Guest from Europe 1 on Tuesday, Michel-Edouard Leclerc returned to how the French have changed their consumption habits in a year, since the start of the coronavirus crisis.

"We are in the multiple choice" that each of the distributors must now offer, according to him. 

INTERVIEW

In terms of consumption as in other sectors of their lives, the French are adapting to the coronavirus crisis.

“During the first confinement, there was this short time, this fear of missing out,” remembers at the microphone of Europe 1 Michel-Edouard Leclerc, CEO of the E.Leclerc group.

But almost a year later, "we are in the long run and everyone has understood it", he believes.

Exit, therefore, the behaviors consisting in "storage" at the announcement of a new confinement or curfew.

The boss is now observing deeper - and more lasting, according to him - changes in our attitudes. 

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A generation that "wants to be able to choose"

"The generation that follows me does not want everything at the same time, but they want to be able to choose", summarizes Michel-Edouard Leclerc.

A principle which is valid "not only for the products" but also for "the way in which they arrive" to the consumer.

"When you go on vacation, you want to find your groceries when you arrive in your second home" - and you stop at the Drive, where you get delivered -, while "if you are in Concarneau [in Finistère,

Editor's note

], we don't want to wait for the Amazon delivery man all day, so we go to the supermarket, "illustrates the CEO. 

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This operation has a name: "omnichannel".

"We are in the multiple choice, and therefore Leclerc must offer all these choices", insists the boss of the large distribution group. 

"One million additional customers" via the Drive or the relay depot

Concretely, the trend is synonymous with a "boom" in Drive, which represented "60% of our growth this year", affirms Michel-Edouard Leclerc.

"Door-to-door sales grew, but for health reasons not everyone wanted delivery people to come to your door, so the Drive was the solution."

Result: in 2020 the group fulfilled the objectives it was counting on for ... 2024. "We had a million additional customers who were not at Leclerc and who came via the Drive or the relay depot. consumer is in favor of these digital methods of order taking and this semi-delivery. "

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But according to the principle of omnichannel, these uses are often associated with "physical" shopping, at least from time to time, according to the observations of the CEO, who therefore still believes "a lot" in the hypermarket model.

"A hyper more attractive, (...) with real butchers, real fishmongers, etc ... For me, it remains the flagship for at least 15 years."