French group Carrefour has reached an agreement with Rakuten to expand its presence in the e-commerce market. The supermarket chain has announced that next April it will open a new virtual store in the marketplace.
This format will accompany the company’s own ecommerce. This tie-up allows both companies to capitalize on their respective competencies, strengthen their omnichannel strategies and build customer loyalty, notes Carrefour.
With the partnership, the retailer of Gallic origin joins a marketplace that receives 15 million visits per month . The idea is to try to take advantage of its online ecosystem, with countless services to promote online sales.
One of the most interesting aspects of the agreement is that the company will be part of Rakuten’s affiliate program. All of this is aimed at boosting sales through the Internet. In turn, the French company will share its expertise in omnichannel and give a boost to ranges, offers and products that go beyond the food sector.
Both Rakuten and Carrefour are looking for new long-term digital growth levers. The most desired objective is to increase its market share through e-commerce.
How will the Carrefour store on Rakuten work?
The first purchases can be completed as early as April. The partnership allows consumers to access the Carrefour store on the Rakuten platform with products from the French retailer.
In addition, if they sign up for the marketplace’s loyalty program, Club R by Rakuten, they will receive discounts of between 5 and 35% on all their orders. This cashback system is a very interesting way of combating inflation, they point out at Carrefour.
Elodie Perthuisot is executive director of eCommerce, Data and Digital Transformation at Carrefour Group. The senior executive explains that the new store in a completely virtual setting such as Rakuten helps the company to gain relevance in the omnichannel segment. In fact, just as they are committed to opening stores in shopping malls, they also want to take advantage of the traffic attraction options provided by Rakuten.
For its part, the marketplace celebrates this agreement with its own CEO in France, Fabien Versavau. For him, hosting Carrefour on the shopping platform is a very efficient formula to favor inclusive digital culture in the long term. This operation should serve to benefit the consumers
