Abstract
The Food and Marketing institute (FMI) estimates that the American population spends over $5.6 billion a year on groceries and that the average store carries over 40,000 products (http://www.fmi.org/facts_figs/?fuseaction=superfact). With each household visiting the grocery store twice a week, it is increasingly important that the stores differentiate themselves to attract more customers and increase their loyalty. By applying economies of scale, outstanding customer experiences and an efficient management of inventory, Wal-Mart and Carrefour have risen to the top of their markets by providing the right product, at the right time and at the right price. The modern consumer does not lack options. There is little difference from one brand store to the next and customer choice truly becomes a personal preference. This is reason enough for superstores around the world to create the perfect shopping environment where comfort and convenience meet the right set of circumstances that make a particular chain competitive in their market.
This paper will focus on the overviews and financials of two of these retailers. France's Carrefour and the American Wal-Mart. These two companies dominate the industry of the “hypermarket” in their respective geographies—Carrefour is the number 1 retailer in Europe and number 2 in the world while Wal-Mart is the largest supermarket by sales volume in the United States (Ellickson, 2011). They are not necessarily competitors in their main revenue generating markets rather have recently started to share the same demographics in some of their international locations. We will therefore show some of their similarities and differences that are key to their success. In addition, by extrapolating data from their respective 2010 year end reports, we will calculate standard financial ratios to illustrate their financial health and their likelihood for continued growth given the current economic situation around the world.
