OURSTRATEGY“During2002,ourGroupcontinuedtowinmarketsharebasedonstrongsalesmomentumandmanynewstoreopeningsinthe30countrieswherewehaveoperations.Weenhancedtheappealofourbannersandbuiltcustomerloyaltywithourstrongdiscountpositioningaswellasourfocusoninnovationandquality.Thepaceofexpansionpickedupwiththeadditionof963,000squaremetersofsalesspacein2002undertheGroup’sbannerscomparedto150,000squaremetersin2001.CarrefouralsoenjoyedthefirstfruitsofitsmultipleformatstrategyinWesternEuropeandLatinAmerica,passingonthegainsderivedfrompricingsynergiestothegreaterbenefitofconsumers.Becauseweputthecustomerfirst,wehavesystematizedtheimplementationofaprogramforlong-termgrowththatencompassesthesafetyandqualityofourproducts,environmentalprotectionandacommitmenttoethicsandouremployees.Lastly,tosupportourexpansionandprovidethebestpossibleservicetoourcustomers,theGrouphiredatotalof70,000newemployeesinallitsbannersinallcountries.”DanielBernard,ChairmanandChiefExecutiveOfficerSTEPPINGUPTHEOFFENSIVEMakeconsumerproductsaccessibletothegreatestnumberofpeople.Carrefourisworkingtoachievethisgoaleverydaybytailoringitsproductsandconceptstoconsumers’needsandexpectations.In2002,thisuncompromisingapproachpaidoff.TheGroupgrewitsmarketshareineverycountrywhereitdoesbusinessthroughanaggressivepricingpolicy,arevampedmarketingprogramcombinedwithqualityproductsandasuccessfulcustomerloyaltyprogram.Carrefour’spriorityisforeachofitsstorestosettheSimilarly,inthosecountrieswhereCarrefour’sgrowthisbenchmarkinretailingamongitspeers.Itsstoresprovidebasedonamultipleformatsetup,itwasorganizedsoastoallofthebenefitsofconvenience,broadselectionandbestmakeuseoftheGroup’slocalresources.Henceinpriceunderoneroof,whichonlyaworld-classGroupcanFrance,thenewlogisticorganizationforsupermarketsprovide.andconveniencestoreswillresultinsignificanteconomiesofscaleforbothformats.InBrazil,thehypermarketsandsupermarkets’manage-Optimizingresourcesthroughsynergiesment,procurementandmarketingresourceswer