Press - 2014

Total Group sales of €12 billion, up by +1.6% overall and by +2.8% on an organic basis.

• In France,
  • At Géant, FMCG volumes continued to grow (+1.4%) on an already increasing basis in 2013. Over two years, FMCG volumes’ growth is now positive at +2.3%. In the last four weeks, food volumes were up by +3.6%
  • Positive trends in September and early October across all banners after a weak activity during summer
• Internationally, organic sales growth of +6.1%, driven by good food sales in Brazil which grew by +6.7% on an organic basis, and good dynamic of expansion in all geographies.

Cnova (E-commerce) GMV of €1,098.8 million, featuring very strong growth of +30.6%.

Intermarché, a chain of independent business managers, and Casino group have decided to cooperate in purchasing starting with negotiations for 2015.

This peer-to-peer partnership applies to France only. It aims to optimize the two partners’ purchases and, at national level, to improve services offered to suppliers, on leading brand goods produced by multinational groups, in both food and non-food.

The partnership will not apply to private label products, nor to traditional fresh farming or fishing produce, or to national brand products supplied by SMEs or mid-sized companies.

Intermarché and Casino group will continue to manage and develop their marketing strategies and outlets separately, thereby keeping their respective stores totally separate.

Thanks to this partnership, Intermarché and Casino group customers will continue to benefit from the competitive animation between the two groups’ stores. This partnership will help to sustain the diversity of retail groups operating in the French market.

Building on its long tradition of social innovation, Casino has signed a sixth agreement on the employment of disabled persons for the 2014-2016 period with three representative labour unions (SNTA FO, CFDT and CFE-CGC). At present, disabled employees account for 11.93% of the Group’s workforce.

The agreement adds to the number of specific collective agreements on diversity of backgrounds, employment of seniors and gender equality signed within the framework of the Group’s diversity policy implemented in 1995.It reaffirms the signatories’ commitment to promoting equal opportunities for the disabled in recruitment and career development.

During the period covered by the previous three-year agreement, Casino exceeded its objectives, notably by lifting the percentage of disabled employees in the workforce to 11.93%.

The new agreement extends Casino’s longstanding commitment to hiring the disabled, with an objective of recruiting 100 disabled applicants, at least 10% of whom under the age of 30. To facilitate the integration of disabled persons, the agreement calls for greater development of work-study contracts and a programme to take on 160 interns. A sponsorship system is being deployed to support new hires and disabled employees transitioning towards new professions.

To help retain disabled employees, an e-learning module will be made available to smooth the process of returning to work. A pilot test will be carried out in the Loire department of east-central France in partnership with a network of businesses to promote gateways towards compatible professions.

Professional and digital accessibility initiatives will be continued with the appointment of experts who will determine the level of digital accessibility needed for different tools.

New awareness campaigns will be carried out in 2015 as part of the 20th anniversary of Casino’s disability policy to facilitate communication with deaf and hearing-impaired colleagues and customers. In particular, employees will have access to Audicap, a training module on hearing disabilities. Under the previous agreement, more than 1,200 managers and human resources team members learned more about integrating disabled persons thanks to a dedicated training CD, video testimonials by disabled employees, posters, brochures, intranet content and other information campaigns.

The policy initiated under the previous agreement to provide support for employee/caregivers has been enhanced. In particular, the agreement calls for the allocation of the apprenticeship tax to schools attended by the disabled children of employees and for the distribution of CESU universal service employment vouchers.

Casino’s commitment to being an equal opportunity employer has been recognised by France’s Diversity Label, awarded in 2009 and renewed in May 2012, as well as by the French Workplace Equality Label, awarded in October 2013.

France’s leading e-commerce company, Cdiscount has won over French customers with its innovative, wide-ranging product assortment and the lowest prices in the market.

Following the launch of new Cdiscount websites in Thailand, Vietnam, Colombia, Ecuador, Ivory Coast and Belgium, Cnova N.V. (part of Groupe Casino) continues its internationalization with the opening of cdiscount.sn in Senegal.

Customers will have access to more the 80 000 products available on the site, comprised of diverse and innovative offerings at the lowest prices in the market through various means of payment:

• mobile,
• cash at pick-up points,
• cash on delivery.

At launch, customers will be able to choose between home delivery and pick-up points according to their preference.

To accelerate its development in Africa, Cdiscount has established a partnership with Bolloré Africa Logistics which will benefit from their respective strengths as leaders: the expertise of Cdiscount in e-Commerce and the logistics know-how and infrastructure of Bolloré in Africa.

