Abstract
Auchan is one of the world's leading retail groups. As shown on appendix 1, this group operates 357 hypermarkets in 11 countries across the world, and 649 supermarkets in France, Spain, Italy, Poland, Russia and Morocco. In France, Auchan has two main competitors Leclerc and Carrefour, its market share are 7.4% while Leclerc reaches 17.5% and Carrefour 11.8% in 2004. Carrefour is also the most attractive store, with an attractiveness rate of 84.8%, but Auchan is the second one with 82.4%. The latter is also the most frequented store in France and in addition, French stores are only 62% of Auchan's sales. Indeed, Auchan has a strategy of expansion. Since 1981, Auchan has begun to extend its supermarkets, first in Spain, changing its name literally by "Alcampo", then in 1989 in Italy, and finally in Russia in 2002.
