Staff representatives had been worried for several days. This Tuesday, November 5, the ax fell. During a Social and Economic Committee (CSE), the distributor Auchan (Mulliez family) presented a plan to drastically reduce its costs. Difficult, this announcement was no less inevitable. Because the distribution giant gets bogged down, year after year, in an economic quagmire. Since 2012, the brand’s market share has fallen from 12.1% to 8%, and its turnover has fallen by 5% in 2023, to 32.9 billion euros.
There was therefore an urgent need to react. To take care of this work, the northern distribution group had appointed Guillaume Darrasse as head of Auchan in April 2024. The former deputy general director of Cooperative U had six months to think about a new strategy.
5% of employees concerned
Priority when you lose money? A weight loss cure. In total, 2,389 positions will therefore be eliminated, or the equivalent of 5% of the workforce.both in support functions at headquarters, but also in stores. “The social plan was inevitable. Central structures are hypertrophied», Tells us a trade expert. If this “cleaning” appears inevitable, it is not necessarily the best solution. “Reducing your payroll does not necessarily mean letting go of employees. There are always other solutions, but they require taking risks. All these brains will go to the competitors», underlines Yves Soulabail, specialist in mass distribution and professor at Istec Business School Paris. The group still hopes, according to its declarations, to create 785 positions, by reorganizing its activities and the way they develop.
Shrinking stores, job cuts… why Auchan is launching a vast savings plan
This strict regime should allow Auchan to achieve a saving of 350 million eurosto which is added the closure of ten points of sale, including three hypermarkets (Clermont-Ferrand Nord, Woippy and Bar-le-Duc), a supermarket in Aurillac and six ultra-proximity points of sale, under the My Auchan brand. . Curious timing when we remember that last April, Auchan had swallowed 98 Casino brand stores, probably to prevent them from ending up in the hands of a rival. When the Prime Minister, Michel Barnier, wonders what Auchan could have done “with the public money that we gave (him)”, the answer therefore seems obvious… Among the staff representatives, this decision raises also questions. “We will check the financial health of these stores and see if the closures are justified», says Gilles Martin, CFDT union representative at Auchan Retail France.
Lower prices and deploy private label
Once this load shedding work has been carried out, it’s time to restart. “The urgency for Auchan: regain a competitive positioning with a new message and accessible prices», says Frank Rosenthal, retail marketing consultant. There are many avenues put forward by the brand. Concerning the offer of non-food products, whose sales are slipping, this will probably involve the elimination of the household appliances and high-tech sections. For the benefit of the departments dedicated to fashion items, decoration and furnishings, which will remain.
Casino: discover the list of stores which will come under the Auchan flag
Auchan also hopes to resurrect its power of attraction, with falling prices, while its labels often remain 30% higher than those of Leclerc. Another lever: the deployment of its private label products (MDD) so that they represent 40% of turnover of the brand by 2023, compared to 23% today.
Will this plan be enough to get Auchan back on track? Some remain pessimistic. “The group is impossible to recover. This brand is a dwarf that weighs almost as much as Lidl. He can no longer survive alone», entrusts to Capital Clément Genelot, distribution specialist at Bryan, Garnier & Co. For the group’s 54,000 employees in France, it’s time to cross your fingers… or polish their CV.