With the academic year now in full swing, Cdiscount is doing its part to meet the specific supply needs of university students and young professionals, providing them with a varied, expanded offering of products tailored to their needs and their budget through a selection of carefully priced essentials. In addition to these bargains, Cdiscount is running a “buy one get one free” campaign.

France’s leading e-commerce, Cdiscount has won over French customers with its innovative, wide-ranging product assortment and the lowest prices in the market.

With the academic year now in full swing, Cdiscount has decided to do its part to meet the specific supply needs of university students and young professionals, providing them with an expanded offering of on-trend products at unbeatable prices, featuring a varied, targeted selection of best-sellers:

• Packard Bell 17.3-inch laptop for €299.99
• Samsung microwave for €59.99
• Samsung 40-inch television for €329.99
• Sliding sleeper sofa for €99.99
• etc…..

From September 30 to October 7, 2014, young shoppers can not only access thousands of these carefully priced products, but also take advantage of a “buy one get one free” campaign. When customers order two (or more) participating products, they receive a coupon for the amount of the lowest-priced item. The coupon can be used toward future purchases in any product category covered by the campaign.

Customers also benefit from special website services, including a four-instalment payment option and free delivery to one of the 15,000 pick-up locations in the Cdiscount network, which is the largest of its kind in France.

France’s leading e-retailer Cdiscount has partnered with Haier to engineer its first tablet under the Cdisplay name. Haier, which seeks to become one of the five leading tablet makers in France and the rest of Europe within the next three years, has lent its technological expertise to Cdiscount on this project.

Cdisplay brings to market affordable connected products that are built to a guaranteed high-quality standard. The Cdisplay tablet will be launched on the Cdiscount website on 4 September 2014 at the unbeatable low price of €49.99, including tax.

Packed with technology, the Cdisplay tablet incorporates the latest technical innovations, including a quad core processor, a 7-inch IPS display and the latest version of the Android operating system, Android 4.4 Kit Kat. Its meticulously crafted design features an ultra-thin protective case.

Cdisplay has received Google certification, which means it can onboard all of the solutions developed by Google.

Customers can link directly to their Cdiscount account from their Cdisplay tablet to facilitate their future online purchases. In addition, Cdisplay users are notified on a priority basis of exceptional Cdiscount promotions such as flash sales and exclusive offers.

Lastly, Cdisplay owners are provided access to free e-books, applications and other digital content.

A win-win technological partnership

With this new partnership, Haier is demonstrating its technological expertise through its end-to-end management of the tablet engineering process, from manufacturing to software integration to design, and through its ability to adapt and develop customised products in response to a very specific need.

“We were looking for a partner that could support us during the strategic launch of our new overall concept based on a high-quality tablet,” said Stéphane Belloc, Purchasing Director, High Tech, Household Appliances and Private Labels for Cdiscount. “Haier is a globally recognised household appliances brand that has recently made inroads into the tablet market with reliable products of superior quality. They knew just how to meet our specifications.”

Through this new partnership, Haier is moving closer to its medium-term objective of becoming a benchmark player in the tablet market. “We are very proud to have been chosen by Cdiscount, France’s number one e-retailer, to develop its Cdisplay tablet, which is able to integrate all the website’s applications,” said René Aubertin, CEO Europe for Haier. ”More than just a product, Cdisplay represents a new way for consumers to use their tablet. That’s why we paid special attention to its design and level of quality. Our constant commitment to R&D enables us to satisfy our customers more effectively, with products that always offer more technical and marketing innovations. The new partnership agreement highlights once again our growing presence in the tablet market, which we assertively entered in May 2013.”

For more information on Cdisplay, visit :
www.cdisplay.com and www.haier.com/fr

The C le Marché marketplace has become very popular with online merchants since its launch in 2011, with some 5,000 merchant-partners posting nearly 10 million offers in 2014. In the last few months, the marketplace has deployed a very competitive fulfilment service (logistics and shipping) for its merchants.

Today, C le Marché is entering a new phase in its development focused on intensive recruitment of new online merchants and the introduction of innovative services such as immediate availability and higher quality offers from merchant-partners.

For more than three years, Cdiscount has given online merchants an opportunity to enhance their product offering on its C le Marché marketplace. With C le Marché, online merchants have access to a powerful, attractive web showcase and benefit from the site’s considerable traffic, which averages 11 million unique visitors per month.

The marketplace’s technical platform provides the selected merchants with an online interface for managing their offering autonomously. The merchants are free to set their own prices, rates and delivery terms and then to manage their customer relationship and after-sales service themselves. Customers order and pay for items on the C le Marché site, with Cdiscount ensuring secure payment processing and managing fraud risk in return for a commission on completed sales.

