Carrefour launches new next-generation concept store
The next-generation Carrefour Flash 10/10 is the first store of this kind in France.
Carrefour open Flash 10/10, its next-generation test store, in Paris’ eleventh arrondissement. This new convenience store, developed together with Californian start-up AiFi, is designed to provide customers the fastest shopping experience possible.
With Flash, technology is used to enhance the customer experience, making shopping more straightforward. It has nearly 900 everyday product references on sale.
With this innovative new format, Flash 10/10 ("10 seconds to shop and 10 seconds to pay”) features a shopping journey that does not involve having to scan any products and payment that is almost instantaneous. Customers are free to enter and exit the store without having to pass through a gateway. There is no need to download an app or register beforehand. And there are no surprises – they can view their total spend in real time.
Four employees will be on-hand to open the store and oversee its operation. They will maintain it and keep it tidy, manage its new e-commerce services (including Pedestrian click and collect) and provide customers with advice.
This whole customer experience will be made possible by 60 HD cameras, nearly 2000 sensors built into the connected shelves, an algorithm for interpreting all the data and a proprietary tablet payment system. Customers are tracked anonymously as a virtual avatar, allocated to them as soon as they enter the store. The products that they pick up are automatically detected and then added to their virtual basket. Once they have finished shopping, customers just get their baskets validated at a kiosk and then pay contactlessly. They can get an electronic receipt sent to them immediately simply by scanning a QR code. An automatic checkout kiosk is also available for any customers wishing to pay with cash.
Carrefour is innovating internationally
Carrefour Flash was tested at Carrefour's head office in Massy over more than a year, during which the Innovation team was able to refine the technology and adapt the concept based on feedback from the employees using it on a daily basis.
In March 2021, Carrefour Brazil launched Flash Scan & Go – a store where customers can use their smartphones to shop and pay for the products they want to take home. 6 such stores are currently in operation in Brazil, and the subsidiary is planning on opening another 8 or so before the end of the year.
And in September, Carrefour launched its "Carrefour City+” concept in Dubai alongside Emirati partner Majid Al Futtaim.
