A punchy communication and a record turnover: 55.6 billion euros in 2022 for Leclerc. The leading hypermarket chain in France poses as a defender of purchasing power and prides itself on being the cheapest, but is this always the case? For “Complement d’investigation”, a journalist specializing in mass distribution carried out a small test.
Its advertisements always hammer home the same message, and the much-publicized Michel-Edouard Leclerc repeats it throughout interviews: his brand is the cheapest of all. In May 2023, on a full page in the press, it boasted, with supporting figures, of crushing the competition – notably Casino, which would be 28.6% more expensive. Reality on the ground, or communication stunt?
A detail of methodology that is important
Near Rennes, a journalist specializing in mass distribution wanted to check. By consulting the methodology of the firm which carried out the study on which the advertising campaign is based, Benoît Merlaud, editor-in-chief at the magazine Linear, discovered that it only takes into account national brands (Coca Cola, Danone, etc.), and leaves aside those of distributors (Casino, Carrefour, etc.), as well as fresh products (fruit and vegetables, meat, fish). Yet these items represent almost half of our purchases.
On a basket expanded to include these products, are the price differences as significant? The journalist decided to conduct a small experiment near his home. Leclerc offers an online comparator, according to which the nearest Carrefour would be 9.3% more expensive; Intermarché 6.5% more expensive, and Lidl 4.9% more expensive. This comparator also does not take into account private label products or fruits and vegetables, which may differ from one brand to another.
Lidl cheaper, according to this test
Benoît Merlaud begins by filling a basket with 45 items at Leclerc. It will then raise the prices of equivalent products from competitors: Super U, Carrefour, Intermarché and Lidl. As the discounter offers fewer references, the comparison will be made on 25 products, including five from major brands.
Back at his computer, he then calculates the averages for each store. Result: three brands are actually more expensive than Leclerc, but the differences are less significant than announced. Carrefour is 7.8% more expensive, compared to 9.3% according to the Leclerc comparator. For Super U, it is 3.5%, not 3.8; for Intermarché, 1.1%, and not 6.5%. For Lidl, the trend is reversed: announced 4.9% more expensive, the discounter would actually be… 3.1% cheaper on this basket. Another study, published by its teams in May 2023, reached a similar conclusion: in six cities tested, three Lidls were cheaper than Leclerc.
Extract from “Broken prices, pressure shots: revelations about the Leclerc system”, a document to be seen in “Additional investigation” on September 14, 2023.
> Replays of France Télévisions news magazines are available on the Franceinfo website and its mobile application (iOS & Android), section “Magazines“.