Spar enters China via Jia Jia Yue alignment

Opening in Weihai last week, Spar aims to bring together various retailers under a single brand name. As an international company, it will also seek to give retailers access to best global practices in the China market.

Spar has rolled out an initial awareness campaign, covering both above- and below-the-line activities, developed by Tequila\China. Much of the work has also involved revamping the brand internally, with a 'follow-the-path' store design used in European markets. The store design will be adopted for Jia Jia Yue Supermarkets' 140 stores in Shandong.

"We have a lot of guidelines which have come from Eur-ope, and we've been working very closely with them on branding issues," said David Hunt, general manager of Tequila\China.

"We've taken all of that clutter out, so it is very much recognised as Spar, and very different from its competition." Spar, which has more than 15,000 stores in 35 countries, including many in Japan, India and Singapore, will compete against some of the largest international chains, including Walmart.

Head of international marketing Tobias Wasmuht said: "We're trying to move away from simply providing a product, but towards providing an experience within the store."

Jia Jia Yue Supermarkets grosses more than Rmb $3 billion (US$362 million) annually. Wasmuht added: "Where we seek to compete is that we see opportunities by bringing together those successful local chains, utilising the best of their local market adaptability."

Spar will specifically target female shoppers from middle-income households, with an in-store crèche and a family-oriented international food court. According to a recent ACNielsen survey, 80 per cent of customers at hypermarkets and convenience stores were female, with 60 per cent of them from middle-income households.