France's Groupe Casino has announced that it is expanding delivery options for its Cdiscount, Franprix and Monoprix businesses, in partnership with La Poste.
The retail group and the postal service company began working together in 2015, offering delivery from Franprix stores in Paris, but they have now extended this to include Monoprix stores and e-commerce business Cdiscount in certain parts of the country.
This year, the two groups will further expand their offering, with new delivery options and services in a number of cities.
"Our partnership is based on a simple premise: always innovate to propose new services and respond to the new expectations of our customers," said Jean-Charles Naouri, president and CEO of Groupe Casino.
Express Delivery
For e-commerce business Cdiscount, Groupe Casino and La Poste are now offering same-day delivery in Strasbourg and Marseille, with plans to extend the service to Nantes and Rennes in the second half of the year.
Same-day delivery has been available in Paris and Bordeaux since July 2017, and in Lille and Lyon since December 2017.
Additionally, a new express service will be available in Paris from June, offering next-day on-demand delivery, with customers choosing a 30-minute window to receive the goods.
Cdiscount is also set to start offering delivery on Sundays in the 15 largest cities in France – initially in Paris, followed by Nice, Marseille, Toulouse, Bordeaux, Montpellier, Rennes, Grenoble, Nantes, Reims, Lille, Strasbourg, Lyon, Toulon and Aix-en-Provence.
App Development
For the Franprix urban retail banner, Groupe Casino is extending express delivery through the Franprix mobile shopping app.
The service has been available in Paris and its surrounding areas in July 2017, but will now be on offer to customers in Lyon.
Additionally, a new service is being introduced in 200 Franprix stores in Paris, where customers can complete their shopping in store, pay for the goods, and leave them at the store to be delivered to their home within the hour.
Deliveries On Foot
Meanwhile, at Monoprix, Groupe Casino says that 50% of its deliveries in Paris are made on foot. The retailer says that this service, which was first launched in November 2016, is both "practical and ecological".
Additionally, since early February, Monoprix's Shop & Go service has become available on Sundays in about 50 stores in Paris and supermarkets located in tourist areas.
The service allows customs to do their shopping, leave the goods at the delivery counter, and have them delivered to their home within three hours.
Groupe Casino says that the majority of these deliveries are made in partnership with Stuart, a subsidiary of La Poste.
However, new services could be on the way. Last year, Casino signed an agreement with online retail specialist Ocado to develop a grocery delivery service, indicating that Monoprix will be the first of its brands to take advantage of the new system.
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Sarah Harford. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine.
