Parcel and Postal Technology International
  • News
    • A-E
      • Automation
      • Business Diversification
      • Construction / Development
      • Cross-border
      • Delivery
      • E-commerce
      • Expo
    • F-O
      • Freight
      • IT & Systems
      • Last Mile
      • Lockers / PUDO
      • Logistics
      • Mail
      • Operations
    • P-R
      • Packets
      • Parcels
      • Peak
      • Retail
      • Returns
    • S-Z
      • Sorting Systems
      • Staff / Personnel
      • Sustainability
      • Technology
      • Vehicles / Fleet
  • Features
  • Online Magazines
    • March 2025
    • September 2023
    • June 2023
    • March 2023
    • December 2022
    • SHOWCASE 2019
    • Archive Issues
    • Subscribe Free!
  • Opinion
  • Videos
  • Analysis
  • Awards
    • 2025 Awards
    • Previous Winners
  • Supplier Spotlight
  • Parcel + Post Expo
LinkedIn YouTube Twitter
  • Sign-up for Breaking News Emails
  • Meet the Editors
  • Contact Us
  • Media Pack
Subscribe
LinkedIn Facebook
Parcel and Postal Technology International
  • News
      • Automation
      • Business Diversification
      • Construction / Development
      • Cross-border
      • Delivery
      • E-commerce
      • Expo
      • Freight
      • IT & Systems
      • Last Mile
      • Lockers / PUDO
      • Logistics
      • Mail
      • Operations
      • Packets
      • Parcels
      • Peak
      • Retail
      • Returns
      • Sorting Systems
      • Staff / Personnel
      • Sustainability
      • Technology
      • Vehicles / Fleet
  • Features
  • Online Magazines
    1. December 2024
    2. September 2024
    3. June 2024
    4. March 2024
    5. SHOWCASE 2019
    6. Subscribe Free!
    Featured
    April 2, 2025

    In this Issue – March 2025

    Online Magazines By Web Team
    Recent

    In this Issue – March 2025

    April 2, 2025

    In this Issue – December 2024

    December 5, 2024

    In this Issue – September 2024

    September 19, 2024
  • Opinion
  • Videos
  • Analysis
  • Awards
    • 2025 Awards
    • 2024 Award Winners
    • 2023 Award Winners
    • 2022 Award Winners
    • 2021 Award Winners
    • 2020 Award Winners
    • 2019 Award Winners
    • Previous Winners
  • Supplier Spotlight
  • Parcel + Post Expo
LinkedIn Facebook
Subscribe
Parcel and Postal Technology International
Analysis

Grocery delivery innovation in France

Opinion WritersBy Opinion WritersJuly 15, 20194 Mins Read
Share LinkedIn Twitter Facebook Email
Image: Shutterstock

Supermarket giant Carrefour is aggressively ramping up its home grocery delivery and click-and-collect options. Ian Kerr (Postal Hub Podcast) and Marek Różycki (Last Mile Experts) analyze the underlying trends driving Carrefour’s new delivery push

French supermarket giant Carrefour is aggressively expanding its home grocery delivery service. By 2020, Carrefour will offer home delivery in all French cities with more than 10,000 inhabitants.

Improving the quality and customer centricity of Carrefour services has been CEO Alexandre Bompard’s goal for some time now. In addition to expanding Carrefour’s delivery capability, the two-hour click and collect service for non-food products will also be made available to a wider market.

To help meet this objective, Carrefour is opening a new fulfilment facility south of Paris, and several points of sale will be able to serve order picking.

The retailer’s goal doesn’t seem unrealistic as its system was tested in 2018 in some 52 outlets, including 23 hypermarkets. In 2018, it is reported that Carrefour’s home delivery service recorded a turnover of €107.3m (US$121m).

The two-hour click and collect service will be expanded to hypermarkets that offer a ‘drive’ service later this year. This should involve some 189 stores, which will show stock availability on the group’s website. Carrefour anticipates significant growth for this super-fast click-and-collect service.

Lessons learned from overseas?

