French retailer Carrefour has announced a strategic partnership with Google that will enable new distribution models and commerce experiences for shoppers in France.
The partnership centers around three initiatives: A new buying experience from Carrefour across Google platforms (Assistant, Google Home and a new experience on the Google Shopping website in France); the opening of an innovation lab in Paris this summer in partnership with Google Cloud, where Carrefour engineers will work side-by-side with Google Cloud AI experts to co-create new consumer experiences; and a training program to accelerate the digital transformation of Carrefour Group.
More than 1,000 employees of Carrefour will be trained with the support of Google Cloud in six months, and Google Cloud’s G Suite productivity and collaboration solutions (Gmail, Calendar, Drive, Hangouts, Docs, etc.) will be deployed to more than 160,000 Carrefour employees.
Alexandre Bompard, CEO of Carrefour, said, “I would like to thank the Google teams, both in France and the United States, for this strategic partnership for our two groups. This alliance makes Carrefour the first partner of Google on grocery eCommerce in Europe, creating a strong bond between the two companies. It also marks an important step in the new story written by Carrefour since the announcement of the Carrefour 2022 plan. It allows us to accelerate our digital evolution and get a head start in deploying the omnichannel approach we want to offer our customers.”
The partnership enables Google to deliver its technology and skills in AI, cloud and new consumer shopping interfaces to Carrefour, while the retailer offers its product expertise and knowledge in logistics and sales.
Sébastien Missoffe, VP and managing director of Google France, said, “Shoppers today are saddled with disconnected experiences through the shopping journey, which often lead to abandoned shopping carts and low customer satisfaction and loyalty. Customers want assistive, simple and personalized experiences that help them make decisions on what to buy, assist with easily building baskets across surfaces, and provide a seamless checkout. With Alexandre Bompard and his team, we wanted to explore new distribution models and eCommerce technologies to deliver simple, frictionless and deeply relevant experiences for shoppers in France. I’m happy we’re contributing to Carrefour’s digital transformation through the deployment Google Cloud Platform and G Suite’s collaboration tools.”
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