Carmila continues to implement its open innovation strategy and has joined forces with La French Tech Rennes Saint Malo
Camilla continues its open innovation strategy with local incubators
This new alliance with the Brittany incubator will ensure that the partnerships of convenience entered into locally by Carmila and its partner Carrefour Property continue. These collaborations help to foster and implement new digital and omnichannel solutions to serve an ever-changing retail sector. Carmila is already benefiting from a collaboration with IoT Valley – an ecosystem dedicated to the Internet of Things that was set up in the Toulouse region in 2017 – and now wants to create more services to help its clients (retailers and consumers). As part of a co-development approach, Carmila will provide local start-ups with opportunities to share their expertise, engage in discussions about specific problems and implement their solutions in a real-life setting.
Carmila and La French Tech Rennes St Malo: a win-win partnership
The regional and management teams of Carmila and Carrefour Property centres will take over management of various projects being conducted on site with La French Tech in order to identify local digital issues and ensure a level of responsiveness in the joint initiatives implemented.
“It’s in everybody’s interest to develop and deploy new experiences – observation and putting into practice are in our very DNA. We have an ecosystem that has already been colonised – which brings together start-ups and major companies as part of a joint approach which sets out to innovate, learn and test new solutions in order to secure and develop new services”, says Valérie Panel, head of Business Development at La French Tech Rennes St Malo.
A “proof of concept” shopping centre featuring innovative tools
The partnership with Brittany-based La French Tech has come at the right time – just as Carmila is spearheading a project to extend the Carrefour Cesson shopping centre. The innovation and extension work which began last summer is in line with the drive to develop the urban area. With 27 additional retailers, the project will help expand the selection of stores and boutiques available. Altogether, 67 retailers will open their doors to the general public in the last quarter of 2019.
“We are hoping to quickly deploy concrete initiatives with local start-ups so we can improve the conditions under which people are welcomed during the works phase. For example, we could consider projects designed to optimise space, create specific customer itineraries during this period or implement innovative tools to welcome new retailers and consumers”, says Stéphane Manach, director of the Carrefour Cesson shopping centre.
