Carrefour reported sales growth of 6.3% on a like-for-like basis in Q2, buoyed by the performance of convenience stores, supermarkets and food e-commerce. Stronger growth in Brazil and Spain also helped to offset a weaker performance in France, with hypermarkets particularly impacted by the national lockdown. For the first half overall, Carrefour delivered operating profit growth of 29%, to EUR718 million, supported in part by an acceleration in its cost saving program.
With an ambition to generate EUR4.2 billion of sales from food ecommerce by 2022, Carrefour has accelerated several initiatives in response to the pandemic. New 'essentials' basket services, increasing the network of drives and pedestrian drives, new partnerships with Uber Eats and Glovo and voice-based food shopping experiences have contributed to Carrefour gaining more than 850,000 new online customers in Q2, and driving growth in this business segment by over 100%.
While a strong performance, data from Edge by Ascential Digital Shelf shows online availability levels in France dipping sharply during April and recovering only gradually during May, suggesting even higher growth potential during this period if supported with a more robust supply chain.
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