French stayed stylish in the pandemic

The publication of the World Retail Congress by Ascential deals with retailing in a time of crises in connection with the pandemic and reopenings. Alix Partners executives reported on their experience in France.

Community comes together

France turned to local produce with the goal of addressing both the food demand and supply situation. Online distribution platforms, such as dansnosregions.fr or “in our regions”, rose up to digitally connect local farmers across the country directly with consumers. With labour in short supply, many city residents volunteered their time to help with farming and distribution activities and support local farmers and food producers. Grocery stores also rose to the occasion, launching a wide range of innovative services to match emerging needs. This included Carrefour selling redefined baskets of products online for greater convenience and Franprix partnering with sports goods brand Decathlon to sell dumbbells, yoga mats, and Pilates bands in their grocery stores.

Home cooking, french style

Confined to home and bereft of their beloved cafes, people unsurprisingly took to home cooking in a big way – but with a decidedly French twist. Upscale restaurants in Paris, Lyon, and Marseille came up with ingenious idea of offering contactless deliveries at home of restaurant-style dishes that could either be easily put together or reheated without any loss of flavour. Star chef Alain Ducasse launched Ducasse chez moi, or “Ducasse at home”, which included a package of 15 different ready-to-cook dishes, dessert included, delivered at home by bike.

Caring for caregivers

French luxury brands had stepped up early by offering up their factories to make hand sanitiser, masks, and gloves. But that’s not where their involvement ended. Even though a lot of apparel and fashion retailers are facing distress of their own, several designers and luxury brands came together for a fundraising auction to benefit healthcare workers, who have been at the coronavirus frontlines. The #ProtegeTonSoignant, or “Protect Your Caregiver,” auction saw more than 80 brands including Celine, Louis Vuitton, Chanel, Prada, Dior, and Lanvin offer up either one-of-a-kind products or items from their archives. All funds are to be used to procure protective equipment and medical devices.

* POPAI, from 2015 named Shop! is an international organization of the Marketing and Retail industry which headquarters placed in Chicago and Hollywood Florida, representing nearly 2000 local offices. Hungary joined with the POPAI Hungary Association in 2003, which has since then been a nonprofit professional, educational, research and knowledge transfer organisation active mainly in the FMCG sector. Read more: popai.hu