Innovations in retail food: an analysis of strategies for entry and growth of Carrefour and Walmart in the brazilian market

Innovation in the sector of services is more difficult than in the industry. In 2006, Walmart in Brazil surpassed Carrefour, taking second place in the ranking of the retail food. Walmart, a pioneer in the use of IT and in various aspects of logistics in retail, arrived in Brazil in 1995 and, after the initial learning, has started a program of growth by opening new stores, and the acquisition of other groups. Meanwhile, Carrefour, which had arrived twenty years earlier and was the leader of food retail's country in 1990, only by the means of opening hypermarkets, format in which was pioneer in Europe, started a process of entering the retail neighborhood, acquiring several local companies, but with results doubtful. In 2007, Carrefour acquired Atacadao, resuming the lead. The article analyses the strategies of innovation, the entry and growth of the two companies in Brazil, and the acquisition of Atacadao.