In our previous article covered the Marketing strategy of Tesco – a British multinational grocery and general merchandise retail chain. In this article, we will examine the proponent Marketing Strategy of E.Leclerc, the leading hypermarket company in France.
This analysis will help you learn and gain insights into how E.Leclerc has retained its proponent and cooperative approach in the retail industry over the years, overthrowing its long-time competitor to become the best yet most dependable hypermarket in France.
E.leclerc has come a long way from when its first store opened in 1948, especially in marketing which is one of the core recipes for success in the retail industry in this 21st century.
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At the end of this blog, we will have learned all about the marketing strategy of E.Leclerc. Before we go in-depth, we go back to the beginning with the business story, target market and online presence.
About E.Leclerc – Company Overview
Source – CleanPNG
E.Leclerc, born in 1948 to Edouard Leclerc in Brittany, France. What started as a self-service grocery store has expanded to a socially cooperative business with many sub-brands under the E.Leclerc Group.
The corporate social objective of this company has been to reinvent the wheel, protect the purchasing power of consumers and create a free market where quality goods and services are accessible and affordable to everyone.
Owing to its cooperative approach, the E.Leclerc Group operates several outlets as independent enterprises. These enterprises have helped the group uphold its objectives.
These include more than 700 hyper stores, 2500 speciality stores, and gas stations operating as individual businesses while it extended its services to Spain, Poland, Portugal and Andorra.
Examples of the sub-stores that have launched under the E.Leclerc group are E. Leclerc Voyages, Parapharmacy E.Leclerc, Tissaia the E.Leclerc clothing brand, Jouets the game store, Leclerc Drive for pick up, Leclerc Chez Moi for delivery and so on.
As a social revolutionary, E.Leclerc is well known for supporting causes that effect change.
Such causes include
- 25 years of Clean Up Nature (non-usage of plastic bags)
- Alzheimer’s research donations.
- All United Against Cancer.
- Heart Foundation Research.
- Promotion of Local producers.
- Zero tolerance for monopoly and price control.
Quick Stats on E.Leclerc
| CEO | Micheal-Edouard Leclerc |
|---|---|
| CMO | – |
| Area served | Worldwide |
| Industry | Retail |
| Revenue | $56.87billion (2019) |
| Vision | Accessibility and Affordability |
| Tagline | “One hour for oneself” |
Marketing Strategy Of E.Leclerc –
Are you intrigued by everything you have read so far on E.Lecletrc? Now let us learn about the marketing strategy of E.Leclerc.
Segmentation, Targeting and Positioning
As a hypermarket chain, E.Leclerc offers cooperative-retail services such as departmental, convenience & speciality stores, supermarkets & grocery stores to offer the best price in the market to its target audience from 18-65 years old.
However, this age range applies to brick-and-mortar stores. Most of its website users are men and women between 18-45 years old.
In 1949, E.Leclerc developed the idea of selling at lower prices to the people of France in the face of factors such as government policies and price control. Then, it enlisted the help of other store owners to operate as a single retailing chain.
Every store owner plays a vital role in the successful operation of the cooperative business model. This operation positioned it for tremendous success over the years.
And in 2017, E.Leclerc overtook its stiff competitor in the retail industry in France to become the national retail company to date.
E.Leclerc has positioned itself in the market as the only retailer that operates a cooperative business model in France that has helped it provide high-quality goods and services.
Marketing Campaigns
In February 2020, E.Leclerc created a 1-minute brand campaign video with the tagline, Being a Responsible Consumer can be Hard. In the ad, the brand focused on passing a message about choosing the healthier option even though it is hard.
Clearly and appealingly, it teaches its consumer to make healthier choices.
At the end of the video, it reaffirms that as a brand, it will keep on playing a role in making that choice easier by continued reduction in the use of plastic bags and continuous partnering with local producers and more supply of healthy products at the best prices.
Similarly, a two-part video ad campaign which E.Leclerc released with the tagline, Baby & Weekend. In both videos, the brand highlights how expecting a baby or going for a weekend activity can be costly.
