Carrefour Replaces "Israel's Basket" With New Year-Round Discount Initiative

Carrefour Israel is ending its "Israel's Basket" discount initiative, launched by Minister of Economy Nir Barkat, after six months. The decision, made by CEO Inbal Harson, follows the expiration of an option to extend the program for another six months, which would have required an additional NIS 25 million public-funded campaign. Harson announced that immediately following the "Israel's Basket" program's conclusion, Carrefour will launch a new, year-round national promotion called "Carrefour Special Deal" across all its branches.

The new "Carrefour Special Deal" aims to keep customers engaged by frequently changing the list of discounted products, a lesson learned from the "Israel's Basket" program, which lost customer interest after a few weeks. Twice a month, Carrefour will offer 10-20 leading products at approximately 30% off their catalog price. Unlike the previous initiative, which excluded toiletries and pharmacy items, these will now be included. The new promotion will be available in all 144 Carrefour branches nationwide, with variations in product lists between neighborhood stores and larger market and hypermarket formats. Discount stores will offer double the number of discounted items compared to neighborhood stores, though prices in the latter may be NIS 1-4 higher per item.

Additionally, Carrefour will feature a small number of deeply discounted items that will rotate twice a month and be sold at a uniform price across all branches. Upcoming deals include Elite Turkish coffee for NIS 12.9, Casa Verde extra virgin olive oil for NIS 15.9, Ma'adanot Mamma Mia pizza for NIS 10, and frozen Tnuva salmon for NIS 69.9 per kilogram. These special prices will be contingent on a minimum purchase of NIS 99, and customers can buy up to six units of each promotional item, an increase from the previous two-unit limit.

Carrefour is also re-evaluating its catalog prices and will implement reductions based on competitor pricing. Approximately 100 products from the "Israel's Basket" initiative will be reviewed, with prices being lowered rather than returning to pre-initiative levels, except in cases where suppliers raised their prices, such as with Terra yellow cheese or Strauss ice cream. The company hopes these promotions and product rotations will maintain customer interest, while the NIS 99 minimum purchase requirement will help offset the deep discounts. This move also aims to repair the damage to Carrefour's image caused by its participation in Barkat's initiative, which was criticized for being publicly funded and limited to only a third of its branches.