Latest / The Retail Podcast / Five Things Friday EU #1 – Drive‑Thru Grocery, Auchan × Houra & Mango’s AI Stylist

Transcript

Five Things Friday EU #1 – Drive‑Thru Grocery, Auchan × Houra & Mango’s AI Stylist · The Retail Podcast

• 0:00
  Hello and welcome to a fabulous European edition of Five Things
• 0:05
  Friday. And I'm super, super, super
• 0:07
  privileged to be joined by Alex. So Alex and Alex.
• 0:10
  AA thank you for for having me Alex.
• 0:13
  It's a pleasure to to be on the show. 6 years ago I joined
• 0:17
  Business France, so the French Trade Commission in London where
• 0:21
  I shifted into retail technology.
• 0:24
  And since then, I've been helping French companies, French
• 0:27
  retail tech companies to grow in the market.
• 0:30
  And I've also been working with British retailers, as you said,
• 0:35
  to identify the right technology solutions for them.
• 0:38
  That's fantastic. So listen, let's be respectful
• 0:41
  to your time because I don't know, you're super busy and jump
• 0:44
  straight into it. Yeah.
• 0:46
  So part of my, the first thing I wanted to share is something
• 0:50
  that I find really interesting and that is really booming in
• 0:55
  France right now. It's the drive through grocery
• 0:58
  shopping model. So as we call in French, and the
• 1:02
  reason why I chose this topic is because it's not something I've
• 1:06
  really come across much in the UK.
• 1:08
  In France right now, it now makes up more than 10% of all
• 1:13
  grocery sales in the country. So that's huge, Yeah, when you
• 1:17
  think about it. And it started just as a side
• 1:20
  service to regular retailers, and it's now a central part of
• 1:25
  the experience for millions of people.
• 1:27
  And the model became especially popular, as you said, during the
• 1:32
  pandemic when people were avoiding the stalls.
• 1:35
  But what's really interesting is to see that the growth hasn't
• 1:39
  slowed down at all since then. And people love it because it's
• 1:43
  fast, it's easy, and sometimes it's cheaper.
• 1:46
  And the retailers in France, they have noticed the demand for
• 1:51
  it and they are constantly improving the service.
• 1:54
  So we've seen longer opening hours, new collection options
• 1:58
  like pedestrian drives or lockers and even fast delivery
• 2:03
  options have been added. So I think for retailers, it's a
• 2:07
  good way to meet the the needs of the different customers while
• 2:12
  also staying profitable and sometimes even more so than
• 2:17
  traditional online delivery. There's one name that really
• 2:21
  stand stands out in this space. It's Leclerc.
• 2:24
  So all of them do it, Leclerc, Cafu and Armarche, they're all
• 2:29
  investing heavily. But Leclerc, they've been
• 2:32
  pioneers on of the drive through model in France since the
• 2:36
  beginning and they have launched their first pilot back in 27 and
• 2:41
  they they are operating more than 700 full Dr throughs to
• 2:47
  more than 150 pedestrian Dr called the Dr Pietu.
• 2:52
  And these ones are really popular, I would say in city
• 2:56
  centres where the space is limited, real estate can be very
• 3:00
  expensive. So instead of driving, customers
• 3:03
  can just walk in to pick up their online order.
• 3:08
  And I think France fully embraced the drive model, and
• 3:14
  not only with cars, but on foot too.
• 3:17
  And I. Love it.
• 3:19
  Yeah, and it's really interesting to see what's
• 3:23
  happening. And with companies like Le Clair
• 3:25
  and Cafu are leading the way, it's clear that this approach is
• 3:30
  here to stay. Yeah, fantastic.
• 3:33
  The second one, we were going to go to ocean, right?
• 3:37
  Yes, Ocean. So OSHA, for those who may not
• 3:42
  know it is one of the largest supermarket chains in France
• 3:45
  with stores all over the country.
• 3:47
  And we wanted to discuss today the the new partnership between
• 3:52
  OSHA and Ora. So we saw we saw some
• 3:57
  collaborations in the UK with retailers and Deliveroo or Uber.
• 4:03
  It's but this one feels a bit different.
• 4:05
  It makes me think about the way MNS works with Ocado, for
• 4:09
  example. So Ola isn't just a delivery
• 4:13
  platform, it's a full on grocery websites and they have their own
• 4:19
  logistic network. So this deal is less about
• 4:22
  outsourcing delivery and more about fully integrating two
• 4:26
  different business models. And the reason why they have
• 4:30
  done this is because Ocean have closed down their own delivery
• 4:35
  service which was called Ocean Direct due to operational
• 4:40
  issues. And now if they have decided to
• 4:44
  partner with like this is a fresh start mini commerce for
• 4:47
  them without having to rebuild everything from.
• 4:50
  Scratch a lot of grocers around the world have struggled with
• 4:55
  getting this platform right for delivery and then how delivery
• 4:58
  connects into e-commerce again too.
• 5:01
  You could probably do shows on e-commerce and delivery.
