The Thai example of Central Food Retail. Understanding the elements of online profitability

With a turnover of €2.1 billion in 2020, Central Food Retail under Central Retail is the largest supermarket chain in Thailand (more than 1,000 stores). From delivery in less than 25 minutes (known as Quick Commerce), to picking arbitrages and the imminent launch of a subscription offer, E-commerce and Digital Director Julien Tessonneau details his roadmap. Exclusively for Mind Retail.

Through Sophie Baqué. Published on 24 September 2021 à 21h29 - Update on 14 November 2022 à 16h03

You are in charge of e-commerce and digital. What are the KPIs of your online activity? 

Julien Tessonneau: There are 3 things we focus on: Customer satisfaction, Sales and Profitability. In Thailand, online customers prefer their groceries to be delivered to their doorsteps over the click & collect model given delivery fees here are cheap, and fast delivery speed is vital to keep our customers happy. As such, we have developed a model to deliver products to customers in as little as 25 minutes by partnering with delivery platforms and launching Quick Commerce. In terms of online sales, we will likely end this year with 10 times the sales we did a few years ago when I joined, from 1% to 10% of the company’s business. In terms of profitability,…