French retail giant Carrefour has announced a series of digital initiatives across its European markets, making good on its recent pledge to increase digital investments by about 50% between 2022 and 2026, the equivalent of 3 billion euros (about $3.5 billion).
One of the projects is the creation of a “Brut Shop” — a joint company dedicated to social commerce market or live shopping — in partnership with Brut, a leading digital media company in Europe with 70 million users and 450 million viewers across 100 countries.
Through the Brut Shop, 60% of Carrefour customers who say they are interested in live shopping, according to the retailer, will have access to “a unique and responsible website” to make their online purchases, while participating in live-streamed video events on social networks.
Learn more: Live Video Shopping Turns Purchase Intent Into Online Conversions
By partnering with Brut, Europe’s leading live shopping event organizer — which accounts for close to 40% of the social networking platforms market in France for viewers between the ages of 18 and 34 — Carrefour is pinning its hopes on the digital media firm to help it become the leader in the French live shopping market.
Elodie Perthuisot, Carrefour Group executive director of eCommerce, data and digital Transformation, said, “By pooling our retail and social media strengths, our aim is to create the most powerful social commerce platform on the French market. This new community shopping experience will generate growth and value for both our companies.”
The creation of the Brut Shop comes on the heels of a recent partnership between Carrefour Italia, a subsidiary of the retail behemoth, and YOLO, a leading Italian insurtech, with the aim to introduce digital policies to consumers in Italy.
As large retail chains look to leverage their “widespread coverage and closeness to their customers,” Carrefour said in a statement that the deal will contribute “significantly to improving perception of risk by broad swathes of users who to date have remained oblivious of the insurance offer.”
Through the partnership, Carrefour Italia consumers can easily subscribe to digital insurance policies distributed by YOLO to cover their home, vehicle, sporting activities or travel.
And in Belgium, Carrefour’s Shipto delivery service has been extended to residents of Namur, — the seventh city after Brussels, Antwerp, Ghent, Bruges, Liège and Mons — enabling people in boats or barges on the river Meuse to have their groceries delivered within 90 minutes.
Due to the store’s proximity to the river, these customers will have the added advantage of not needing to disembark to receive their orders, which they can choose from more than 10,000 items on the Shipto app, the report noted.
To boost adoption and to mark the launch of this new service, Namur residents have until 24 July 2022 to benefit from a 15 euro ($17) discount on their first order — valid for a minimum purchase of 50 euros, excluding delivery costs.
Read more: Carrefour’s Digital-First Expansion Brings Cashierless Tech to French Shoppers
Last November, the top grocery chain announced the launch of the first artificial intelligence (AI)-powered store in Paris, dubbed Flash 10/10 (10 seconds to shop and 10 seconds to pay), offering customers a fast, seamless and cashier-free shopping experience by entering and exiting the store without having to pass through a gateway.
The launch of Carrefour Flash came on the heels of the company’s first-ever digital day during which the French retailer announced its billion-dollar digital investments plan, while projecting that the digital boost will generate an additional 600 million euros ($686.3 million) in return on investment (ROI) in 2026 compared to 2021.
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