Carrefour China sales slip

French-headquartered retailer Carrefour says its Asian sales rose 13 per cent in the second quarter of this year.

But Carrefour China struggled during the quarter, its sales down 11.4 per cent measured organically and 12.3 per cent on same store sales basis.

The overall Asia figure benefited from a positive currency effect, with organic sales down 8.6 per cent.

In Taiwan, sales grew for the second consecutive quarter, both same store and organic sales rose, by 2.1 per cent and 1.4 per cent respectively.

The company said the China market was affected by slowing consumption nationwide.

“We are continuing the roll-out of our action plan in the country,” the company said in its sales statement.

That plan includes enhancing its logistics and distribution centers in Mainland China over the next two years. After opening new centers in Kunshan in June 2014 and Chengdu last April, Carrefour China plans two more in Wuhan, Hubei, and another in Beijing serving the capital and the Tianjin region this year.

Two more will follow in 2016 serving the northeast and South China regions.

Carrefour says when complete its six center distribution network will be the best in China’s retail industry, based on scale and speed to market. The centres will use advanced voice-picking technology.