Tomorrow's neighbourhood retail: human and digital under one roof

In 2000, Moez Alexandre Zouari founded the Pro Distribution Group, a partner of Casino, which owns and operates 500 neighbourhood retail stores under the names Monoprix, Monop, Franprix, Leader Price and Supermarché Casino, located mostly in Paris and other major French cities. He talks with Parlons Commerce about his strategy for innovation.

You recently opened two high-profile stores in Paris, a “4 Casino” store near the Champs-Élysées and a Franprix store opposite the Palais Garnier opera house. What is their place in your innovation strategy?

Today's consumers are very informed and connected. They are active, they know what they want, and they constantly evaluate what's on offer. They like to do their shopping close to home or work, and want to get rid of anything that makes shopping a burden.

We're innovating to meet their expectations. Some do it by focusing everything on digital, like Amazon Go. But that's not our approach: We take the best of physical retail, meaning the human and community side, and the best of digital, putting them both under the same roof. The two go together.

In addition, we no longer believe in standardised concepts. We certainly support the iconic image of retailers, and our customers find their usual brands, but each store is tailored to its location and specific clientele.

What exactly do the new stores offer?

They are living places where people come to shop and have a pleasant time.

Our customers can sit down for a coffee or meal prepared on-site. They can connect to the Wi-Fi and even choose the music playing in the store using a jukebox. While they are taking a break, the store can gather the products that they selected with digital tools, such as tablets, touchscreens and, of course, their smartphones. We have developed an app that allows customers to make purchases. You no longer have to queue at the cashier, which adds nothing but aggravation to the customer experience.

The staff is there to welcome, guide and advise customers. We replaced cashiers with wine merchants, vegetable vendors, servers at counters and order pickers, who all add much higher value. At the same time, our stores have a wealth of information on the products. When our customers scan labels, they learn about the composition of products, their Nutri-Scores, the presence of allergens, consumer ratings and more, and in several languages, up to 20 in the Franprix Opéra store which has an international clientele.