An innovative service: immediate availability

Now, Cdiscount is introducing immediate availability, which combines the ease of online purchasing with the speed of store pick up.

This simple, yet innovative concept involves giving local merchants the opportunity to sell items on the C le Marché marketplace even if they don’t have a website. The solution offers two powerful methods for developing sales: merchants can sell items to customers located near them with immediate availability or, for products visible to all Cdiscount users, ship nationwide, no matter where the customer is located.

Store pick up within two hours

Merchants who select immediate availability must provide their store’s address and business hours, describe pick-up procedures and indicate if all or part of their inventory is for sale.

Customers who share their geographic location with Cdiscount have access to local offers for their searched items, with the possibility of selecting store pick up to avoid delivery charges. Once the “immediate availability” order has been placed and paid for on the Cdiscount site, a text message is sent directly to the merchant. The customer then has two hours in which to pick up his or her purchase at the specified address.

The service has enjoyed rapid success. Already, nearly 40,000 immediately available items are on offer from 200 merchants in the Bordeaux region who have joined Cdiscount’s C le Marché marketplace. Merchants in Nantes also have access to the service, which has been extended to Lyon and Toulouse and will be gradually rolled out across France.

See the full press release

Taking advantage of its roots in the Bordeaux region, French e-retailing leader Cdiscount has built up considerable expertise in oenology. Cdiscount sold and shipped more than three million bottles of wine in 2013, offering customers a selection of 2,600 French and international wines. It has also become the specialist in “second wines”, with more than 200 different listings from Bordeaux’s leading châteaux. In addition, Cdiscount sells 300 award-winning wines. This high-quality selection is on display from 10 to 29 September during Cdiscount’s 10th Annual Wine Fair.

Although well-known by the general public as France’s leading e-retailer, low-price champion and identifier of new trends, Cdiscount is also a major player in online sales of wine and champagne. Based from the beginning in Bordeaux wine country, the company has forged long-term relationships of trust with the region’s prestigious winemakers. In line with its commitment to offering the “Best Products at the Best Price”, the site has developed a vast selection of “second wines” from Bordeaux’s leading châteaux so that customers can discover fine wines at affordable prices.

Thanks to other partnerships developed over the years with French and international winemakers, Cdiscount now offers 2,600 wines and champagnes, a large majority of which are tasted and graded by Cdiscount Experts before being listed for sale. As the individuals in charge of selecting wines, these specialists nurture long-term partnerships with the site’s 130 wine and champagne suppliers so that they can offer both celebrated names and more personal favourites.

Cdiscount backs its rigorous selection process with top-notch logistics expertise. From storage to packaging to delivery, the wine is handled with care, under the conditions required by a finely crafted product. Cdiscount sold and shipped more than three million bottles of wine in 2013.

A discriminating selection developed by expert wine tasters

Cdiscount’s online wine selection reflects a clear set of values promoted by a team of specialists with deep winegrowing knowledge and extensive tasting experience.

The catalogue of 2,600 wines and champagnes has been developed on the basis of rigorous quality criteria. Cdiscount’s experts visit French vineyards, take note of rising winemakers and identify the best cuvées. As professional wine tasters with degrees in oenology or winemaking and years of experience in tasting, they are collectively responsible for the site’s wine selection.

The panel of tasters rates the wines according to the same criteria. Each glass is subjected to a complete sensory analysis based on the tasters’ experience and knowledge of the vineyard, its appellations and its best years of vintage. The wine’s colour (or robe), aroma and bouquet (nose) and flavours and texture (mouthfeel) are analysed. Its balance, structure and lingering aftertaste are carefully assessed. The selected wines reflect a clear set of values and all offer excellent quality and drinking pleasure for the money.gb

Following the launch of new Cdiscount websites in Thailand, Vietnam, Colombia, Ecuador and Ivory Coast, Cnova N.V. (part of Groupe Casino) continues its internationalization with the opening of its Cdiscount.com website to internet users in Belgium.

Cdiscount.com is answering the increasing demand from Belgian internet users by providing them with the same product offerings and services as are available in France, allowing them to benefit from the “best products at the best prices”.

All the orders will be shipped from France and customers will be able to choose between home delivery and pick-up points according to their preference:

• For small product orders (less than 30 kg);
• 545 pick-up points will be available throughout Belgium;
• Or they can be delivered within 2 days via TNT;
• For heavy products (30 kg or more), home delivery will be operated by carriers selected by Cdiscount.com;
• The main international credit cards and payment systems will be accepted (Visa, MasterCard and PayPal).