French retailer Casino expands Amazon partnership
Supermarket group will sell its brands on the site and will deploy pick-up service
Casino said on Tuesday that it has expanded its partnership with e-commerce group Amazon as the French retailer seeks to tap into new distribution channels.
In March last year Casino became the first French retailer to unveil an alliance with Amazon. Under the terms of the deal, which began in September, groceries from upmarket brand Monoprix were made available to customers of Prime Now, Amazon’s high-speed delivery service.
Casino, which is grappling with tough competition at home, said on Tuesday that the expanded joint venture with Amazon will focus on three areas.
It will deploy “Amazon lockers” in 1,000 Casino group stores across France, which allow customers to collect their Amazon orders. Casino-branded products will also be available on Amazon’s website and app, a move that allows Casino to access new pools of customers with its own-brand products.
And finally Amazon will extend its partnership with Prime Now outside the Paris area, and make Monoprix’s selection available to Prime Now customers in new cities in the next 12 months.
“With this new partnership, we will be able to offer the greatest number of customers the best products and services whenever and wherever they wish,” said Jean-Charles Naouri, chief executive and majority shareholder of Casino, in a statement. “This announcement represents a new step in strengthening Casino’s omnichannel strategy to always be a little more in the heart of consumers’ lives.”
Casino is in the middle of a €2.5bn asset disposal plan as it seeks to reassure investors and shore up its financial position and that of its parent company Rallye. On Sunday Casino announced that it has sold a portfolio of 32 stores to private equity group Apollo Global Management for €470m.