Consumers have lost confidence in Loblaw

Photo Agence QMI, Roger Gagnon
Dany Lessard shows the card of $ 25 that it has obtained from Loblaw in the wake of the cartel to sliced bread. He appreciates the company, which has in particular Maxi and Provigo, had admitted his wrongs, but he has no more confidence in the company.

Hugo Duchaine

Tuesday, 20 march, 2018 01:00

UPDATE
Tuesday, 20 march, 2018 01:00

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Cards of $ 25 presented by Loblaw to apologize for having fixed the price of bread for nearly 15 years seem not to have been sufficient to regain the confidence of the public, according to a new study.

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“Loblaw has lost a little of the rating, but it is the entire industry that has been punished [because of the scandal of the cartel of the bread],” says Sylvain Charlebois, dean of the School of administration, Dalhousie University, Halifax.

A new study conducted by his team shows that consumers have lost trust in the big chains since November 2017.

Last fall, Loblaw, which owns such supermarket Provigo and Maxi, as well as breads Weston, admitted that he conspired to pay more for certain bakery products, from the end of 2001 to march of 2015.

Using a survey, a thousand Canadians were asked about the companies, Sobeys, Loblaw, Costco, Walmart, Metro and Giant Tiger. Since a first survey in November, Loblaw has lost 10% of consumer confidence.

Photo MARIE-ÈVE DUMONT

Sylvain Charlebois, An Expert

IGA takes advantage of

Sylvain Charlebois points out that this decline in benefits to its direct competitor, Sobeys and grocery stores IGA, gaining a little confidence by 1.6 %. But consumer confidence has dropped 6.31% in general since the fall.

Not surprising, says the consumer Dany Lessard. Even though he has made the process of obtaining a card of $ 25 Loblaw, it’s confidence in the company and all the other retailers.

“The prices have always seemed to be the same everywhere,” he remarked.

Catherine Durand-Attic, another consumer who had a card of $ 25, said that she had forgotten nothing of the scandal and repensera before encouraging the chain.

Sylvain Charlebois wondered if the company has well managed its offer of cards, which come with no apologies or explanations on the cartel, he said. In addition, many consumers did not like the questions deemed to be intrusive as the driving licence number to get it.

Costco NUMBER 1

Among all the channels, it is Costco that gets the highest consumer confidence, ” concludes the study from Dalhousie University.

Met with their purchases in the parking lot of a Costco in Montreal, Elise Torres abounds in the same direction. She said that she was surprised by the freshness of the fruits and vegetables, the low prices and good customer service, she said.

For Mr. Charlebois, even if the scandal of the cartel of the bread seems to have upset consumers, there is nothing to show that he has a financial impact for the moment. The sales were already in decline in Loblaw stores before the fall, he says.

Consumer confidence

Since November 2017

Loblaw – 10 %

Sobeys + 1,6 %

The retailers that make the grade

• 1 Costco
• 2 Sobeys
• 3 Giant Tiger
• 4 Metro
• 5 Loblaw
• 6 Walmart

Source : Dalhousie University