Abstract:

Between 1960 and 1972, the retail trade in France has recorded a drastic evolution: the small retail trades have been disappearing at a speed of 5000 per year, replaced at first by supermarkets and later by hypermarkets. How will this evolution be oriented in the future? What consequences will it bear for the consumers, for the manufacturers, and also for Market Research? To answer this question, we have undertaken a research using an approach of a sequential type: we have first interviewed a sample of managers from big distribution companies, we asked them how they foresaw their own dynamic in the 5 years to come; we then had these forecasts commented on by a sample of manufacturers; the results of these two steps have been submitted to a group of practitioners of Market Research.