The French Grocery Retail Company Intermarché Develops the ‘Click and Drive’ Model

Abstract

The purpose of this case study is to let the readers identify the key success factors of the French grocery retail companies’ drive-through model. A case study approach is used to describe clearly issues confronting Intermarché, the third largest French grocery retail company, to the important and fast drive-in model development. The large French grocery retailers are investing heavily in the ‘click and drive’ format in order to avoid having to make home deliveries and bear the substantial costs associated with the ‘last mile’. Investing in selected drive-in locations is a cheaper way for them to expand their area of coverage than investing in new outlets. But they still have to deal with a new and difficult format, which presents a number of challenges from the strategic, logistic and marketing points of view. This case study provides an insight into the success of the grocery ‘click and drive’ (or drive—or drive-in) model developed by French grocery retail companies and allows understanding the basis of their competitive advantages. It can also help large grocery retailers to achieve their development objectives and counter the stagnation of traditional retail formats in Western Europe.