Carrefour is committed to AI as a key lever for transformation. As part of its “Driving the Future of Food” exhibition, the company has presented a wide range of technological solutions that are already revolutionizing its operations, including the launch of ClubIA, the first conversational assistant with a virtual avatar integrated into a loyalty program in Spanish retail.

ClubIA was created to improve relations with the more than 10.4 million members of El Club Carrefour to offer a personalized, dynamic, and valuable experience. This assistant can recommend products, suggest recipes, provide nutritional information, and even generate shopping simulations tailored to each customer's habits and preferences. Last April, Carrefour already demonstrated its leadership by launching ai.carrefour, its global artificial intelligence solution in Spain

But ClubIA was not the only AI-based innovation Carrefour unveiled at the show. Attendees also learned about the intelligent virtual customer, a tool that analyzes consumer behavior to predict trends and optimize marketing strategies. In addition, Carrefour showed how AI is being applied in other areas, such as improving the quality and traceability of fresh products thanks to agricultural drones and quality detectors, and automating in-store processes with smart scales that automatically recognize fruits and vegetables.

Carrefour AI

As a sign of its commitment to democratizing access to AI, Carrefour offered all participants basic training on artificial intelligence, introducing them to prompting techniques and presenting the virtual agents it is developing. To support this initiative, the exhibition was attended by experts from technology companies such as Google and Artefact, who shared their knowledge and experience with Carrefour's teams. Carrefour has thus consolidated its position as the first retailer to bring artificial intelligence to all its employees.

At this unmissable event, Carrefour has reaffirmed its position at the forefront of the latest trends, demonstrating its commitment to innovation through masterclasses by Meta and TikTok, show cooking with nutritionists such as Aitor Sánchez and Pablo Ojeda, and the participation of influencers such as Fabián León and athletes such as Saúl Craviotto and Perico Delgado. In addition, to maximize its reach, the company has opted for a live zone with podcasts and streaming broadcasts.

In the words of Alexandre Bompard, “the Food Future Show reflects Carrefour's ambition to lead not only retail in Spain but also the food transition and to advance in the distribution of healthy products, offering the widest range at prices accessible to all.”

For her part, Elodie Perthuisot commented that "the retail sector is key to the Spanish economy, and in this sense, the Carrefour Show demonstrates our commitment to transforming the world of distribution, new trends, and digitalization. Thanks to innovation and new AI applications, we offer a personalized, efficient, and accessible experience for our customers, and we contribute to building the future of food, with a clear focus on fresh and healthy products, hand in hand with our suppliers, most of whom are local SMEs."

Carrefour aims at global food trends 

The company also presented the significant trends shaping food retail in the coming months: healthier, alcohol-free, and gluten-free products and a firm commitment to artificial intelligence for customers and employees. This aligns with the company's goal of anticipating new consumer demands and consolidating a more agile, personalized, and sustainable food distribution ecosystem.

The shelves of the immediate future will be increasingly oriented towards conscious consumption. Carrefour already has a strong presence of alcohol-free and gluten-free products, two segments which, together with the rise of plant-based and functional foods, are leading growth in healthier products. This approach responds to consumers who are not only looking for taste or price, but also well-being and alignment with their specific dietary needs.

The exhibition featured Carrefour's own brands, along with a small Express supermarket illustrating the company's different commercial formats. The message is clear: adaptability, proximity, and flexibility are essential to connecting with consumers who demand convenience without compromising on quality.

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Carrefour Group has taken a significant step forward in its digital transformation strategy by launching its new global artificial intelligence platform, ai.carrefour, with Spain as the pioneering market. This strategic move reinforces the company’s commitment to becoming a leader in using AI in the retail and food sectors.

ai.carrefour: Carrefour’s New Global AI Solution

The launch of ai.carrefour was officially held at Carrefour’s corporate headquarters in Madrid and attended by top executives including Elodie Perthuisot, CEO of Carrefour Spain, and Emmanuel Grenier, CEO of Ecommerce, Data, and Digital Transformation for the Carrefour Group. Perthuisot previously held Grenier's current role before taking the lead in Spain.

Built on Gemini 2.0 technology, ai.carrefour aims to make artificial intelligence accessible across all company areas. It will be rolled out progressively, integrating new functionalities designed to simplify daily tasks and optimize operations at every level.

