For big retailers, especially in the grocery and supermarket sector, the weekly paper promotional catalog remains an essential tool to drive customers back to the store. Traditionally, many consumers used to receive these catalogs directly in their physical mailboxes. The ability to reach nearly all potential customers in a given area was one of the major strengths of this channel.
However, in 2023, a combination of factors is making it necessary for all retailers to reconsider the mix of tools and channels they use to promote their offerings. These factors include ecological concerns (as about half of the catalogs are immediately discarded), rising paper costs, changing behaviors of younger customers (who are less inclined to use paper leaflets), and, in France, the existence of laws that restrict the distribution of paper catalogs in mailboxes without the consumers’ formal consent. This restriction already applies to 14 cities and areas.
Carrefour was among the first retailers in Europe to utilize Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp as alternative channels for distributing promotional catalogs. They have announced their goal of reducing their volume of paper catalogs by 80% as early as the beginning of 2024.
We have invited Olivier Kromwel and Arnaud Merzougui to Station F for a dedicated webinar on this subject. It’s a must-see if you work in retail! Discover how the Carrefour teams are using Alcméon’s technology to grow their messaging contact list and send “conversational newsletters and catalogs” via WhatsApp, Messenger, and even Instagram Direct. They have already achieved impressive results in terms of viewing rates, time spent on catalogs, and an amazing Net Promoter Score (NPS)!