• 5:05
  So it's, it's super interesting to see how, I don't know if
• 5:08
  every country has its own model, but we're definitely seeing
• 5:12
  different partnerships across Europe to do that.
• 5:15
  And it brings me interestingly enough on to BM, which is a
• 5:19
  Basque Country supermarket that's expanding across Spain
• 5:24
  right now. And their approach is very sort
• 5:28
  of old fashioned retail in the sense of investment in stores.
• 5:32
  Obviously they do e-commerce, but I just think that there is
• 5:36
  instead of a price war, which ALDI and Lidl have been sort of
• 5:40
  driving the charge for getting that cost market crossed down.
• 5:45
  BM is sort of investing in the format of the store and this
• 5:49
  from, if there are Americans watching this, they're very used
• 5:53
  to this. But in the, in the specifically
• 5:55
  in the UK and some of the other European retailers, the, the
• 6:00
  shelves, for example, are all really high, not at BM.
• 6:04
  The design principles here is that you can see every single
• 6:08
  point of the store from wherever you are, which provides a far
• 6:12
  more sort of exclusive upmarket feel to the experience.
• 6:17
  The the fresh fruit and some of the other departments are
• 6:21
  smaller, but again, this is a community store if you like,
• 6:26
  rather than a main superstore. BM Also another thing that
• 6:30
  they're investing in is the butcher and the the fishmonger.
• 6:34
  But anyway, so super interesting on what they're trying to do at
• 6:39
  a local level. And I think this trend is
• 6:44
  because I, I've worked with retailers in Hungary, in
• 6:47
  Estonia, and they're all trying to go for this sort of upmarket
• 6:51
  feel. But now it feels like there's
• 6:53
  got to be some consolidation. Something's going to move
• 6:55
  because you can't have this density of grosser.
• 6:59
  I don't think it's sustainable. But in, in, in the, the
• 7:01
  different regions we're motoring through these.
• 7:04
  Back to you from Mango. Yeah.
• 7:06
  So now moving from grocery to fashion.
• 7:11
  So this this one is about how fashion retailers are using AI
• 7:16
  to transform the online shopping experience.
• 7:19
  And 1 great example is the recent one with Mango, the
• 7:24
  Spanish fashion brand for which recently launched a their
• 7:28
  virtual stylist called Mungo Stylist.
• 7:31
  So now of course we have seen chat bots and recommendation
• 7:35
  tools for a while like ASOS or Sailondo giving style
• 7:40
  suggestions based on your purchases.
• 7:42
  But what Mongo is doing here is a bit different and a step
• 7:46
  further I would say. So the assistant isn't just
• 7:50
  reactive, it uses real time fashion trends and user inputs
• 7:55
  like your wish list, for example, to generate
• 7:58
  personalised outfit, outfit suggestions.
• 8:01
  And you can access, you can access it on their website on
• 8:06
  the app and through Instagram. So I actually tested it myself
• 8:11
  both on the app and Instagram. So first on the app, I didn't
• 8:17
  find it super intuitive at first because the assistant isn't
• 8:22
  immediately visible. So I was expecting to see
• 8:25
  something big on the home page saying Mongo stylist is here.
• 8:30
  I couldn't find it really easily so I gave it a try.
• 8:33
  And you actually have to to Scroll down on the product page
• 8:38
  to the bottom of the page and click on the need help button to
• 8:42
  start the conversation with the stylist and you end up seeing
• 8:47
  the conversation where it's written assistance.
• 8:50
  So it doesn't feel like you are entering the the stylist mode,
• 8:55
  but once I got into it, I have to say that the chat was really
• 9:00
  smooth and very satisfying. So for your reference, I asked
• 9:04
  for white comfortable trousers for the beach and it gave me
• 9:10
  pretty relevant options, trendy, comfortable, cheap and it gave
• 9:15
  me some, you know, products with links that I could click on and
• 9:19
  then check out. So I would say the experience
• 9:22
  once you are into it is, is very good.
• 9:25
  And then I tried the same thing on Instagram and the experience
• 9:29
  was a bit different there. So since it's not linked to your
• 9:32
  account, it doesn't have access to your shopping history or
• 9:37
  preferences. So the first thing it asked me
• 9:40
  was either to choose the country I'm from or to share my e-mail
• 9:44
  address to connect with my Mongo wishlist, for example.
• 9:48
  So it's really interesting to see how Mongo is using different
• 9:52
  entry points and how much the experience depends on the data
• 9:57
  they have access to. Yeah.
• 10:00
  So at the moment it's a. Example of a gentic, you know,
• 10:03
  an agent shopping for you. But I, I, I love this example
• 10:07
  because what you're highlighting here, how does a retailer take
• 10:11
  control of its own data on the shopping on the path to
• 10:14
  purchase? And this is a beautiful example
• 10:17
  of that. A really, yeah, I'm impressed by
• 10:20
  Mango getting it out to market this quickly.
• 10:23
  Did did you think you'll end up spending more money?
• 10:26
  I did definitely. Do you bought 3?
