Variety, niche marketing helping Geant boost sales

Facing a slack market yet stronger competition, Far Eastern Geant Co (愛買吉安), the nation's third-largest hypermarket chain, plans to expand its shopping-mall section and continue to target niche markets to raise its growth profile, company officials said yesterday.

"This year is quite challenging for hypermarket operators and all retailers," company president Pascal Billaud told reporters during a luncheon yesterday.

Far Eastern Geant has reduced the floor area of its hypermarket and introduced more stores such as DIY home improvement operator B&Q International Co, Starbucks cafes and Skylark restaurants in some outlets, Billaud said.

By accommodating a more diverse range of stores to complement its hypermarkets, Far Eastern Geant hopes to provide consumer with one-stop shopping services, he said.

Consumer response to the store remodeling has been good, promp-ting the company to consider adopting the same strategy in all its 14 stores nationwide. Far Eastern Geant will also open its 15th store in Hualien next year, Billaud said.

In September, Casino Guichard-Perrachon SA agreed to sell its 50 percent holding in Far Eastern Geant to Far Eastern Department Store (遠東百貨), after deciding to exit the Taiwanese market and shift its focus to emerging markets such as Brazil and Thailand in search of faster sales growth, the Saint-Etienne, France-based company said in a statement at the time.

Far Eastern Geant has been in a hard battle with other retailers since its establishment in 2000 owing to its lack of economies of scale. It is still in the red, although revenues are expected to rise more than 10 percent this year, Billaud said.

The company has also been targeting niche markets to boost business.

Tapping into the Far Eastern group's list of "Happy Go" shopping card members, the hypermarket chain operator started sending copies of its "Young Beauty" sales brochures to female buyers in October and "Baby Club" brochures to shoppers last month.

Sales from these two segments have risen 17 percent to 20 percent since then, Billaud said.

Far Eastern Geant has also remodeled its skin-care and pharmacy areas at its Jingmei (景美) outlet in Taipei to feature more shopper-friendly displays, he said. Sales from the pharmacy section of the store jumped 120 percent in the past month, Billaud said.

Far Eastern Department Store will complete its acquisition of Far Eastern Geant next year. This will create more synergy, allowing the two companies to benefit from cross-selling, more efficient procurement and save on costs, he said.

Far Eastern Geant's annual sales is starting today and will run for six weeks.