Carrefour takes fight to rivals with Google tie up

Carrefour has announced a partnership with Google that, from early 2019, will enable shoppers to buy the former’s products through Google platforms including Home, Assistant and a new Google shopping website in France. Terms of the joint venture were not disclosed.

Carrefour is under pressure in its largest market of France, where E Leclerc recently launched in Paris and Amazon has inked a distribution deal with rival Groupe Casino (the latter also has a home delivery partnership with Ocado). In response, Alexandre Bompard, who took over as Chief Executive of Carrefour last year, has greenlighted a five-year strategy which includes ramping up digital investment as the retailer aims for €5 billion in food e-commerce sales by 2022. 

As part of the Google JV, Carrefour will open an innovation lab in Paris this summer where its engineers will work with Google Cloud AI experts on new consumer experiences. Google will also support Carrefour’s digital transformation efforts by deploying G Suite productivity tools and collaborative solutions across the group. And 1,000 Carrefour employees will be trained in the new technologies.

"This alliance makes Carrefour the first partner of Google on grocery e-commerce 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 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," says Bompard.

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