Mercadona positioned itself in the market as a chain with three attributes that have been key in the history of its evolution and success: low prices, the creation of its own brand that the Spanish consumer has welcomed with great trust and being a “proximity supermarket”: it has shops in many parts of the Spanish cities, making it very easy for consumers to have a Mercadona store relatively close to them wherever they are.

Mercadona started to notice customers were beginning to consider the company as “an expensive supermarket”, so it started to analyse the social and economic situation and the environment that surrounded it and indeed affected it. The reached conclusion was that the crisis was hitting the company’s stability.

This analyse ended up with a general price decrease. To achieve a truly effective price reduction strategy, the firm had to reorganise itself: It redesigned the packaging, reduced its weight, simplified the labels…

• 2017: MERCADONA GOES DIGITAL

Although Mercadona was planning to go international since 2009, it was not until 2019 when the company achieved to expand its business. The chosen country was Portugal: an adjoining country with a similar culture and a willingness to buy at low prices. The firm has 29 shops in Portugal.

This model seeks to satisfy equally and with the same intensity the five components of the company: “The Boss”, as it internally calls the customer, The Worker, The Supplier, The Company and The Capital.

The traditional model in the distribution channel is based on sequencing the supplier-distributor-customer, whereas the MCT (Modelo de calidad total) started backwards, being customer-distributor-supplier. Which means, in other words, that the customer is the centre of every decision made by the company.

In addition, Mercadona works with its suppliers following a model it calls “totaler”, which means that it does not have a product agreement with each supplier, but it collaborates with the supplier that offers the best quality product. This is another strategy followed by the company to achieve an unbeatable relationship with the customer.

This company overcame every situation, became a leader in Spain and a reference at an international level because of the implementation of a strategy based on listening to consumers and seeking their well-being first and foremost.

Food safety, maximum quality, maximum service, minimum time, minimum budget, and efficient assortment are the six principles on which the chain develops its orientation.