Carrefour and Mercadona intensify retail competition in Spain

Major European retailers Carrefour and Mercadona are intensifying their competition in the Spanish market through divergent strategic shifts. Carrefour has launched a permanent price reduction campaign titled ‘Precios Imbatibles’ (Unbeatable Prices) covering 1,000 basic grocery items. This initiative includes a price guarantee where the company promises to refund the difference if a customer finds the same product cheaper elsewhere, directly challenging Mercadona’s previous price cuts on 200 essential goods.

Simultaneously, Carrefour is refining its corporate structure by focusing on its ‘golden triangle’ of core markets—France, Spain, and Brazil—while considering further divestments in non-strategic regions to improve cash flow and logistics efficiency.

In contrast, Mercadona is investing heavily in store modernization. The retailer has announced a long-term plan to invest 3.7 billion euros to upgrade its supermarkets to a new ‘Tienda 9’ format. This new standard emphasizes fresh products, improved customer experience, and increased automation in logistics. As part of its strategy to maintain a streamlined catalog of approximately 9,000 references, Mercadona has also recently removed 18 specific products from its inventory, including various sauces and frozen items.