Hypermarket Geant aims to cut revenue losses by 50 percent

Far Eastern Geant (愛買), the nation's third-largest hypermarket chain, expects to halve its revenue losses this year to NT$500 million (US$15 million) by reducing costs and strengthening consumer loyalty, its new chief Tim Chuang (莊金龍) said yesterday.

With 14 stores in operation nationwide, the firm has had a hard time making profits, which Chuang attributes to high land rentals.

But the retailer is negotiating to reduce rentals, said Chuang, who has worked at the Far Eastern Group (遠東集團) for 23 years, including a decade with Far Eastern Geant.

Another initiative that the retailer is planning to take to boost performance is making use of marketing resources in a more efficient method, or focusing on segmentation marketing, he said.

"The retail environment has become much more competitive as more players join, but the pie remains the same," Chuang said.

"Using the traditional strategy to target the public does not work well any more," he said.

Through the use of data-mining tools, Far Eastern Geant plans to issue different catalogues with themes ranging from beauty, childcare, wine and health, aiming to rake in sales of NT$350 million from its segmentation program this year.

Chuang became the hypermarket retailer's chief operational officer in mid April, replacing the former French president Pascal Billaud.

The personnel change was made in January after the hypermarket chain became 100-percent owned by Far Eastern Department Store (遠東百貨).