BIC - 2019 Universal Registration Document

OUR ENVIRONMENTAL, SOCIAL, AND SOCIETAL RESPONSIBILITY

Societal benefits related to BIC ® products

3.6.3

MAKING OUR PRODUCTS AFFORDABLE TO ALL

3.6.4

EXPERIMENTINGWITH

INNOVATIVE ALTERNATIVE DISTRIBUTIONMODES THROUGH A SOCIAL BUSINESS INITIATIVE

Challenges and opportunities ❯ BIC Group is guided by a vision: “To offer simple, inventive and reliable choices for everyone, everywhere, every time”. For BIC Group, making products that everyone can afford means adapting them to markets in developing countries. The pens and shavers marketed by BIC in more than 160 countries promote access to education and personal care. BIC is thus contributing to social progress around the world. In 2019, 32% of the Group’s turnover came from these growth markets. Approach and progress made in 2019 ❯ BIC Group’s approach consists of adapting all possible parameters to make its products affordable: building close relations between its production units and their ● distribution markets. In 2019, BIC strengthened its position in Africa with the acquisition of a 100% share in Lucky Stationery Nigeria Ltd, Nigeria’s leading manufacturer of writing instruments. With this acquisition, BIC is bolstering its presence on the Tanzanian, Ethiopian and Ugandan markets; creating products for growth markets; ● adapting BIC ® products to the buying power of emerging ● countries; completely rethinking the packaging, in order to market ● products in packs of only one or two items; offering the best functionality at the best price, setting an ● optimal fair price for BIC ® products in collaboration with local retailers, in consideration of local consumption trends and selling price thresholds; developing innovative distribution models, relying on local ● retailers to develop appropriate distribution channels, such as individual kiosks, micro-shops or service outlets near schools.

Challenges and opportunities ❯ The expression “bottom of the pyramid” (BOP) designates the lowest-income populations, for whom most consumer goods remain unaffordable, primarily because they are designed for more affluent populations at the “top of the pyramid”. Today it is estimated that more than three billion people in the world live on less than three U.S. dollars per day. In keeping with its vision of offering “simple, inventive and reliable choices for everyone, everywhere, every time”, BIC Group explores ways to make products available that meet the needs of BOP populations. Its longstanding commitment to sustainable development and the BIC ® brand’s reputation for offering high-quality products at an affordable price are among the Group’s key assets for playing an active role in these markets. Approach ❯ An internal qualitative study conducted in 2018 showed that, apart from a few niches, BIC ® products are mostly well-suited for the widest possible public, and that BIC team members are convinced that inclusive distribution is a useful leverage point for meeting the needs of consumers at the bottom of the pyramid. The Group’s approach is based on the launch of nine financially viable inclusive distribution projects, with the aim of identifying three to be maintained over the long term. To that end, BIC is focusing on the development of partnerships with major companies that have established their own distribution modes. Progress made in 2019 ❯ In 2019, BIC initiated the creation of an application that will record sales in real time for each point of sale. In Madagascar, BIC has developed a project for a network of itinerant vendors. The project in Senegal was improved in preparation for the deployment of the real-time sales monitoring application, and other projects are ongoing in Ghana, Cameroon and Morocco.

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• BIC GROUP - 2019 UNIVERSAL REGISTRATION DOCUMENT •