Carrefour recently exited the Chinese market, after two decades of operation. It struggled with growing competition from online grocery retailers. Underlining the importance of delivery in China, Walmart recently announced plans to invest 8 billion yuan (US$1.2bn) in China over the next 10 years to upgrade its logistics.

Last year Carrefour launched its latest Belgian delivery initiative: a personal shopper and delivery service, offering 90-minute delivery for €5 (US5.64) to homes within 4km (2.5 miles) of the store. Carrefour has been very active in trialling new delivery modes in Belgium.

The French consumer

French shopping habits are changing, according to research from Kantar Worldpanel. In November 2018, all physical stores suffered a drop of 0.4%, while online grew its market share by +0.4pt to 6.4%. Spending in click and collect increased by +8.8% in November while spending in hypermarkets simultaneously dropped by -0.6%. People are also visiting a wider number of retailers (7.8 retailers in 2018 compared to 7.1 in 2008)

We can see that delivery is becoming increasingly important in the battle for French consumers’ grocery spend.

Online platforms

Last year Carrefour announced its groceries would be available on Google’s new dedicated shopping site in France, or through Google-operated systems such as connected speakers and voice-assisted devices.

Its rivals have also been active in this space. In 2018 Casino’s upmarket Monoprix chain became the first French retailer to agree to sell products on Amazon, while Casino has a home delivery partnership with Ocado.

Carrefour’s strategy in France

So what does this mean for the French consumer and will this strategy serve Carrefour well? Any move to improve the service offering is clearly a benefit for the consumer, and while we don’t have details of the delivery cost or whether some kind of subscription delivery model will be offered, we support any initiative of this nature. For Carrefour, if the customer-facing terms and conditions are good, we can expect this move to increase sales and improve their competitive position. Success will, however, be dependent also on smart management of the last mile and, in particular, excellent interactive delivery management (such as delivery windows and ‘track your driver’ features). Unattended delivery options, perhaps supported by smart locks, could also be added over time.

Philippe Hemard, founder of logistics consultancy PHC (and, like Różycki, a former VP Amazon Logistics Europe), agrees: “Carrefour seems to have realized that omnichannel supply chain is the only solution to compete with online ecommerce experience. Their success will rely heavily now on perfect execution in inventory management, system integration and last mile operations,” he says.

Overall, the grocery last mile is undergoing a true revolution, with new services and customer centric features springing up everywhere. The question that we still need to understand is whether legacy retailers with large networks, such as Carrefour, can use them to their advantage and compete profitably with ‘aggressors’ such as Amazon.

Bios

Ian Kerr is the founder and host of the Postal Hub Podcast, the weekly podcast for the postal and delivery sectors.

 

 

Marek Różycki is managing partner at Last Mile Experts, specializing in CEP and e-commerce last-mile advisory.

 

 

Ian Kerr will moderate the conference workshops PUDOs & Lockers: the New Power in the Last Mile and Social Media & Communications at Parcel+Post Expo Conference 2019. Marek Różyck will moderate the panel Intelligent Self-Service Solutions and the PUDOs & Lockers: the New Power in the Last Mile workshop.

Share. Twitter LinkedIn Facebook Email
Previous ArticleShifting from letters to parcels
Next Article Quick quiz: Canadian home delivery

Related Posts

Analysis

ANALYSIS: What does PostNord’s announcement mean for the future of letter delivery?

May 15, 20251 Min Read
Analysis

ANALYSIS: From needlessly oversized boxes to labelling, how can parcel packaging be improved?

May 8, 20251 Min Read
Analysis

ANALYSIS: Will Allegro’s partnership with DHL and Orlen Paczka give InPost a run for its money?

May 1, 20251 Min Read

Receive breaking stories and features in your inbox each week, for free


Enter your email address:


Latest News

Royal Mail adds 7,000th electric vehicle to fleet

May 16, 2025

Australia Post warns customers about rising number of parcel scam messages

May 16, 2025

DHL adds 30,000m2 warehouse to health logistics campus in Germany

May 16, 2025
Getting in Touch
  • Contact Us / Advertiser
  • Meet the Editors
  • Download Media Pack
  • Breaking News Emails
Our Social Channels
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
Supplier Spotlights
  • KYBURZ Switzerland AG
  • Cookie Policy
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms & Conditions
  • Notice & Takedown Policy
  • Site FAQs
© 2025 UKi Media & Events a division of UKIP Media & Events Ltd

Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.

