From freezing temperatures to freezers regulating temperatures

During the cold winter months, cashiers of Carrefour Bièrges were often faced with the challenges of cold drafts in the building. Now – thanks to the Samsung 360 Cassette - it’s the freezers that warm up the cash registers. The Carrefour hypermarket in Bièrges has recently refurbished their HVAC system with a Samsung 360 Cassette. Recently, our Europe retail specialist Rolf Leemeijer was in conversation with Frederik Delaere, specialist Refrigeration & HVAC at Carrefour. They reflected on the myriad ways in which the Samsung 360 Cassette has had an impact on both employees and customers at Carrefour Bièrges.

In the age of a pandemic and digitalisation, some might think that the time of the retail store is over. It turns out, however, that brick and mortar is still a thriving duo, even making a post-pandemic comeback. Before 2019, e-commerce sales represented 10.7% of all retail sales. In the midst of the pandemic, customers started avoiding trips to the store, so in 2020 e-commerce grew to 13.6%. However, in 2021, e-commerce retail sales dipped back to 13.2%. This was not the accelerated e-commerce growth that some had predicted; rather research points towards a continued domination of physical stores in the years to come¹.

Frederik Delaere, specialist Refrigeration & HVAC at Carrefour, explains why offline stores are so important to the retail business. “Stores have changed into the showroom of the retailer. You display your products and want to make sure customers associate a positive experience with your brand. Consider fashion stores for example, the reason you go shopping is not necessarily because you are looking for something, it’s the entire experience.” With the arrival of e-commerce, the physical space of a retailer has evolved from being only a place to buy products to a showroom where products are part of an exhibition for the brand. Rolf Leemeijer, Europe retail specialist for Samsung, adds: “stores are part of the omni-channel structure of retailers. In other words, retailers use multiple channels - physical and digital storefronts - to create a seamless brand experience for consumers on any platform, at any time. When done effectively, customers move freely from one channel to the next, building a relationship that improves their overall buying experience, encouraging them to come back.  The physical store remains an indispensable part of the overall brand experience.”

To make sure the Carrefour hypermarket in Bièrges serves as a true showroom for the Carrefour brand, Frederik Delaere shares why creating a comfortable indoor climate became a priority. “Our building was not future proof. It was a challenge to regulate the temperatures of all the different supermarket zones, from the refrigerated sections to the cash registers.” To improve the comfort of both customers and colleagues, Frederik Delaere worked with Rolf Leemeijer to pilot the Samsung 360 Cassette for Carrefour. Leemeijer explains the process: “We always begin with the critical issues, the most important challenges that need resolving to improve indoor comfort for all. By starting there, we learn most about the specific needs of a particular building and the people in it. In this case, the most pressing issue was that of the comfort of the people working at the check-out counters and the overall temperature regulation. With that in mind, we decided to work with the Samsung 360 Cassette. The airflow feature ensures that air reaches every corner of a room evenly without creating a cold draft due to the bladeless design². The Cassette also constantly measures the air distribution within a room or a zone to make sure the temperature throughout the entire building is well regulated.”

What keeps many retailers up at night are concerns around the road to a sustainable business model while trying to minimise operational costs. Frederik Delaere from Carrefour confirms that: “retailers need climate friendly and affordable climate systems. Carrefour has signed a Green Deal with the Flemish government which means that we want to cut our CO2 emissions on a global scale. So now is the time to invest in new technologies. Preferably systems we can implement in other stores too.” Delaere adds: “an interesting feature of the total design of the system we’re now using is that the waste heat of the refrigerated sections is also re-used to heat the check-out zone. This helps in reducing costs of heating up the store as well as reducing emissions.”

Another challenge for today’s retailers is to build store atmospherics that are coherent with their store design. Delaere explains how the look of a physical store is crucial to the brand experience. “If you have a good look at today’s physical storefronts, you’ll notice how even budget retailers invest significantly in the look and feel of the store – as it is such an important part of the brand experience”. “The 360 Cassette has been designed specifically to blend into any type of interior design” explains Leemeijer. Delaere confesses: “to be honest, I thought we had ordered two white cassettes to match the white walls. To my shock I saw they were both black and very visible when being installed. However, customers keep complimenting us on how they look. In the end it feels like I’ve bought a piece of design furniture.”