French retailer Carrefour has announced that it has opened a brand new concept store in Shanghai, Carrefour Le Marche.
The new store is a ‘smart life store with a French touch’ and will see the introduction of many digital innovations with the support of Tencent.
Imported foods account for almost 20% of the total products, and the store has its own separate floor space where goods a clearly divided by countries and regions, such as France, Italy and other European countries. It also stocks imported goods from the Asian market, particularly Japan and Korea.
As well as grocery items, Carrefour Le Marche also promotes fashion and beauty with a series of imported personal care and beauty products.
Technolgy Innovations
The two-storey store has cashiers and nine self-checkouts on both floors. With the support of Tencent, Le March will also adopt a face recognition payment option as well as scan and go systems.
Customers can register through ‘we-chat payment’ with a face ID, which will allow customers to purchase and pay in store without using their phone or wallet. As the retailer says, it's simply a case of ‘smile to the camera, then payment accomplished’.
Scan and go allows customers to scan a product code directly via We Chat, add it to their virtual trolley, and complete purchase.
In order to adopt this system, Carrefour Le Marche will use electronic label systems, which will centrally set the price. This, Carrefour adds, will cut out any confusion over prices caused by unclear, torn and misplaced labels.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Aidan O'Sullivan. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
