Faced with inflation, supermarkets have been called upon to review their prices. Several chains have already announced that they will sell gasoline at cost in the coming days. Système U is also preparing discount operations on all its stores, announced this Wednesday morning on RTL its boss Dominique Schelcher.
#Carburant: "I fear that those who will sell at cost will pass it on to food"@schelcher, CEO of Système U @ULesCommercants, invited to @amandine_begot in #RTLMatin pic.twitter.com/3FMo6t9cst
— RTL France (@RTLFrance) September 27, 2023
"From October 20 and 21" until December "we will make 10% on all food in our stores, beauty products, drugstore ... " and this "every 15 days". Alcohol is not included in these discounts and it will be necessary to carry the loyalty card of the store to take advantage of it, adds the CEO. He explains that the average trolley at Super U is around 60 euros, which would therefore make 6 euros of reduction during a checkout.
Have "a global discourse on inflation"
Dominique Schelcher also recalls having responded to the "call of the government" on gasoline. Stores in this group will offer fuel at cost price on the first weekend of each month starting in October. But he warns: "Doing cost price with us is not going to be spectacular, because we are already at permanent low prices all year round." According to him, this represents "one or two cents less per litre, which means one euro on the full floor".
The Carrefour and Leclerc brands have committed to carrying out such operations every day, Casino, Cora and Intermarché will carry out two weekends a month. Like Système U, Auchan will also do it at least one weekend a month.
Dominique Schelcher says he did not choose to make the cost price every day because, "at some point there are costs anyway, you have to cover these costs" and "especially we did not want to impact food," he says. Michel-Edouard Leclerc, boss of the sign of the same name, stresses him on franceinfo this Wednesday morning that making the cost price "is a real effort". In his group, "fuel is 10 billion in turnover, so when you move the cents it immediately explodes the counters".
The Breton CEO recalls that Leclerc stores already offer prices among the lowest in French supermarkets and boasts "a global discourse on inflation". The two bosses especially call on large industrialists to lower their margins, larger than theirs, they assure, so that the consumer can observe a difference in prices. "We must bring food inflation back into general inflation," says Michel-Edouard Leclerc.
