E-business Leclerc Drive France

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Summary[pic 4]

I.        Introduction

II.        Company history

III.        The business model

IV.        Innovative strategy

V.        Business process

VI.        Technologies adopted

VII.         The limits of such the concept

VIII.   Conclusion

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1. Introduction

With the development of the Internet and the gradual hybridization between trade and line and physical trade, the relationship between trade and the mobility of people and goods is changing. They are linked to changes in the location and timing of household purchasing practices, the emergence of new modes of delivery and collection of goods (home delivery, relay points, etc.) and the reorganization of commercial formats, their geography and logistics organization.[pic 6]

My analyze focus E.LECLERC online business which has grown rapidly over the recent period in France and the technologic perspective for the benefit of the consumer. The particularity of the drive is that it reproduces the model of the hypermarket and supermarket (with a fairly similar product offer, although generally more limited) but reduces the time consumers spend on site to the simple time of picking up the order, carried out upstream on the Internet. Reducing the time spent in stores is therefore at the heart of the strategy of this new format, and thanks to that new canal, people are ordering on internet, that able companies to analyze deeply the consumer behaviors.

1. Company history

E. Leclerc is a cooperative of merchants and a supermarket chain. From the first store opened by Édouard Leclerc in 1949, it now includes independent stores from several European countries that meet the organization's requirements. The organization employs approximately 105,000 people.

E.Leclerc Drive

After the first opening at the Roques sur Garonne site in 2007, these driving service points gradually increased.

At the beginning of 2012, the brand claimed 192 withdrawal points. In December 2012, this figure stood at 264, and in February 2013 at 284. As of January 1, 2014, there are 445 Leclerc Drive in France and 2 in Slovenia (source Nielsen TradeDimensions).

The concept

The service is offered to consumers who have previously registered, usually on a website created for this purpose. The consumer's order can be placed online or through a terminal, or directly at the delivery point. Payment is made by electronic means (mobile payment, payment cards) at the end of the order or at the delivery point. Once the order has been paid for, the consumer can receive an order number that can be printed from a personal computer.[pic 7]

In the case of purchases of food and consumer products, the consumer sometimes has the possibility to choose the day and time of receipt of his order.

To collect his purchases on the agreed date, the consumer goes to the delivery point and reports his arrival at a terminal: call from an employee, presentation of the order number, presentation of the distributor's card, presentation of the smartphone or tablet. If the consumer ordered from a PC without a printer, some distributors require ID to provide the service.

The employee loads the shopping directly into the trunk of the car, the waiting time for delivery is a few minutes.

1. The business model

The activity is twofold:

The business model of E.Leclerc Drive is the same as retails stores i.e. purchase of products from a supplier in bulk, producer or importer, either directly or through a wholesaler.

Resale of the merchandise by unit or in small quantities to a customer in a store.

The products sell are mass-market products.

The particularity and the innovative issue in E.Leclerc Drive is that the company is selling products on internet, and by that way the collect a he amount of data on consumer behavior (marketing data).

That data are sold to other companies, research agencies, and that process is generating turnover for E.Leclerc Group.

1. Innovative strategy

The innovative strategy in that concept is about marketing.

The collection of geolocated data and the massive adoption of smartphones have given rise to a new form of marketing, the drive-to-store. The idea is to bring targeted customers to the point of sale, regardless of their location and modes of transport. A major digital strategy since more than 90% of purchases are still made at physical points of sale according to a study by the US Census Bureau.

Despite the development of e-commerce, which now accounts for 9.1% of purchases, consumers prefer physical points of sale. Digital commerce giants are now offering themselves chain stores to strengthen their presence in the field and their attachment to their brands. The border between the two worlds is blurring with the explosion of geolocated data and the development of drive-to-store strategies.[pic 8]

1. Business process

Merchandising Optimization 

The process reduce downtime between tasks in putting products in stores department, increase communication and orchestrate multiple process flows in parallel to reduce waste and increase productivity.

Supplier integration

Drive concept streamline the complexity of processes between the company and suppliers to efficiently obtain goods by managing processes such as supplier agreements, shipping guidelines, supplier markdowns and approval processes.

Key Element and Unit Planning

E.Lerclec company is equipped with software that manage process execution, shelving, personnel management, inventory management, and create workflows to manage manual and system processes to build product portfolio through coordination between buyers, planners and merchandise managers.

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