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August 24, 2015

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Carrefour online store+Carrefour easy store: new channel of Carrefour

By Ding Yining | August 24, 2015, Monday | Print Edition

French retailer Carrefour is embracing advanced technology to bring shoppers closer to its services in the fast-changing retail landscape.

In June, the company launched its second Easy Carrefour store in Xuhui District. It’s a new initiative to cater to changing consumer habits and demand for neighborhood services in locations near residential or commercial areas.

By the end of this year, Carrefour plans to open about 10 Easy Carrefour stores in Shanghai, Olivier Tollet, new format projects director of Carrefour China, told Shanghai Daily.

“We have a much bigger plan but currently we’re still in the pilot phase,” he said.

Regarding its e-commerce operations, Carrefour also launched its online shopping store www.carrefour.cn for its Shanghai customers in mid June and Tollet said he is pleased to see it working smoothly during the trial period.

Shopping online

“The basic idea of our website is to bring Carrefour products closer to consumers and all the products will be available for online shoppers,” he said.

“Our intention is to duplicate the service wherever there’s a Carrefour presence in China, but we’ll go step by step for both formats,” he added.

Easy Carrefour is offering products in three categories — immediate consumption, take-away, and groceries.

By covering these categories, Easy Carrefour hopes consumers can find the right products and services when they need them.

The Easy Carrefour store on Chaling Road N. also provides mobile top-up and credit card reimbursement in an effort to link consumers with online-to-offline services.

Carrefour is looking for new locations for its Easy stores, and Tollet said they are targeting a combination of residential areas, transportation hubs and office areas.

People living around or people passing by are basically the key customers Easy Carrefour aims to serve. Easy Carrefour is a new format adapted for people who value their time and convenience while shopping. It’s also adjusting the operations of the Easy Carrefour store step by step, with more services likely in the future.

Commenting on Carrefour China’s e-commerce operations, Tollet said logistics is one of its key strengths as the chain can rely on its existing stores in more than 70 cities all over China.

Merchandise ordered by consumers will be delivered from stores to their doorsteps, while packages ordered from e-commerce websites have to go through several dispatch hubs before delivery.

Pick-up stations

Currently, three out of Carrefour’s 29 outlets in Shanghai act as pick-up stops or stations for return of goods.

Earlier this year, Carrefour China restructured its merchandise department and set up six territory merchandise centers to streamline supply chain management and leverage the advantages of a centralized procurement model.

“The restructuring of the merchandise team is aimed at having new logistics capability to support the development of new formats such as our Easy stores and online shopping website,” Tollet added.

Carrefour’s e-commerce operation is expected to launch in Beijing at the end of this year and eventually will be available all over the country.

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