Carrefour, Tencent expected to partner in smart retail

Carrefour Tuesday announced a preliminary strategic cooperation agreement with Chinese tech giant Tencent to offer a smart retail experience in China.

The logo of food retailer Carrefour is on display in Tbilisi, Georgia, July 13, 2016.  [Photo: VCG]

The French retail giant will improve its online visibility, increase the traffic of its offline and online retail activities, and benefit from Tencent's advanced digital and technological expertise to develop new smart retail initiatives, according to the company's statement.

Tencent will further develop the retail services offered on its social platforms and promote the use of WeChat as well as mobile payment, cloud computing, and other services within the Carrefour ecosystem.

Carrefour has also signed a term sheet with Tencent and fresh food supermarket Yonghui regarding potential investment in Carrefour China. 

The potential investment will leverage Carrefour's global retail knowledge with Tencent's technological excellence and Yonghui's operational know-how and in particular its deep knowledge of fresh products, the statement said.

Upon completion of this investment, Carrefour will remain the largest shareholder of Carrefour China.

The strategic cooperation and investment are subject to further diligence and agreement of the parties on the terms of a definitive documentation, according to the statement.