Carrefour has teamed up with WhatsApp to offer a solution whereby shoppers can purchase a range of Christmas items through the platform, via the Père Noël de Carrefour (Santa Claus from Carrefour) social commerce initiative.
Shoppers can choose from up to 100 products from various non-food categories, including toys, technology, gaming and small appliances – and once their basket is complete, they are directed to Carrefour.fr to proceed with payment.
The products, all available for home delivery, are then shipped by Carrefour to customers.
Emerging Innovation
"At Carrefour, we don't want to miss any innovation," commented Elodie Perthuisot, executive director of e-commerce, data and digital transformation, Carrefour Group.
"With this innovative social commerce experience, we want to understand the new needs and expectations of our customers. We are also adapting our technical capacities to manage flow orders from external social media platforms to our e-commerce site."
Perthuisot added that the group plans to test this technology in other countries in which Carrefour has a presence in the coming months.
In time, the brand also hopes to be able to offer an experience that will see payment integrated directly into the WhatsApp platform.
Social Commerce Growth
According to a study by Accenture published in January 2022, social commerce is expected to grow by 2.5 times over the next three years, and reach a turnover in excess of $1.2 billion (€1.14 billion) worldwide.
Also on a Christmas theme, Carrefour Spain recently rolled out a digital, interactive toy brochure with 3D images of 100 products, as well as a virtual space with games, augmented reality and animations.
Through the platform, children can interact with toys, play games and write letters to Santa Claus, the Three Wise Men and the Olentzero, a traditional character in the Basque Region.
© 2022 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest technology news. Article by Stephen Wynne-Jones. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: European Supermarket Magazine.
