Carrefour Looking to Test a Cashierless Concept Store in France
FACTS
- The French retailer Carrefour would be planning to open their first cashierless store in spring 2019. This point of sale will be fully automated enabling seamless customer processes similar to the Amazon Go concept.
- This connected store will be located at the company’s headquarters in Massy (91) and exclusively available to the group’s employees at first. Several cameras will be installed to track customers’ processes.
- The customer will only have to add items to his shopping cart so his purchases can be validated. The payment step may rely on face recognition, using a tablet: a technology they already tested in China.
- The 56m2 store will be run by an ad hoc created (start-up like) four-person department.
CHALLENGES
- Highlighting their ability to build innovative services based on a digital approach to in-store purchases. With this test phase, Carrefour follows in Amazon’s footsteps like many other retail players who already came up with more or less elaborate formats, with or without cash counters. Carrefour shows high ambitions and chooses the most complex model to implement. Amazon, for instance, faced various setbacks due to technological issues.
- Applying expertise acquired in China to the French market. In May this year, Carrefour opened a connected supermarket in China in partnership with the local tech giant Tencent.
- Revisiting in-store customer experience. Carrefour may soon allow their customers to avoid waiting in line at checkout. Also, they may attract new customers and, eventually, secure their loyalty.
MARKET PERSPECTIVE
- Retail players, such as Carrefour and Casino, are letting go of typical cash counters as they increasingly bet on automation and digital processes. A revolution is underway in convenience stores to withstand relentless competition from the e-commerce sector.
- Casino has been testing a cashierless concept since October 2018 in their “Le 4” store near the Champs-Elysées. This 400m2 location is equipped with several cameras to analyse customers’ gestures and collect data.
- Seven Amazon Go locations have already been opened in the US, and two more stores are scheduled to open this winter. In particular, considering their leading position, the e-commerce giant can tackle a new challenge: implementing this technology in larger stores.