• 10:29
  Pairs of white trousers. Just one, yeah.
• 10:33
  He bought an accessory or something to go with it.
• 10:35
  I love to to test the new, you know, new trends and new
• 10:38
  technologies. Yeah, it's available in the UK
• 10:42
  and France. Would you, OK, here's a
• 10:44
  question. Would you go back to it or is it
• 10:46
  do you think it's a gimmick? I think, I think I would go back
• 10:51
  because I have to say, I mean it's very personal, but I don't
• 10:56
  shop as much as I used to before.
• 11:00
  I tend to go to charity shops and try and go on vintage and
• 11:05
  try to buy less new products. So when I end up on the website
• 11:11
  today or in a store, I don't know what's trending, I don't
• 11:16
  know what, what would be, you know, the best products to to
• 11:22
  buy this summer. So I find there, I find
• 11:26
  retailers, holiday shops really useful for this.
• 11:30
  But if you're looking for a specific, for example, a wide
• 11:33
  comfortable trouser, if you're looking for something specific,
• 11:36
  it saves you time and you, you, you just go to the chat, you
• 11:41
  know you want something from Mango and there you have it.
• 11:47
  I love it, honestly really good. So it's really interesting.
• 11:50
  We'll finish on this one. I'm I'm gonna be super fast
• 11:53
  'cause we're at the top of our allotted time.
• 11:56
  Tell me what you if you think this is true or not so black.
• 12:03
  After years of minimalism and quiet luxury, is the messy soul
• 12:05
  girl finally back? We spent years smoothing out
• 12:08
  every edge, from beige colour palettes to skin care's
• 12:10
  personality. The ideal was polished and
• 12:13
  optimised. But lately that aesthetic is
• 12:15
  starting to unravel. And it's not just a vibe.
• 12:17
  On platforms like Vertical, the data tracks the mood shift in
• 12:20
  real time. Tobacco products are up 843%,
• 12:22
  rolling trays 569%. Alcoholic beverages up nearly
• 12:26
  1000% in the past 12 months. This isn't just aesthetic
• 12:29
  fatigue, it's cultural. Real Coach is climbing and he's
• 12:32
  trending upwards, a rose softening.
• 12:34
  Suddenly having a beer in cowboy boots feels more aspirational
• 12:36
  than Granger's and Pilatus. It's less about optimization,
• 12:39
  more about character, pleasure and mood.
• 12:41
  Day to night dressing is trending and imperfect beauty is
• 12:44
  back. People are drinking again,
• 12:45
  dancing again, wearing the dress, not checking the weather,
• 12:48
  ordering dessert, swapping routines for romance, saying
• 12:50
  more with less beige. From cleaning to captivating.
• 12:53
  If you're building a brand or marketing one, this isn't noise.
• 12:55
  It's a shift in culture and taste and how people want to
• 12:58
  feel. A clean girl era.
• 12:59
  It's fading. What's next is messier, bolder,
• 13:02
  and honestly, a lot more fun. It's interesting because one of
• 13:05
  the major trends and giving is, you know, cigarettes and alcohol
• 13:10
  have been declining. But what the commentary here is,
• 13:13
  is that there's a messier trending aesthetic that
• 13:18
  retailers potentially need to be paying attention to or providing
• 13:22
  a space for because green, I don't know, green smoothies are
• 13:28
  not hitting it anymore. And people want to let their
• 13:30
  hair down, have more fun, go wild.
• 13:33
  And obviously we're in festival season.
• 13:35
  So you're seeing a lot of that across the whole of Europe in
• 13:39
  different festivals. I just wonder what your opinion
• 13:42
  is. Do you, do you, do you think
• 13:43
  that is a trend that's coming in or you think it's just not
• 13:46
  really people are still into their health?
• 13:48
  I think, I think it's, it is not a trend.
• 13:52
  I think it's real that there's people are realising that they
• 13:57
  need to make choices for themselves and not for the look
• 14:03
  of it or what others are going to think about it.
• 14:05
  So obviously on social media you see all these videos about
• 14:11
  Pilates, girls, smoothies and as you said, being healthy and
• 14:17
  which is, don't get me wrong, really important to stay healthy
• 14:20
  and, and be active. But life isn't just about that.
• 14:24
  It's also about, yeah, enjoying life and simple moments and
• 14:30
  being yourself. And there's a strong move, I
• 14:35
  would say, on social media about being yourself without makeup,
• 14:40
  with your own body shapes. And I think it's great because
• 14:45
  it used to put a lot of pressure on people and now we can see
• 14:49
  there's a trend about getting this pressure off being.
• 14:53
  Is here, it's real, I guess. We're less interested in what
• 14:58
  things look like and how they really are.
• 15:00
  And real life is messy. And so maybe that's that's the
• 15:04
  aesthetic we're going. Alexandra, thank you so much for
• 15:07
  giving up the time for being with us for the for the for the
• 15:10
  show today. Hopefully you have a lovely
• 15:13
  weekend and I see you next week. Thank you so much, Alex.
• 15:16
  Thank you for having. Me.