Ferdinand Tomarchio, Digital, Data and IT Director of Monoprix and Digital Director of the Casino Group
Accumulating internally, testing online sales and confronting customers in-store with NFT… monoprix launched in 2022 different Web3 Experiments. others use case can be imagined, without going too fast don’t lose the customer. Interview with Ferdinand Tomarchiodigital, data and IT director of monoprix and digital director of Casino group.
monoprix explores the use of NFT and their democratization among consumers. In April, the retail brand launched its first collection of non-replaceable tokens. For this 100% online operation, Monoprix collaborated with two makers: pastry chef Yazid Ichemrahen and designer Vincent Darré.
According to Ferdinand Tomarchio, digital, data and IT director of the company, “It was a matter of setting foot in this universe. Internally, not everyone knew what an NFT was and only a few geeks had a crypto wallet like a Metamask. »
Democratize NFTs with clients and employees
” We have done NFT like Monoprix “, he continues. So this means a direct link with the world of retail and the products that the brand markets. The goal was to democratize internally, but also with the consumer by ” facilitating access to NFTs for our clients “.
The result was a website that contained the “digital codes” that enabled Internet users to: coin coins. Thus, this online course was an opportunity for Monoprix to present the principles of NFTs and the process of creating these tokens.
Then charge users interested in buying these NFTs (according to the Ethereum standard) to get a wallet Metamask for the safekeeping of these digital assets. This step is often still a technical barrier to adoptionwhich, however, did not ignore Monoprix for this first experiment.
The aim was to involve our customers, our makers, but also our employees. I have organized many meetings on NFTs to describe them and describe in detail how they work. I have also done this work with the legal department when it was necessary to write the T&Cs. And in general, my interlocutors started from scratch. We had to revolutionize many processes in the company. And it was exciting,” said Ferdinand Tomarchio.
Web3 startups to design simple trips
After this “relative success”, the Casino Group and Monoprix have therefore decided to continue their experiments, but this time by actions on the groundthat is, in stores. In July, the brand organized workshops in one of its stores. It also set up short-lived NFT corners equipped with terminals in a few stores.
This second phase was intended to “continue in the democratization of NFTs by bringing our customers into contact with these products in our stores. For this new phase, Monoprix has this time decided to mask the underlying technological complexity by designing accessible procurement processes.
This barrier has been lifted thanks to partnerships with Web3 startups, the NFT Collection RudeKidz, Owner for the design of the terminals and the track. So goodbye to Metamask, replaced by a custodial digital wallet embedded in the mobile application.
The in-store acculturation workshops are prepared and conducted by Keyrus, a digital and data consultancy. This operation made it possible to sell NFTs, but less than during Internet sales. However, the ambition lay more in a pedagogical and experiential objective
Testing NFT Usage: Almost a Duty for Monoprix
The digital director pulls one positive balance, especially in the field of image. Monoprix was able to demonstrate to consumers its ability to embrace emerging technologies and applications.
With these tests, we are not looking at this stage to develop a new line of income. The aim is to experiment, and also to embody the image of a brand that democratizes new trends, in our product lines and commercial use. And NFTs are one of them.”
” It was almost a duty for a brand like Monoprix show an interest in using NFTs and testing. We remain modest in the short term and do not yet have more ambitious ambitions in our roadmap, such as executing job interviews in the metaverse, for example. We are humbler,” continues the leader.
Internal learning, testing online sales and confronting its customers with NFTs in the store… Monoprix is gaining maturity on the web3. And the company uses this experience to carry out other projects at group level. The New cellarspecializing in wine, is also entitled to its NFT experiments, with a direct link to physical products.
From wine to loyalty tokenization
Through “this most retail case of all,” the company offers in-store and online to acquire NFTs. The tokens correspond to a title deed of great vintages sold by La Nouvelle Cave. These NFTs can be converted by taking possession of the associated wines, transferred, sold to the secondary or kept.
These projects are part of a series of tests that will bring the retail world closer to NFTs, but also to our customers, whom we take by the hand when discovering NFTs”, summarizes Ferdinand Tomarchio.
” We can go very far, very fast, very hard, but I think we would leave our customers on the sidelines.e,” he notes. Monoprix therefore prefers to move forward step-by-step, accumulating internally and externally to align with consumer maturity level.
What about the? 3rd step for the brand ? The initiatives have yet to be devised. For example, in a prospective exercise, the Monoprix manager imagines an in-store test around a digital product useful for the customer. The tokenization applied to the loyalty is also interesting for retail.
A future of Bored Ape applied to retail?
The “success” in wine associated with NFTs also makes it possible to propose partnerships based “on Monoprix’s know-how in creation and luxury […] Maybe Monoprix can make the shop’s Bored Ape. “But not in the coming months. The emergence of new use cases will take time, especially to improve the skill level of the teams.
The next use case that we will test will only be a success if it is supported by people who are interested in NFTs and Web3 for the first time,” says Ferdinand Tomarchio.
The adoption of applications and technologies, such as crypto wallets, requires time and achieving a sufficient level of democratization. The installation of an ecosystem of startups is also necessary to facilitate the use and make it, why not, as simple as contactless payment.
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