Bricomarché’s cultural revolution

The first Bricomarché refurbished to the new concept has opened in Orthez.
The DIY chain belonging to the French Intermarché Group, which recently inaugurated its 500th outlet in Europe, intends to implement a new concept. This concept will first be applied to stores 2 300 m2 in size, then from next year it is to be applicable to formats of 1 500 m2 as well. It is called a “Concept de Singularisation”, which can be said to amount to a “modernisation of the sales instrument”. It is about reformatting the stores, a process that includes organising the products in family groups and investing in presentation. Nevertheless, Bricomarché still remains positioned in the discount segment. “Our marketing arm was created in 1979, since which time it has not been modernised. But that is exactly what we must do now in order to differentiate ourselves in terms of quality from the competition. We need low prices of course to attract today’s consumer, but quality and service are important as well,” explains Bernhard Léger, group president.
The retail area is clearly structured in a soft DIY zone (right) and hard DIY (left).
This new concept will first be applied to outlets that have an indoor area of 2 300 m2. About 100 DIY superstores in France cover an area in excess of 2 000 m2. The company is also working on an adaptation of the concept to suit stores of 1 500 m2, which make up 80 per cent of Bricomarché’s outlets. In this case the product offer will be less broad: it is estimated that 18 000 skus will be available at stores of 2 300 m2 (from approx. 1 000 listed suppliers), compared with the suggested 15 000 for stores of 1 500 m2. About 50 stores should be converted to the new concept by the end of the year, and the whole chain in three years’ time.
Entirely new for Bricomarché is the display of building materials.
The “Singularisation” concept is based on two different product zones. The first belongs to the category of “fun” purchases or “soft” DIY and covers decoration, gardening, pets, bathrooms, kitchens and floor coverings, which are staged as appropriate. This zone is designed to appeal to women customers whilst proving that, despite its competitive prices, Bricomarché is capable of conveying fresh ideas to customers. At the store in Orthez, in the Pyrenees, where the concept was applied for the first time, two thirds of the retail space is dedicated to soft DIY. The zone begins to the right of the entry area and stretches through to the back of the store.
The soft…