operation managment

The Historical Development of Carrefour and its Competitive Advantage in
Taiwan- An Analysis on the Basis of Customer Value

Pei CHAO
Assistant Professor, Department of Marketing and Distribution Management
National Koahsiung First University of Science and Technology
1 University Road, Yuanchau, Kaohsiung 824, Taiwan, R. O. C
Tel: [phone] ext. 4224; Fax: [phone]
E- mail: [e-mail]

Hitoshi TSUCHIYA
Senior Instructor, Department of Marketing and Distribution Management
National Koahsiung First University of Science and Technology
1 University Road, Yuanchau, Kaohsiung 824, Taiwan, R. O. C
Tel: [phone] ext. 4213; Fax: [phone]
E- mail: [e-mail]

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The Historical Development of Carrefour and its Competitive Advantage in
Taiwan- An Analysis on the Basis of Customer Value

Abstract
Carrefour has become a leading hypermarket retailer in Taiwan. In other Asian countries (e.g., Hong Kong, Japan and South Korea), however, Carrefour did not have the same successful experience. It is an interesting issue why Carrefour has had a prosperous business in the marketplace of Taiwan, but languishing in other Asian markets. Competitive advantage established by Carrefour, relative to both inter- and intra- institutional competitors, may account for its success in Taiwan. Following the contention of the extant marketing and strategy literature, this study asserts that the essence of establishing competitive advantage comes from delivering superior value offering to customers. Thus, the concept of customer value was applied to understand the accomplishment of Carrefour’s development in Taiwan. According to the research findings in this study, Carrefour outperformed competitors on the basis of economical value; that is, to lessen customers’ monetary and nonmonetary (e.g., time and effort) expenditures. Until recently, Carrefour opened a shopping- mall-type hypermarket that, unlike traditional

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