Changes in shopping patterns of consumers and new retailing approaches to configuration and service in food stores (e.g., supermarkets, convenience stores) may trigger the re-modelling and redesign of the stores in food retail chains. Sometimes, it is a major business or organisational event (e.g., merger & acquisition between retailers) that creates the opportunity for updating and upgrading stores. The context of this post is re-modelling of stores launched by a local retailer (Electra Consumer Products, ECP) on becoming a franchisee of a foreign renowned retailer, the French-based Carrefour (March 2022).

Not long before undertaking the franchise representation, ECP took-over about 150 food stores of another local retailer that had run into difficulties (Mega-Yeinot Bitan). In May 2023 the franchisee ECP embarked on converting the supermarket and hyper stores of the acquired retailer into Carrefour stores. They are classified into three categories, according to the retailing model of Carrefour: Convenience stores (City), supermarkets (Market), and Hyper (extra-large) stores. By February 2024 there are 76 stores titled Carrefour in Israel, two thirds of them are designated City, about a quarter are classified as Market, and the remaining are Hyper stores (Carrefour Israel website).

Apparently, the distinction between City and Market stores may cause some confusion to Israeli shoppers. In the standards of Carrefour, a supermarket is a store occupying 1000-3500sqm of selling area, but in Israel the scaling of stores, particularly supermarkets and convenience stores, is different, mainly smaller. Hence, some stores defined as City convenience stores may continue to be perceived as ‘supermarkets’ in the country. Furthermore, there is a potential mix-up also because size does not seem to differentiate consistently between the convenience and supermarket stores.

Some neighbourhood food stores (named previously ‘Mega-in-City’) are indeed relatively small (e.g., less than 300sqm) and could be appropriately classified as City convenience stores, but other neighbourhood stores that are larger could justifiably be classified as supermarket-type Market stores (e.g., 500-1000sqm). The number and types of special amenities in stores (e.g., bakery, delicacy, butchery) also do not seem to clearly explain the distinction between City and Market stores. Other factors of context, such as location, might explain the classification (e.g., in city neighbourhoods, suburban or on city-outskirts). Another facilitating factor from a consumer viewpoint could be an attempt to keep in line with the previous naming of neighbourhood supermarkets (‘Mega-in-City’) but this explanation is neither quite satisfactory (e.g., a relatively large store designated as ‘Mega’ in a Tel-Aviv shopping centre is designated now as City convenience store). Eventually, consumers will probably make their own judgement on which ones they perceive as convenience or supermarket stores (e.g., by comparison also to familiar stores of other food retail chains).

The conversion into Carrefour stores may involve from modest modifications to more substantial transformations. There are stores whose spaces have been completely vacated and they were re-built, constructed anew. In such stores the re-modelling entails more significant redesign of layout, configuration and appearance. In other stores, however, modifications have been made to the existing form of the store whilst continuing to operate (causing some hurdles and even safety hazards during works). In this case re-modelling is made largely by re-configuring some features of the store and changes in visual aspects of its design. This arrangement can yield, nonetheless, some significant improvements in appearance and comfort of shopping.

Changes in shopping patterns and habits of consumers may be driven by updates or adjustments to their priorities, for instance, in time, money and location. First, many consumers have become more sensitive to the rise in cost of living and try to adjust by looking for less expensive products and brands. Second, consumers who are more stressed by time constraints wish to spend less time in the store and expect their shopping journey to be more efficient (otherwise they order online more regularly). Third, consumer preference is increasing for shopping near one’s home in the neighbourhood instead of travelling by car to larger but more distant discount stores out of the town or city. This change may be motivated by greater appeal of convenience in shopping nearby home, especially if this can also help in saving time of travel. Consumers are more willing to settle with lower variety of products for the sake of greater convenience while cruising the store; this may face consumers, however, with greater tension between a priority to reduce expenses (on food & other grocery supplies) and their other considerations.

Stores that were completely rebuilt could make substantial changes to the layout and structure of the store. For example, changes can be noticed in division of the overall selling area into functional spaces and the types of fixtures (shelving), counters and refrigerators that may be installed in them. This could be particularly significant in spaces that were odd (e.g., in a supermarket that was composed of a main space with rectangular area and an extension of a corridor in shape of “L”, the additional arm away from the main area was removed from the selling area, and the extension was re-arranged to feel broader and less as a corridor). It seems that the thought behind re-modelling Carrefour (City) stores I visited has been to make products of different categories more easily accessible. Stores that were vacated and constructed anew could also receive a parqueted (wooden) floor, which may add warmth and home-feeling to the atmospherics of the store.

In a store that is only modified on the basis of an existing layout and structure, the scope and ways in which the store can be re-modelled and redesigned are more limited. Yet, it is still possible to make adjustments and upgrades to improve the store and the shopping experience. Notwithstanding, there are certain aspects to changes made that may not be truly beneficial.

It is not quite feasible practically, for example, to replace the flooring in this setting. However, it seems that in one of these moderately re-modelled stores, discussed here as an exemplar, damaged tiles were fixed or replaced, and the floor possibly polished. Also, while a parquet could not be installed, wooden panels were installed on the facade of some shelves and counters in the store.

Changes have also been made to lighting. Overall, the store looks brighter (plausibly the result of additional lighting and change in type or intensity of ‘white’ lighting stripes). The removal of posters sticked to the front windows apparently also contributed to entering natural light into the store. In one specific area the change is more noticeable and significant: in the fresh produce section of fruits and vegetables, as shown in the photo pictures below, ‘before & after’ the modification.