Carrefour’s AI Strategy: Empowering Employees Through Technology

The launch follows the earlier debut of uno.ia, Carrefour’s first AI super-agent, developed under Elodie Perthuisot’s leadership. This intelligent assistant supports decision-making, manages communications, organizes meetings, and creates presentations—revolutionizing executive workflows.

Carrefour is also developing additional super-agents to enhance internal processes in departments such as human resources and customer experience, creating a more agile and digitally empowered workforce.

AI Training for All Employees in 2025

In line with its goal of building an AI-first culture, Carrefour will deliver massive artificial intelligence training to its employees throughout 2025. This initiative is a cornerstone of the company’s plan to integrate AI deeply into its operations and corporate culture.

Elodie Perthuisot emphasized:

“Our ambition is to lead the digital transformation of the retail and food sectors. Today we are committed to opening up access to artificial intelligence to our teams. This positions us as leaders in the adoption of this technology, helping us enrich how we work and better serve our customers.”

ai.carrefour: A Milestone in Carrefour’s Digital Retail Vision

The event connected over 3,000 Carrefour employees across Spain and featured an appearance by Pau García-Milá, a prominent content creator who energized the audience throughout the day.

This launch is part of Carrefour's broader Digital Retail Company strategy initiated in 2021. The program leverages advanced technology and data to improve team efficiency and enhance the customer shopping experience.

The post Carrefour Launches ai.carrefour in Spain appeared first on Cross-Border Magazine.

Carrefour is testing Whatsapp as a new sales service in France for the Christmas campaign. Between December 5th and 21st, customers can buy around a hundred Christmas products via WhatsApp's instant messaging application.

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Carrefour tests Whatsapp with a Santa Claus Bot

To launch this initiative, the company has installed a Carrefour Santa Claus bot on the platform. For the first time, it allows customers to make Christmas purchases in four non-food product categories (toys, high-tech, gaming, and small appliances) from a selection of the 100 most requested references. 

After finalizing the basket on WhatsApp, users will be directed to Carrefour's online store to make the payment. After this, the products will be delivered to the home. The company's goal is to offer in the future an experience that integrates payment in the WhatsApp application. 

“As you know, at Carrefour, we don't want to miss any innovation. With this Social Commerce expertise, we want to understand the new uses and expectations of our customers. We are also adapting our technical capabilities to manage order flows from external social media platforms to our e-commerce site.”

Elodie Perthuisot, executive director of e-commerce, data, and digital transformation, Carrefour Group.

Other significant brands already selling via WhatsApp

Carrefour's bet on Whatsapp is one of many attempts by well-known brands to channel the selling power of popular social media. Among them, we want to highlight three examples: 

1. Estée Lauder was the first large cosmetics company to give customers customized skincare advice via WhatsApp. In 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 epidemic, Liv, an AI chatbot, was created to take the role of the in-person consultations that clients had in department stores in the past. 

Customers could learn how to use the brand's products through these online discussions, get advice on maintaining an efficient skincare routine, and place orders to buy these products via Whatsapp.

2. Absolut Vodka used WhatsApp to promote a live product launch event in Argentina. Customers were urged to message a chatbot doorman named Sven to persuade "him" that they deserved one of the two tickets that were still available. Over the course of three days, this campaign generated more than 1,000 messages from 600 people.

In this case, Absolute went for a ‘live-shopping’ approach to selling with Whatsapp. 

3. Hellman’s Mayonnaise assisted customers in preparing a meal. The concept was simple: open their website and enter your phone number.  An online chef contacts you via WhatsApp and gives you cooking lessons depending on the ingredients you have in your refrigerator. The clever part of the campaign was that it encouraged consumers to use Hellman's mayo in novel ways while also capitalizing on the one-on-one feel of WhatsApp to foster brand loyalty.

13K signups and a 99.5% approval rating speak for themselves regarding the results. After the campaign's success in Brazil, where WhatsApp is the largest social media and communications platform, it was quickly introduced in Chile, Uruguay, and Argentina.

So, all in all, it seems Whatsapp keeps growing in popularity as a sales channel. And any brand that wishes to remain relevant and profitable, should keep tabs on this popular social media.

The post Carrefour is testing Whatsapp sale capabilities in France for Christmas appeared first on Cross-Border Magazine.