Online and Drive-up grocery shopping in France
I was reading an article in the Wall Street Journal about the growing trend of shopping for groceries online in France and then picking them up at your convenience. The article specifically profiles Chronodrive, which is currently expanding throughout France but has yet to come to the Rhone-Alpes area where I live. Here are some excerpts:
…a hybrid online shopping model devised by Chronodrive that ditches the expensive delivery option used by early Web grocers and retains what the company’s founders felt shoppers wanted: an easy online system to order groceries that the consumer can pick up, prepacked, at his convenience….In France, Mr. Thoumine expects the format to reach a 4%-5% market share of grocery shopping by 2013, compared with 0.6% now. “People want to save time on grocery shopping,” he says. “The drive-through offers a very original solution.”
Personally I shop at Simply Market for the good quality at low prices, owned by the same giant group Auchan that has invested in Chronodrive, and there’s one about 7 minutes on foot from my apartment. But I could imagine the attraction of the concept of ordering online and picking up in your car. Fellow expats in France, how do you prefer to grocery shop? I’m sure it depends largely on where you live.
americanexpatinfrance
I rather doubt this will catch on here in Burgundy. Traditions hold strong in this region. The local Carrefour only very recently added some automatic check out facilities, but few people use them. Most people, myself included, shop at the farmers market for the freshest best produce and if possible, go directly to the farm for poultry and beef.