While online commerce continues its progression and brands are increasing investments in technology, another model is essentially necessary but surely: that of a retail based on product quality, confidence in the relationship, and the reinvention of the trade of merchant. A strategy based not on the margins, but on the sincerity of the offer.
The product, not the goods
The distinction is founding. The product is what is born from know-how, a terroir, from attention. The goods are this same product once reduced to its price. In a market saturated with promotions and pricing wars, certain brands such as Clear life Or Future terroirs In Paris choose to return to the essentials: a well -soucked, identifiable product, delivered quickly and sold at the right price.
At the house of Plisson housefor example, an apple sold at € 1.80 is accompanied by its origin, the picking date, and the name of the producer. It is not a simple fruit, it is a commitment. This approach refuses the anonymous and interchangeable product.
Trade as a relationship, not just transaction
Proximity trade is no longer summed up at an address. It is based on relational proximity. The exchange with a competent seller, the advice on a little -known variety, the explanation of a recipe: this is what builds up lastingly.
In Network grocery stores New Robinson or at Day by daycustomers discuss the products, ask questions, leave with culinary advice or a conservation tip. What they come to seek does not sell: it is a relationship, attention, a time granted.
At the house of Cavavinnetwork of franchisee wine merchants, the seller is often trained in tasting and readily shares a history of winemaker or a recommendation for a Met-Vin agreement. This transfer of emotion constitutes an added value impossible to reproduce in a 100 % digital course.
Technology as a discreet lever
Faced with the hyperdigitalization of customer journeys, some brands choose invisible but functional technology. Biocoopfor example, uses logistics planning tools assisted by AI to optimize fresh product flows. But in store, the experience remains sober, without digital artifice.
Another example: visual recognition cameras tested by certain regional organic brands (such as Satoriz) to assist the cashiers during the weighing of fruits and vegetables. The objective is clear: gaining efficiency, not in complexity. These devices prevent teams from learning hundreds of PLU codes while fluidifying the customer experience.
Logistics of the living
In this model, logistics becomes a controlled chain of freshness. The Campanierwhich delivers baskets of fruit and vegetables in Île-de-France, requires its producers to harvest on order. The products do not pass through anonymous cold warehouses. The consumer receives a salad picked the day before, with a minimum loss rate.
Same logic in Kazidomionline platform specializing in healthy products, which relies on tense logistics and direct contractual relations with producers to avoid the deterioration of the stock. The cost becomes a strategic subject, not a cost line.
Silent brake: town planning
One of the major obstacles to the development of this business remains access to land. The group Naturaliafor example, indicates that it can wait several years before being able to open a point of sale in the city center, despite positive market studies. Delays related to urban planning authorizations, administrative appeals or co-ownership constraints slow down the relocation of food trade in neighborhoods.
In some rural municipalities, grocery relaunch projects closed even before their launch due to the lack of administrative agreement. The urgency to rebalance town planning rules with local food issues is shared by many players in the sector.
Rehabilitation of common sense
Behind these choices looms a return to commercial common sense. It is not a step back, but a strategic adjustment to the expectations of consumers: to eat better, to trust, to save time, to be recognized.
Producer storeslike those of the network Welcome to the farmembody this desire to remove the intermediate layers, to offer an understandable, seasonal and useful offer. There is less variety there than in supermarkets, but coherence in each radius.
This model is demanding. It does not promise rapid profitability. It supposes daily care, listening to the customer, attention to the product. But he responds to a fundamental request: finding the sense of purchase, in a world saturated with standardized messages.
