Groupe Casino's online division, Cnova, has posted a 14.0% increase in net sales to €445 million in the second quarter of the year.
The group said that organic growth stood at 9.0% in the quarter, which is up on the 6.1% growth it posted in the previous quarter.
“This second quarter was marked by an accelerated organic growth as well as fast-growing monetization revenues," commented Emmanuel Grenier, Cnova chief executive.
In-Store Showrooms
Among the driving factors behind the growth was the 'commercial success' of Cdiscount showrooms in Casino's Géant hypermatkets, which made a +0.9% contribution to the group's organic gross merchandise volume (GMV) growth.
It said that it plans to introduce showrooms to most of the Géant portfolio by the end of 2018.
It has also accelerated its loyalty programme, putting this at the 'heart' of its marketing strategy, according to the company.
Purchases made using the 'Cdiscount à Volonté' loyalty programme now stand at 35% of GMV, according to the firm. It also rolled out the 'CDAV Pass', offering enriched loyalty with exclusive offers for users.
Most significantly, the recent quarter also saw Cdiscount roll out its offer to other countries, with deliveries now available to Belgium, Germany, Italy and Spain.
Commenting on the quarterly performance, Grenier said the company has "launched initiatives that will support our development over the next quarters: international delivery, two new travel and assistance services for our customers and the enrichment of our loyalty program, Cdiscount à Volonté, the key pillar of our marketing strategy.
"The continuous investments in our supply chain, in particular the unique on-demand 30-min slot delivery in Paris, keep improving the customer experience.”
Gross Merchandise Volume
Cnova said that Gross Merchandise Volume for the period stood at €760 million in the second quarter, an increase of 14.3% on the same period last year.
It boasted 8.7 million members as of the second quarter, which is up 3.4% on the same quarter in 2017 (8.4 million). It also saw 5.8 million orders placed, which was up 2.2% on the same period last year (5.7 million).
© 2018 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