The ad likens the idea of making a weekend plan or having a child to a price list of various things the brand sells that identify with these moments. While the effectiveness of the ad is undeniable, having a child or planning a weekend trip should have no price tag.
Also, E.Leclerc is known for running promotional marketing campaigns on different products from time to time.
Social Media Marketing
E.Leclerc is active across most social media platforms. It has the highest following on Facebook, then LinkedIn, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.
The number of followers on each platform is as follows:
- Facebook: 734,112
- LinkedIn: 153,735
- Instagram: 96,200
- Twitter: 48,400
- YouTube: 40,300
E.Leclerc is relatively active on all its social media pages. The type of content is the same across all pages.
The posts include informational content on products, product launches, social movements, partnerships and promotional content.
SEO Strategy
Source – Ubersuggest
As for the SEO ranking, the number of keywords a domain ranks for in organic search scores is determined by – below 500 (Bad), above 1000 (Good), and 10,000+ (Amazing).
There is no doubt that the https://www.e.leclerc SEO strategy scores amazingly. E.leclerc ranks for 1,539,715 organic keywords, and that is amazing.
It means that the digital marketing of e.leclerc is savvy and clear-sighted.
In addition to this result, for monthly traffic, E.leclerc gets around 6,139,091. Therefore, we can say e.leclerc excels in its SEO strategies but can improve its technical SEO.
Influencer Marketing
In recent times, E.Leclerc has become an active sponsor of The Tour de France, an annual bicycle race held in France and close countries. E.Leclerc has a brand ambassador, and a French Chef, Nicolas Rieffel. He helps brings its healthy food vision to life.
They partner with content creators, food bloggers and photographers with more than 14K+ and 50K+ followers to promote E.Leclerc products such as food, fashion, and other services to their followers.
Ecommerce Strategies
When it comes to e-commerce strategies, E.leclerc has a website where it list products for sale and promotion.
Besides that, it has a Facebook shop where consumers can browse through products and purchase.
E.Leclerc also launched its Leclerc Drive for pick up and Leclerc Chez Moi for delivery to provide optimal e-commerce services.
Content Marketing
The content marketing plan of E.Leclerc is very consistent. Quality images, simplified product pages and posting the same content across all social media platform seems to be working for the brand.
They also have a website dedicated to press releases about brand activities such as sponsored, social and fundraising events.
However, updating the website to accommodate a creative blog instead of just press releases on it is a great idea.
Mobile Apps
E.leclerc has two mobile applications available for download on iOS and Android devices in France.
The Mon E.Leclerc app for shopping was launched in 2014. It has a total of 1,000,000+ downloads, 60,000 downloads in June 2022 and an average rating of 4.0 from 19,920 votes on Google Playstore.
This app which makes shopping easier, provide users with quick access to new arrivals and discount.
The LeclercDrive & LeclercChezMoi app is an online shopping delivery app released in 2011.
A maximum of 5,000,000+ downloads, 50,000 downloads in June 2022 and an average rating of 4.2 from 222,369 votes on Google Playstore.
Conclusion – What’s unique about the marketing strategy of E. Leclerc?
Finally, from the marketing strategies of e.leclerc, one clear thing is that the e.leclerc brand started as innovative and has upheld the mantra in all facets of its operation and marketing.
That has helped it become the most reliable and trusted hypermarket chain to the people of France and its vicinity.
Even though the hypermarket concept is not universal yet, it is the corporate social responsibility of E.Leclerc, cooperative mode of business with constant marketing of this identity has helped it retain the number one spot in France’s retail industry since 2017.
There is no doubt that the digital marketing strategy of E.Leclerc is working. However, adding a blog section to its Le Mouvement e.leclerc website will create a 720-degree turnaround. A blog section will refine a page meant for just press releases and then make it humane.
With the increasing usage of an SEO-optimized blog sections in business websites today, learning about constantly updated SEO practices is fundamental. If you like to learn and develop your SEO skills, check out the IIDE SEO Course.
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For more insight and overview of companies just like the marketing strategy of E.Leclerc, check out our IIDE Knowledge portal for more extensive analysis.
Although this blog is at the end, the end is where we begin again. Until next time, thank you for reading.
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