Two major French retailers are now looking to develop multi-channel capacities along with their real estate divisions. A few weeks after rival Casino’s similar announcement, Auchan’s Immochan is to launch a virtual shopping mall in October, Les Echos reports. The project, dubbed E2C, will gather the accumulated stores of the 80 shopping centres the property branch manages under one online portal. Out of the total of 400 tenant retailers, approximately 50% have an online presence.

Shoppers will be able to order via the portal, pay online and collect purchases at the relevant store, or alternatively at a dedicated collection point within the mall. Home delivery will also be available but at a fee. For retailers, the platform is free to use, but Immochan will charge a commission on sales, which can reach 6-8% for household equipment and up to 12-14% for clothing. The move is likely to have arisen from a 0.4% traffic decline in its commercial centres – despite a million visitors a day and total turnover up 1.7% in 2013. In a bid to bring traffic back to positive territory, Immochan plans to invest EUR645 million over the next three years with EUR250 million dedicated to existing network refurbishment.

Source: www.planetretail.net