoughtful touches include a wash basin placed beside the fresh fish section, so that customers can easily wash their hands after hand-picking fish and meat; and handphone charging services for those on the move.

The hypermarket's innovative approach to service does not stop with its customers. A point-based incentive programme "Pat on the Back" is used to develop service champions and reward staff who have demonstrated great service. The points can be accumulated and exchanged for couple or family rewards.

Carrefour's incentive programmes and monthly competitions for the staff boast attractive rewards - luxury hotel and yacht club stays, restaurant vouchers and limousine service to motivate and develop service champions among the staff. 

Incentives for good service quality need not always be monetary. Carrefour's 'Pat On The Back' programme awards Certificates of Appreciation to those who exhibit good customer service. They are promoted as role models in the organization. These intangibles are equally gratifying to the service staff. It was believed that when they feel they are sincerely being appreciated, it drives them to be more passionate about their work and in turn more able to deliver good service truly from their hearts. 

To ensure that these initiatives add up, Carrefour's bi-annual customer surveys -Service Radar - measure their performance on key service indicators in comparison with their competitors. Areas of strengths and weaknesses in service reflected in the survey are immediately identified and worked upon. 

A multi-agency working committee led by SPRING Singapore and NTUC, with representatives from Singapore Workforce Development Agency (WDA), Singapore National Employers Federation (SNEF) and the unions (SMMWU, SISEU and FDAWU1), spearheads the CCI. Singapore Tourism Board and Singapore Retailers Association also support the initiative. The CCI is part of the Go-the-Extra-Mile for Service (GEMS) movement to transform Singapore's service quality in the retail sector.