Global Update

• From value to values: More than 650 delegates from around the world attended the 42nd CIES Annual Executive Congress in Stockholm, "Value and Values in the New Century." The key message from the Congress was that the value equation (based on price, quality and convenience) that the food business has delivered so effectively in the past will not be enough to satisfy tomorrow's consumers. Issues such as trust, values and security will become fundamental criteria for business success in the new millennium, speakers stressed.



• Hard hypermarket: Auchan, the French retailer, has opened what it claims is the first hard-discount hypermarket in France. The company's new store in Chelles, near Paris, has been designed to combine the ambience and services of a hypermarket with the rock-bottom prices of hard discounters such as Aldi and Lidl. Operating under the Les Halles d'Auchan banner, the 48,000-square-foot outlet offers no more than four product lines in each category: a discount brand, an Auchan private label, and one or two national brands. Customers can also buy products in bulk at reduced prices, just like at a cash-and-carry store. This emphasis on discount goods is reflected in the store's turnover: it sells 40% more items than a hypermarket with equivalent sales (approximately $7.9 million annually). Les Halles is Auchan's second new hypermarket concept this year, following the recent opening of La Cave Auchan—a beverage store in Coigniäres, also near Paris. Auchan is also working on a new drive-in hypermarket format in Roncq, in northern France.



• Ito-Yokado uses satellites: The Japanese retailer has invested $287 million (Y35 billion) in a new satellite and Internet information system designed to speed up communications between headquarters and its domestic stores. The system was jointly developed by the Nomura Research Institute and NEC, and consists of 11,000 point-of-sale systems, 2,000 personal computers and 330 digital cameras. Its satellite and Internet linkage will make faxes and other forms of correspondence obsolete when it becomes operational in October. Once connected to the new system, analysts at headquarters will be able to access point-of-sale information within a couple of minutes, compared with about 30 minutes before. Analysts will also receive pictures of proposed store layouts via the digital cameras. Store managers will be able to use the system to report daily price changes to headquarters.



• Category management: The strategic importance of the supply chain in meeting category objectives is not always appreciated by either supply chain managers or category managers. The First CIES Joint Conference on Category and Supply Chain Management—Sept. 9-10 at the Crowne Plaza, Maastricht, The Netherlands—aims to address this knowledge gap through a program of analysis and case studies from leading industry players. Additional information can be obtained by contacting Marc van der Liet at the CIES by e-mail at m.vanderliet@ciesnet.com or by telephone at 011-331-4434-6934.