We use cookies on our website to give you the most relevant experience by remembering your preferences and repeat visits. By clicking “Accept”, you consent to the use of ALL the cookies.
Cookie settingsACCEPT
Manage consent

Privacy Overview

This website uses cookies to improve your experience while you navigate through the website. Out of these, the cookies that are categorized as necessary are stored on your browser as they are essential for the working of basic functionalities of the website. We also use third-party cookies that help us analyze and understand how you use this website. These cookies will be stored in your browser only with your consent. You also have the option to opt-out of these cookies. But opting out of some of these cookies may affect your browsing experience.
Necessary
Always Enabled

Necessary cookies are absolutely essential for the website to function properly. These cookies ensure basic functionalities and security features of the website, anonymously.

CookieDurationDescription
cookielawinfo-checkbox-advertisement1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie records the user consent for the cookies in the "Advertisement" category.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-analytics1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie records the user consent for the cookies in the "Analytics" category.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-functional1 yearThe GDPR Cookie Consent plugin sets the cookie to record the user consent for the cookies in the category "Functional".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-necessary1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie records the user consent for the cookies in the "Necessary" category.
cookielawinfo-checkbox-others1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie stores user consent for cookies in the category "Others".
cookielawinfo-checkbox-performance1 yearSet by the GDPR Cookie Consent plugin, this cookie stores the user consent for cookies in the category "Performance".
elementorneverThe website's WordPress theme uses this cookie. It allows the website owner to implement or change the website's content in real-time.
JSESSIONIDsessionNew Relic uses this cookie to store a session identifier so that New Relic can monitor session counts for an application.

Functional

Functional cookies help to perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collect feedbacks, and other third-party features.

CookieDurationDescription
__cf_bm30 minutesCloudflare set the cookie to support Cloudflare Bot Management.

Analytics

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

CookieDurationDescription
CONSENT2 yearsYouTube sets this cookie via embedded YouTube videos and registers anonymous statistical data.
uidsessionThis is a Google UserID cookie that tracks users across various website segments.
vuid1 year 1 month 4 daysVimeo installs this cookie to collect tracking information by setting a unique ID to embed videos on the website.
_ga1 year 1 month 4 daysGoogle Analytics sets this cookie to calculate visitor, session and campaign data and track site usage for the site's analytics report. The cookie stores information anonymously and assigns a randomly generated number to recognise unique visitors.
_ga_*1 year 1 month 4 daysGoogle Analytics sets this cookie to store and count page views.

Advertisement

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with relevant ads and marketing campaigns. These cookies track visitors across websites and collect information to provide customized ads.

CookieDurationDescription
OAGEOsessionOpenX sets this cookie to avoid the repeated display of the same ad.
OAID1 yearCookie set to record whether the user has opted out of the collection of information by the AdsWizz Service Cookies.
VISITOR_INFO1_LIVE5 months 27 daysYouTube sets this cookie to measure bandwidth, determining whether the user gets the new or old player interface.
YSCsessionYoutube sets this cookie to track the views of embedded videos on Youtube pages.
yt-remote-connected-devicesneverYouTube sets this cookie to store the user's video preferences using embedded YouTube videos.
yt-remote-device-idneverYouTube sets this cookie to store the user's video preferences using embedded YouTube videos.
yt.innertube::nextIdneverYouTube sets this cookie to register a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.
yt.innertube::requestsneverYouTube sets this cookie to register a unique ID to store data on what videos from YouTube the user has seen.

Others

Other uncategorized cookies are those that are being analyzed and have not been classified into a category as yet.

CookieDurationDescription
VISITOR_PRIVACY_METADATA5 months 27 daysDescription is currently not available.

SAVE & ACCEPT
Powered by