As can be seen in the lefthand photo (‘before’), a ‘roof’ structure was positioned above the produce, carrying lights, which gave an impression of fresh produce in a market. The extra ‘warm’ light from bulbs on the installment was also adequate and helpful (but perhaps less economic). In the righthand photo (‘after’), new lighting fixtures can be noticed on top from the ceiling, including ‘white’ round-tube LED light features and spotlights arranged in rectangular ‘rail fixtures’ and directed at the fresh produce in ‘counter trays’ in the centre of the area. Light is well-focused this way on the fresh produce (it is evident from how the surrounding area looks darker in the photo).

Is the new lighting arrangement better than before? On the one hand, the new solution seems to be convenient (easy-to-see and collect produce) and efficient. On the other hand, the previous solution seemed more original and aesthetically pleasant, in particular less ‘cold’ and ‘industrial’. However, the shoppers will be judges of their experience.

A discernible change made in that exemplar store was an extension added at the backend to the ‘front’ column of merchandise display, for placing more display furnishing. This display fixture, facing on its front-side the fresh produce, is now lengthier. The first aisle behind it is also lengthier, which gives a feeling of much greater distance to pass through it. However, the more significant impact of this extension is that the first section of the store that a shopper encounters on entry becomes almost separated from rest of the store. A refrigerator (for fish) was indeed moved to make a little more room for passing at the back of the store, but it is still relatively narrow (~100-120cms), which gives an odd and uncomfortable feeling when continuing to other parts of the store. It turned a situation that had not been optimal before a bit worse.

It is desirable to allow for a clear passage, like an ‘avenue’, at the back of the store from which shoppers can conveniently enter each aisle for the products they seek, and usually return to the back avenue to continue their journey. Shoppers tend not to walk the whole length of an aisle, instead picking-up the products that are at the other end when returning to the front passage of the store (near the cashier area, with manned counters and self-service posts). It is more convenient when the passage at the back of the store is in uniform width, but the width can vary; larger stores (e.g., in suburbs, within shopping centres) may provide a more comfortable passage (~200-250cms wide), but it is not uncommon for neighbourhood stores, where areas are more limited, to provide a more condensed passage (~100-150cms wide). In the latter case, it is hard for two persons to pass side by side (this can be found, for instance, in the store mentioned earlier even after being reconstructed). In the exemplar store, following the modification made, there is not a straight passage with clear view for only a short distance, and one gets an awkward experience of being pushed to the rear of the store.

The modifications to store layout led also to addition of products, replacement and alteration of the location of products in the store. Notably, the store now offers electric devices for the kitchen (e.g., electric kettle, oven toaster, blender stick, food processor). They supplement frying pans, saucepans, and other kitchen tools that are now hung on a ‘wall’ at the back of the store. This ‘wall’ fixture comes in place of the bakery cooled-counter, though the ovens of the store remain behind, ready for baking fresh patisseries and other bread-like products by Carrefour (such products were associated in the past with Pilsbury). The patisseries (e.g., croissants) are placed in drawers as part of the new extended furnished display facing the fruits and vegetables. The store also added towels and more kitchenware products to its merchandise offerings. This store continues to include a meat & fish counter and a delicacy counter in the same places as before with the passage ‘bridging’ between them in back of the store.

The visual appearance of merchandise display (visual merchandising) seems more compelling, neat and well-ordered on shelves. The aisles are in general reasonably wide (~120cms) and comfortable to walk through with shopping baskets or carts, viewing merchandise on both sides of the aisle (same as before).

Thereby, the back-of-store avenue should have been at least as wide as the aisles to be comfortable to pass through. Achieving this might require making a compromise, such as shortening somewhat the aisles and shelving fixtures, which implies stocking fewer products. It is not an easy compromise, but it has advantages. First, offering fewer products (types, brands) can make the shopping journey more efficient and convenient, particularly if this is a convenience store. Second, shorter aisles can be easier and less tiring to go through. When it comes, for example, to the electric kitchen devices and other cooking equipment, the convenience of having these products ‘under-one-roof’ with other kitchen food supplies contrasts with the convenience of navigating and finding products more easily, accessibly and quickly. Especially in a convenience store, it is more important to focus on more needed and frequently purchased products, and less on essential yet discretionary (‘long tail’) products. It is not worth adding the latter kinds of products if they make the store feel too crowded.

One should not underestimate the importance of easy navigation and orientation in the food store. The modifications in layout and foremost the changes in location of products (by category) have made the shopping journey lengthier — harder to navigate, more time-consuming searching back and forth for products, and causing greater fatigue especially for elderly customers (personally witnessed). At least at the time of transition members of staff should have been assigned exclusively to be guides and helpers to shoppers, the older ones in particular. It should be noted, however, to the favour of staff members busy in other tasks (service, placing products) that they were forthcoming in helping with directions. Staff members now wear shirts with the writing on their backs “I am here for you” — consistent with the translated saying on a signage board seen in the first photo “We are always here to your service”.

• Note: The City store in a shopping center in Tel-Aviv mentioned earlier is differently and better organised now, following considerable modifications. The store, composed of two connected halls, seems more ‘continuous’, and pathways are comfortably wide. It even has a nice cellar-style corner for wines. The store also looks more suitable to accommodate a section for electric and other kitchen equipment & kitchenware. This store could have well been titled Carrefour Market.

The re-modelling of stores does not seem to have completely transformed their layout and structure, as found in Carrefour City stores visited — more so in a store that was only modified, but even in a store that was rebuilt. The stores adhere to certain conventions of layout and configuration. Some features are harder to change, subject to space limits, yet compromises thence should be made to adapt to structural constraints, nature and goals of the food retail store, and expectations of customers about their shopping goals and experiences. At the same time, improvements in a number of aspects were noticeable in layout, display arrangements, visual merchandising, and the store’s overall visual aesthetic appeal that contribute to a more pleasant and friendly shopping experience, leaving overall a positive impression.

Ron Ventura, Ph.D. (Marketing)