French hypermarket chain Carrefour has partnered with technology major Google to deliver a grocery shopping experience in France.
The main aim of the collaboration is to combine the expertise of both companies to offer consumers innovative shopping experiences in a store, online, on smartphones, and through voice services across the country.
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Customers will have a new buying experience from Carrefour across Google platforms, including Assistant, Google Home and the Google Shopping website in France, expanding the retailer’s presence in the digital ecosystem.
As part of the deal, both companies will work towards enabling customers to shop for groceries through a wide range of channels by early 2019. They will also offer home delivery and pick up in-store options.
The retailer and Google Cloud will open an innovation lab in Paris in mid-2018, which will be used by Carrefour engineers and Google Cloud AI experts to co-create new experiences for customers.
Carrefour CEO Alexandre Bompard said: “I would like to thank the Google teams, both in France and the US, for this strategic partnership for our two groups.
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By GlobalData“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 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.”
Google will also deploy G Suite productivity tools and collaborative solutions across the entire Carrefour group.
Google will offer a programme to train more than 1,000 Carrefour employees in new technologies through Google Cloud for six months.
